2016 April Gifted Gardner

Gifted Gardener A P R I L

INSIDE THIS ISSUE: AAS Winners for the 2016 Garden Season

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Health Bites

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Spring Weed Control In Your Lawn

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The 7 Alternative to Spring Weed Control Emerald Ash Borer

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What’s in that bag of Fertilizer?

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Ridding your Flower Beds of Unwanted Grass

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That’s An Idea

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Calendar of 11 Events

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EXCITED FOR SPRING AND THE OPPORTUNITES IT BRINGS Spring is very much upon us and we can see changes everyday in our surroundings.

As I walk at lunch around town it is fun to see the changes in blossoms and the progressional changes in everyone's yards.

This is a time of renewal and excitement that invigorates us to refresh landscapes, create outdoor spaces and begin the process of putting food on the table again. Take these next few weeks to really plan what you are going to try to accomplish this spring.

Planning and sticking to the plan will save you money from when you walk into the stores and are bitten by the spring bug. It is really easy to make impulse buys this time of year and knowing what you need and even more important knowing what will perform best for our area will help you with decision making.

Another point on spring plant buying is that you shouldn't be afraid to fully inspect the plants you purchase. Pulling the pot off the root system and inspecting the roots will pay dividends.

You want to see a nice full set 1

of white roots that fill all sides of the pot. Don’t purchase with broken or damaged tops or branches as this is an excellent way to bring home diseases.

Another tip is to know the square footage of the planting area before you make plant purchases. By getting the right amount of plants there won’t be wasted money on extras or return trips to get more.

The Neighborly nutrition program has been well received and we will have a follow up meeting at the end of March. For more information give me a call.

Also we are conducting an Organic Gardening series in early April. This is going to be two classes where the information from one is designed to built upon by the second class. Our goal is to help you become the best gardener that you can be by teaching you techniques and what to look for in the garden this year.

See the back page for details.

Blooming Bardstown Garden Tour and Marketplace June 11th

FLOWERS

AAS WINNERS FOR THE 2016 GARDEN SEASON

"To promote new garden seed varieties with superior garden performance judged in impartial trials in North America."

All American Selections has been a stalwart among plant selection committees for many decades, having turned out terrific varieties such as Straight Eight Cucumber, Butter Crunch Lettuce, Wave Petunia, Indian Summer Rudbeckia and many more. The selections have been going on for 75 years and continue this year with another batch of excellent looking plants.

Anyone watching the movements of All-America Selections lately will notice an ever-increasing number of exciting and wonderful plants that are being named AAS Winners. This November’s announcement is no

Tomato Candyland Red different with nine new plants that have been trialed by horticulture experts throughout North America and deemed worthy of the All-America Selections® brand.

All of the following new varieties were trialed during the 2015 growing season and exhibited outstanding garden performance as noted in each of the following descriptions.

This grouping of AAS Winners for 2016 includes:

Salvia Summer Jewel™ Lavender

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Geranium Brocade Cherry Night (National)

Geranium Brocade Fire (National) Pepper Cornito Giallo F1 (National) Pepper Escamillo F1 (National)

Geranium Brocade Cherry Night

Pumpkin Super Moon F1 (Regional: Southeast and Great Lakes) Salvia Summer Jewel™ Lavender (Regional: Southeast, Heartland, Great Lakes)

Strawberry Delizz® F1 (National) Tomato Candyland Red (National) Tomato Chef’s Choice Green F1 (National) With this announcement, these varieties become available for immediate sale to the commercial market. Brokers and growers can purchase these varieties immediately. Retailers and consumers will find these Winners for sale for the 2016 gardening season as supply gradually becomes available throughout the chain of distribution.

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Pepper Cornito Giallo F1

HEALTH Daily good food choices can pay a lifetime in dividends.

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The pictographs on these two pages come from a twitter account I follow called Daily Health Tips : Ask a Doctor. I find these pictures easy to understand and help me make better decisions in my food choices. Every food choice has a healthier alternative.

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LAWN CARE

Identification is key to

SPRING WEED CONTROL IN YOUR LAWN

BY ANDREW RIDEOUT Thick, lush lawns are beautiful, but weed pressures are sure to emerge this spring. Spring and summer annuals as well as perennial weeds can not only distort a picturesque lawn, but also thin your lawn and rob nutrients from our preferred fescue. Proper weed identification and good planning will keep the majority of your weeds at bay this year.

