Washington County Cooperative Extension Service
HORTICULTURE November 2019 Volume 15, Issue 11
Cooperative Extension Service Washington County 211 Progress Road Springfield KY, 40069 (859) 336-7741 Fax: (859) 336-7445 http://ces.ca.uky.edu/washington
Ways To Handle Fall Yard Waste
Inside This Issue Beekeepers
2
Source: Richard Durham, extension horticulture specialist
Soil Testing
2
Fall Yard Waste Cont.
2
November To Do’s
3
Fall is a beautiful time in Kentucky gardens, but it can also be a messy time. Tree leaves turn from green to vibrant fall colors and then drop, creating big piles. Then there are the leaves and spent shoots from our flower beds.
November To Do’s Cont. 4 Plant of The Month
4
Lawn Fertilization
5
Wheelbarrow Series
6
Recipe of The Month
6
The way we address our yard waste can have a significant impact on our gardens and on the environment. Gardeners commonly rake up and bag leaves to haul
away to yard waste dumps. This option, while tidy, uses a lot of energy, both yours and the energy to transport the leaves and mixed garden waste. An alternative is to mulch leaves and yard waste. You could use the bountiful resource to enrich your lawn and garden, while creating less waste and air pollution. A very simple technique with leaves is to rake them into a line and mow over them with your lawn mower. The mower will chop the leaves into pieces small enough to fall between the blades of grass in your lawn. The chopped leaves will break down out of sight, provide nutrients to your lawn and improve the quality of your soil. For larger items like spent flower stalks, composting is a simple, easy and environmentally friendly option. Done properly, it produces no odor and provides a generous amount of nutrient-rich organic compost for your garden, which reduces or eliminates the need to buy fertilizer. Composting also eliminates the need to transport garden waste, making composting a triple-win situation for your garden, wallet and the environment. The speed of compost production is influenced by the size of the material placed in the bin, so the more you
Washington County Beekeeper’s Association News and Events The next Washington County Beekeepers Association meets the first Monday of most month at 6:00 PM with a potluck. Join the association to attend and learn about beekeeping.
Eight Reasons To Test Your Soil Source: Frank Sikora, UK soil testing coordinator Soil testing can tell you many things about your soil that can help you make informed decisions about fertilizer application, site selection for crops and so much more. It is an essential part of a successful agriculture or horticulture enterprise. Home gardens and lawns can also greatly benefit from soil testing.
With the wet pattern Kentucky has been in over the past year, soil testing is paramount to having a quality hay supply for next winter. There’s really no reason not to test your soil since your local office of the Kentucky Cooperative Extension Service makes it simple. So, let’s get to it. Why should you test your soil? 1. Know the pH level of your soil. Soil experts will make different recommendations depending on the acidity or alkalinity of your soil and your intended use. 2. Save time and money. Having the proper levels of soil nutrients will help maximize economic yields. Soil testing also reduces the chance of over applying and over purchasing fertilizers. 3. It’s good for the environment. Soil testing results in a more accurate application of fertilizers and that ultimately reduces runoff into waterways. 4. They are not expensive. Each county office may charge a nominal fee to cover soil analysis costs. 5. It is easy. Taking samples doesn’t take a lot of time or skill, and your county agents can help you along the way. 6. Find out the fertility level of the soil. You gain knowledge about the soil condition and can make informed decisions about how to improve it. 7. Follow soil changes over time. Follow how conditions like drought, prolonged wet periods and other weather scenarios affect the soil. 8. Identify problem areas in your field or garden. You’ll need to take different samples for various land uses such as agricultural, fields, lawns, gardens, fruit trees, shrubs and flowers because they all have distinct fertility and pH requirements.
Soil Tests Are Free Through December 31st To Washington County Property Owners Only!!!
Ways To Handle Fall Yard Waste can chop up the garden debris, the quicker you will have usable compost. Many options for compost bin design and construction are well suited to any location and budget. Using leaves as mulch has many benefits. The mulch helps retain moisture in the soil and insulates plants from extreme winter temperatures. The decomposed leaves become an excellent conditioner for warming spring soil, helping to attract worms and other beneficial microorganisms.
November To Do’s *Any trees or shrubs that you still have in containers should either be planted or hilled in. This simply means the pots can be buried in soil or mulch to protect the root balls from freezing.
*Remove all dried and shriveled fruit. These are called mummies and will serve as a source for disease next year.
*If you see any bagworms hanging on your shrubs go ahead and pick them off and step on them. Each of these bags could contain up to 1000 eggs ready to hatch and munch on your landscape next spring.
peach, nectarine, and plum trees with Ferbam, Bordeaux mixture, or daconil 2787 to control peach leaf curl and plum pockets disease next spring.
Fruit
*Remove all grass and weeds from around your fruit trees to discourage nesting of mice and voles. They will gnaw the bark
in the winter and could girdle the tree. Wrapping the trunk with tree guard will help discourage rodent feeding.
*If you have tame blackberries Ornamentals and raspberries remove any wild *Roses should not be cut back blackberries grow*You can plant most tree seeds ing nearby. They will now. The cold winter weather have a will satisfy their dormancy requirements and they will sprout higher risk for orange next spring. If they don’t have rust which an extremely thick seed coat will attack such as Kentucky Coffee Tree. Trees seeds such as these should tame berbe filed down a little to break the ries as well. seed coat. This will allow the seed to uptake water and germi- *After leaf nate. drop spray
until we have temperatures down into the low 20’s and the leaves are burnt and or dropping off. Some years this occurs in November and some years in December. After the leaves drop *If you have newly planted trees or shrubs give them a good *Black knot galls on branches of rake them up and compost them. Don’t apply this compost soaking before you put the hose plum and cherries should be away for winter. You would be pruned out 4-8 inches below the to your roses next year unless you are sure the temperature got surprised how dry the soil can gall. Destroy of by burning. up to 130 degrees in the pile. get even when its cold.
