Seems like summer took so long to get here with weather that was enjoyable and now those unspoken words have begun to enter our everyday lives, heard on the TV, references to it on the radio, thinking about ordering hot chocolate or hot cider instead of coffee, farm stands offering more than just...
August usually means lots of hot dry weather. During Last week we had at least one "rain event" that was pretty substantial. Some readers had several inches of rain in fact. Things we can do and see why we are waiting for things to dry out are: Lawns Clean the air filter on the...
August brings some unique questions to the Master Gardener help desk. Here are some that have been fun to answer: I planted my garden sweet corn next to field corn and now my sweet corn isn't so sweet, what is happening? Unlike other vegetables that get cross pollinated and...
If you are wondering if the hot weather is impacting the home landscape and gardens, the simple answer is, it sure is. With the high daytime temperatures and above normal night time temperatures, it is becoming increasing hard for plants to keep up with the natural moisture loss from foliage. Every...
For a Horticulturist, this month has not visually been a good one. Sure there has been abundant and beautiful flowers from annuals and perennials and the spring bloom from our ornamental shrubs and trees was spectacular. What I am writing about this week is the visual decline out in the landscape,...
Extension offices have gotten quite a few calls about bagworms feeding on evergreens and deciduous plants too. By now they have gotten big enough to be easily seen, yet have been with us since eggs have hatched about mid-June or so. As just hatched larva, they have a unique way of leaving home to...
In the past couple of weeks some of our large shade trees have signs of chlorosis showing up. The leaves are not the medium and deep green they normally and can have darker veins that fade out into the surrounding leaf tissue. Chlorosis is most of often caused by a nutrient deficiency, not because...
To control or not to control, that is the question. There are two grubs that historically have caused us to ponder the control question, our native masked chafer (white grub) and our not so native Japanese Beetle. The masked chafer will lay eggs in the latter half of July in the norther parts if...
Questions coming in over the phone, via email and with residents visiting the Master Gardener Help Desks is really an easy way to see any developing trends in the home landscape. Some weeks' it is all about insects, other weeks' plant diseases. Here are few from the past few days. Can I...
About this time of year gardeners are wondering why some of the flower beds are looking good and others never seemed to really take off and fill in. Garden soils can make such a difference in how quickly flowers will cover the bed. With all the rain we had earlier, poor drainage is often at the "...
