FOR RELEASE THE WEEK OF SEPT. 17, 2000:
If I let my dog run loose in the desert, are there poisonous plants she could get into—or is this something I don’t need to worry about?
Start worrying, says Patricia Talcott, University of Idaho veterinary toxicologist. In addition to large predators, leg hold traps and porcupines, dogs can indeed get into poisonous plants, poisonous mushrooms and blue-green algae blooms. If unsupervised dogs come across a garbage pile and eat moldy foods, the tremorgenic mycotoxins sometimes found in those foods can cause tremors, salivation, seizures and even death. Last but not least, there’s malicious poisoning—usually with strychnine.
"The majority of cases of confirmed dog poisonings that we document in the laboratory—whether intentional or unintentional—occur in ‘free-roaming’ dogs," says Talcott.
"I always feel sad when clients lose their pets to poisons, but I also feel obligated to mention that there is some responsibility by the client to the pet—just as there is to a small child," she says.
I’ve heard that you should withdraw water to your trees before winter and I’ve also heard that you should soak them. Which is correct?
They both are, says JoAnn Robbins, University of Idaho extension educator. In climates where winters are cold and the ground is frozen, you need to take special care to make sure trees and shrubs enter the winter completely dormant and yet have an ample supply of sub-surface water. To accomplish this, gradually withhold water in late fall—after mid-September. This decelerates growth and helps the plant enter the dormant state. Continue this drying for 4 to 6 weeks.
Sometime just prior to the first hard freeze—Oct. 15 to Nov. 1—irrigate thoroughly. Add enough water to fill the entire root zone—and more—to capacity. The water-absorbing roots of trees occur mostly in the top 12-18 inches of soil and extend well beyond the tree’s dripline. The tree can draw on this stored moisture beneath the frozen layer of soil throughout the winter.
Fall watering is particularly important for evergreens due to the amount of moisture that needles lose on a sunny winter day, Robbins says, but even deciduous trees lose water through their bark.
Do you have information on how to eliminate cattails in a pond? We have an unused sewage lagoon that has a lot of cattails we'd like to get rid of. Any help you can give would be appreciated. Orville Davidson, Troy, Idaho
"You can either harvest them—and eat and weave your way through them—or you can spray them with a herbicide," says University of Idaho weed scientist Don Morishita.
Your best chemical control options are either 2,4-D or Rodeo (glyphosate). If you choose 2,4-D—which you might want to do if your pond also has grasses that you’d like to keep—apply it first in the spring before the cattail heads appear and then again in the fall.
You can use Rodeo on mature cattails after the heads have formed, but it will kill desirable vegetation along with the cattails, Morishita says. Rodeo has the same active ingredient as Roundup. Unlike Roundup, which contains a surfactant that prevents its use in aquatic situations, Rodeo can be used for aquatic weed control.
Cattail is very invasive and its aggressively spreading roots can form almost complete monocultures in boggy soils, Morishita says. On the flip side, it provides excellent habitat for birds. Nor are birds the only beneficiaries: we can weave baskets from its leaves, eat its inner core of shoots, make flour from its pollen and roots, and nibble its immature green seed-spikes just like-corn-on-the-cob.
According to the Food Guide Pyramid, I’m supposed to be eating three to five servings of vegetables and two to four servings of fruits every day. With so much produce to choose from in the supermarket, I was wondering whether some fruits and vegetables are better for you than others.
Interestingly, it appears that dark and very colorful fruits and vegetables may be better for you, says Martha Raidl, University of Idaho extension nutrition specialist. They contain large quantities of antioxidants, which are thought to prevent heart disease and cancer and to slow down the aging process.
Among fruits, good choices include prunes, raisins and very colorful berries like blueberries, strawberries and raspberries. Among vegetables, select kale, spinach, Brussels sprouts and broccoli florets. If you don’t like dark-green vegetables, try beets, red bell peppers, yellow corn and carrots.
[READERS: Do you have a question about your home, yard or garden? Send it to HomeWise, University of Idaho Ag Communications, Moscow, ID 83844-2332 or e-mail it to homewise@uidaho.edu. Mention of proprietary products or firms does not constitute endorsement by the University of Idaho Cooperative Extension System or imply approval to the exclusion of other suitable products or firms.]