*Don’t prune or fertilize fruit crops now, wait until February.
*Cut hybrid tea and grandiflora roses to 8 to 12 inches, shrub roses such as knockouts and
November To Do’s most floribundas by 1/3, and leave climbers until spring and then prune out any dead or overgrown canes.
freezes to prevent them form heaving out of the ground when it freezes and thaws.
*When the ground freezes mound soil or mulch over the bud union of your roses to keep them from freezing out. This isn’t necessary if you have roses on their own root meaning they weren’t grafted.
*Extend harvest of cool season vegetables such as broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, radish, turnip, beet, lettuce, spinach, etc. by covering them with remay fabric or tobacco canvas.
*Plant any spring flowering hardy bulbs now.
ground has frozen. *It’s not too late to plant a cover crop of winter wheat or rye.
*Discard and compost any vegetable plant material. Use the compost on the flower garden if you aren’t sure you have a hot compost pile. This way you won’t risk introducing insects and disease next year.
*Cut back asparagus tops after *Apply 3 inches of mulch to your they have frozen back. Apply a perennial bed after the ground fresh layer of mulch after the
November Plant of The Month Viburnum bodnantense “Dawn” Viburnum bodnantense Dawn is a very hardy, deciduous shrub which produces dense clusters of richly perfumed, deep rose pink flowers which eventually fade to candy floss pink, and eventually white by late spring. In summer, attractive round purple berries are produced. Foliage is huge, ovate and toothed, with deeply scored veins which give it an almost quilted look. In autumn, this foliage fades to a lighter green and then to maroon-red, before falling away and allowing the blossom-like blooms to take center stage. Viburnum bodnantense Dawn boasts a particularly long season of interest, which is one of the many reasons it was awarded the prestigious RHS Award of Garden Merit. It is an excellent choice for prominent borders and enjoys well-drained soil, full sun or partially shaded areas. Height 1.8-2m.
Lawn Fertilization Fertilizing your lawn is a good way to maintain a healthy turf. You should fertilize every year. Fertilizing your lawn helps maintain a uniform, dense, green, turf and reduces weed problems. The good effects of fertilizing can be lost if you fertilize at the wrong time. Low maintenance turf requires one application of fertilization in late October or anytime in November for most grass types. Don’t guess what your lawn needs! Get a soil test done. This can be done through the extension office. The cost is FREE through December 31st, and we have literature on hand to show you how to take the sample. With a soil sample a good recommendation can be made on how much lime, phosphate, and potash your lawn will need. You should have your soil tested every few years. Soil tests measure several important elements, however it doesn’t measure nitrogen. Turf is highly dependent on nitrogen but applying it at the wrong time of year can severely damage it. As a general rule you should apply 1 pound of actual nitrogen per 1000 square feet of lawn. If you are using ammonium nitrate for your nitrogen source that would be 3 pounds per 1000 square feet or 2 pounds if using urea. Never apply fertilizer when the grass is wet, it will increase the likelihood of burn. The time of year to fertilize your lawn is dependent on the types of grasses you are growing. Fall and early winter is the best time to apply nitrogen fertilizer to cool season grasses such as fescue, Kentucky bluegrass, and ryegrass. Most lawns in Kentucky are made up of these grasses. By fertilizing cool season grasses in the fall they will develop better root systems, become very dense, and will have better fall and winter color. During mild winters the turf will maintain an even green color all winter. By eliminating spring fertilization you will prevent a heavy flush of growth in the early spring, reduce the frequency of mowing during spring, develop a better root system, reduce disease, and develop a more heat-tolerant, and weed free turf. Late spring-early summer is the best time to fertilize warm season grasses such as Bermuda grass and zoysiagrass. These grasses don’t grow until it gets warm; therefore fall and winter fertilization would be useless. Warm season grasses have been used on several area athletic fields because they form a dense mat, however they turn brown after the first hard frost and stay that way until May of June.
Washington County Cooperative Extension Service 211 Progress Road Springfield KY, 40069 859-336-7741 dennis.morgeson@uky.edu www.facebook.com/WashingtonCountyKentucky4H/
Down To Two 2019 Wheelbarrow Series Classes November
7
AM or PM For The Birds
FREE!
November
14
AM or PM Easy Houseplants
FREE!
I will be working on the 2020 Wheelbarrow Series schedule in December and early January if you want to see particular class topics let me know by calling, Facebook messaging, or even text and email. Happy Gardening!
Cabbage Noodle Casserole
5 strips turkey bacon 1 tablespoon vegetable oil 2 teaspoons sugar 1 teaspoon salt ½ teaspoon pepper 6 cups cabbage, chopped into 1 inch pieces 3 cups whole grain egg noodles, cooked 1 cup reduced-fat sour cream 1 teaspoon paprika
1. In a large skillet, cook bacon until crisp. Remove and set aside. 2. Add oil, sugar, salt and pepper to the skillet with the bacon drippings. Add chopped cabbage and stir until coated. Cover and cook 7-10 minutes. 3. Crumble bacon and add to cabbage. Stir in noodles. 4. Spoon into a greased 2-quart casserole dish; cover and bake at 325º F for 30 minutes. 5. Remove from oven. Spread sour cream over the top and sprinkle with paprika. 6. Bake 5 minutes.