Identification is key to control. There are three basic types of weeds in our lawns; broadleaf weeds, grass like weeds, and sedges. Just like the name implies, broadleaf weeds have broad leaves while grass like weeds have “blades� similar to fescue. Sedges are identified by a strong, protruding midrib creating a triangular blade. Knowing what weed you have and a little about its life cycle will help

control. There are three basic types of weeds in our lawns; broadleaf weeds, grass-

In Kentucky, we have like weeds, and several spring germinating weeds that are fairly easy sedges. to identify. Dandelion, henbit, chickweed, and purple deadnettle are some of the most common early weeds.

Later, as the soil temperatures warm up, crabgrass and goose grass show up, often with a vengeance.

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tremendously with determining the best control.

Typically with any lawn weed, control products are either pre-emergent or postemergent. Most broadleaf weeds are best controlled post-emergently with a common herbicide 2,4dichloro-phenoxyacetic acid, or 2,4-D for short. 2,4-D can be purchased in a concentrated liquid formulation, or an easier to

use granular product in combination with a fertilizer. When applying a granular postemergent herbicide, it is important to ensure the granular particles adhere to the leaf of the target weed. Applying the herbicide in the early morning when the lawn is damp is often the best time.

for best control. If the target weed has already germinated, it is too late to control with a pre-emergent. Crab grass and goose grass germinate as the soil temperature warms up and forsythia blooms are a good sign that the soil is getting warm enough for crabgrass to germinate. This spring watch for the forsythia blooms and apply your pre-emerge within the following 2 weeks. Always follow the label with any control product.

Pre-emergent herbicides are used to prevent the germination of many weeds but we apply it in lawns to target crabgrass and goose grass. Pre-emergents work by forming a layer just below the soil surface.

As the weed germinates, it will come into contact with the herbicide and growth will stop before the weed reaches the surface.

Pre-emergents are available in liquid formulations but most often homeowners utilize the granular formulation for easier application. Properly timed applications of pre-emergent herbicides are most critical

Proper weed identification and proper herbicide selection and application will help keep your lawn healthy. If you need help with weed identification or weed control, contact the Nelson County Extension Office and they can help direct you to the best resources.

process is complete. Therefore, they will be virtually non existent come late may and early June.

Dandelion is, however, a perennial and can take over if some measure of control is taken. For the most part if you can stand to look at them for the spring their presence is all but forgotten once the flower is finished.

THE ALTERNATIVE TO SPRING WEED CONTROL

BY ROBBIE SMITH

I wanted to provide you with another perspective to the idea that we must control weeds. The fact is that those things we call weeds are actually really good sources of pollen and nectar for the early brood cycle within a honeybee colony. Plants like henbit, chickweed, and dandelion are crucial as an early food source for all pollinators because of the timing of flower and the quality of the nutrient loads. Henbit and Chickweed are winter annuals which means they will succumb to our late spring temperatures (high heat) and once the flowering

So the moral here is that if you can stand the unruliness of the early spring plants, your friends the pollinators will greatly appreciate the added grocery store in their neighborhood.

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ENTOMOLOGY The devastating effect of these beetles will have a legacy affect on our forests for a long time to come.

EMERALD ASH BORER IS HERE IN A BIG WAY

BY ROBBIE SMITH Emerald Ash Borer has been on its way to our county for a number of years and it is finally here in a big way.

Last summer was the first finding of the destructive beetle by the forestry department and since then I have found it in a number of other sites.

The devastating effect of these beetles will have a legacy affect on our forests for a long time to come. This was no more apparent than when I visited a farm in the county recently that suspected they had a problem. This was as pretty a set of ash woods as I have ever been in with countless trees of the perfect log size.

Many of the trees were at least 36� DBH and more than twenty feet to the first limb.

Nearly all the trees in this natural setting is affected and will succumb to the devastation that the Emerald Ash borer will 8

inflict. So for this farmer the decision will have to be to harvest the timber if he wants to curb his losses or simply let the insect run its course (which means total loss).

Homeowners have choices to make when it comes to Ash trees in their lawns and landscapes. You can select the trees you want to save and treat them or let them all go away. Once the decision to treat is made then it must be kept up for the duration of the infestation.

