Problems with poppies or blueberry-loving birds? Gardening expert has tips

Mid-July is the time to protect your blueberries from the birds, prune back fading perennials and continue to deadhead summer annuals and hanging baskets.

In your vegetable garden, continue to provide tomato plants with consistent moisture but avoid wetting the foliage as this encourages blight and other fungal diseases. Keep an eye out for weeds, and hoe, pull or smother before they have a chance to flower and go to seed.

Q. What should one do about poppy plants after they bloom? I have yellow California poppies (I think that is what they are) and they have stopped blooming and now the leaves are turning yellow. They have also started to spread into other areas. — P.G., Bonney Lake

A. You can cut your fading poppy plants right down to ground level after they flower to tidy up the garden. Cutting back poppies after they bloom means you will still get more poppy plants next year. This is because the annual poppies with small flowers will form seed pods after blooming and leaving just one unpicked flower will leave behind hundreds of poppy seeds when the pod ripens and explodes releasing a multitude of tiny seeds in the area. Wind and wildlife then spread these seeds all about the garden.

You can embrace the reseeding annuals as colorful additions to the landscape or cut them back before they go to seed, rake up spent seed pods, then bury any seeds that may have sprouted under a mulch 2-3 inches deep. California poppy seeds like exposure to sun and heat to ripen and so a fresh mulch that buries the seeds now will prevent most from sprouting in the spring.

Q. I have a huge Oriental poppy that is peach with a dark eye. The plant is lovely for only a few days as the stems grow long and droop and the flowers drop petals all over. The foliage of this perennial poppy also turns yellow and flops on the ground. So I tried to dig it up and move it to a less obvious spot. Guess what? That messy poppy appeared again in the same spot and in the new location! I feel like I am being haunted. Any suggestions? — P.S., Olympia

A. Oriental poppies have deep root systems and so even if you try to remove a plant, if you miss just one piece of the root a new plant will emerge stronger than ever. You can dig deep and sift through the soil to find every bit of root or you can rot out the remaining roots by covering the area with a boulder or stepping stone essentially blocking all sunlight from any new sprouts that dare to emerge.

As for the foliage, don’t be afraid to cut back spent leaves of Oriental poppies. Even if you cut all the stems and leaves to ground level they will still regenerate with fresh new growth. The huge blooms of this type of poppy look like they are made of tissue paper, and if you can’t get rid of the plant, try enjoying the blooms as cut flowers.

Tip: Harvest Oriental poppy blooms when the bud is just starting to crack open. Place the cut stems in 12 inches of hot water for a few minutes to seal the cut end. Then add cool water and let sit overnight before using in arrangements.

Q. How do I keep birds from eating all my blueberries? They wait until the berries are ripe, then eat them all overnight! — W., Email

A. Ripe blueberries are beloved by birds, so you must move to protect your berries while they are still in the green or unripened stage. A practical and efficient way is to enclose each blueberry bush in a mesh sack with a drawstring bottom that cinches around the base of the shrub. These bird and insect sacks are sold at garden centers and online.

You can also try Bird Flash Tape, a reflective shiny tape like streamers that you will find for sale in the seed rack section where you find Ed Hume Seeds for sale. The tip here is to tie the flash tape all over the blueberry bushes right before ripening so it is a new and alarming spectacle that scares the birds. Add a few plastic snakes (found at the dollar store) and clip them on the top of the shrubs. Now only the bravest birds will dare to steal your berries.

Meet Marianne

Marianne Binetti will speak on “Made in the Shade: Tips, Tricks and Free Plants” at 1:30 p.m. Saturday, July 20, at the Shark Garden in Burien. Register on the eventbrite website , or just show up. The Shark Garden is a demonstration and community garden located at 614 S.W. 120th St.

Marianne Binetti has a degree in horticulture from Washington State University and is the author of several books. Reach her at binettigarden.com.