I am more than willing to help with decision making and to recommend treatment options. Those conversations are best oneon-one based on the several factors. Therefore give me a call at the extension office and I’d be glad to help.

WHAT’S IN THAT BAG OF FERTILIZER?

Soil testing is the only precise way to know what nutrients your plants need. Once you know what nutrients your target plant needs, how do you know which fertilizer to buy? The analysis on the fertilizer bag tells you the percent nitrogen (N), phosphate (P205) and potash (K20) in the fertilizer, in that order. For example, a fertilizer with a 32-0-4 analysis contains 32 percent N, 0 percent available P2O5, and 4 percent soluble K2O (Figure 1). The fertilizer label will often break the N sources into slow release (waterinsoluble nitrogen, WIN), and quick release (water-soluble nitrogen— often includes ammoniacal or urea) sources. Slow release nitrogen sources will only release a small amount of fertilizer at a time. The benefits of slow release fertilizers include less nitrogen losses from leaching and volatilization, reduced burn potential on the turf, and fewer applications required to maintain soil fertility.

BY ROBBIE SMITH

test results have revealed that more than 50 percent of homeowner turf soil samples test high or above for phosphorus and potassium. If the soil test results reveal that phosphorus and potassium are adequate, there is no need to apply more of these nutrients. Overapplying or misapplying phosphorus can lead to surface water contamination.

Most phosphorus contamination occurs due to runoff, therefore you should always be diligent to avoid throwing fertilizers on hard surfaces such as sidewalks.

Information courtesy of AGR-212 Fertilizing you lawn. For more detailed information click the link.

Recent summaries of Kentucky soil

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WEED CONTROL Remember to read and follow all label directions to ensure proper use.

RIDDING YOUR FLOWER BEDS OF UNWANTED GRASS Do you have a problem with grasses overtaking your ornamental flower beds? Well you may be happy to learn that there is a liquid solution to the problem. Traditionally the only solution has been to bend over and pull and pull and pull or upgrade to the cold hard steel method and use the hoe. Neither of these methods are particularly bad and can be therapeutic as well as a healthy form of exercise.

However, if you have a large planting of, for example, iris’ and the predominant weed is a grassy one then you are in luck because there are a number of products on the market that have the ability to remove grasses from broadleaved plantings.

The products that will control grasses come in a liquid form and will have one of two active ingredients: sethoxydim or fluzafop-p-butyl. You’ll find these on the shelf as Ornamec, Segment, Bonide Grass Beater, Vantage and others.

Remember to read and follow all label directions to ensure proper use.

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THAT’S AN IDEA

Calendar of Events 

March 29th— 7:00 to 8:30 pm Neighborly Nutrition: Getting ready for the season

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April 11 and 18th — 6-30 – 8:30 pm Become an Organic gardener for your family and health. This is a two day class intended to introduce you to the techniques of all things organic gardening

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April 15th —Farmers Market Fair. 10-12 am This is for those of you who wish to sell at the Bardstown Farmers Market. RSVP please

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In early to mid-March, start seeds indoors (under lights) of peppers, tomatoes and eggplant. Pepper seeds will sprout better if bottom heat, such as a heating mat, is used.

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Also start sweet potato slips indoors.

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By late March, dig and divide any 4year old rhubarb plants, and fertilize asparagus and rhubarb with one pound of 5-10-10 per 100 square feet.

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Try to avoid spring and summer lawn fertilization. Nitrogen applied to turf between April and September can promote excessive top growth, which decreases resistance to drought, disease, and heat. If your lawn is still a sickly yellowgreen by the end of April, however, you may apply a half rate of nitroRobbie Smith gen (apply 1/2# N/1,000 sq. ft.) to County Extension Agent for Horticulture “green it up”.

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Keep mulch away from tree trunks, in order to encourage spring root growth and to avoid excessive wetness from spring rains. You may want to wait until later in the spring to apply mulch.

When applied, it should be 2 to 3 inches deep.

Phone: 502-348-9204 Fax: 502-348-9270

email: robsmith@uky.edu Website: http://nelson.ca.uky.edu/ @hortagentrob NelsonCounty Extension

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RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED

University of Kentucky Nelson County 317 South Third Street Bardstown, KY 40004

Cooperative Extension Service

NONPROFIT ORG US POSTAGE PAID BARDSTOWN, KY PERMIT #028