www.ca.uky.edu
Winter
2015
Prepare Now for
A Great Start to Great Turf
by Andy Rideout
Springtime always brings with it a renewed interest in maintaining a healthy lawn, but there are many good management practices that you can work on now that will help your turf be successful in 2015. Winter is a good time to do any maintenance on your equipment. Changing the oil, replacing the spark plug, and a good overall cleaning will help you ensure a season without mechanical issues. A good sharp blade throughout the mowing season is also very important. Surgeons use very sharp instruments so the cut will heal quickly. When your mower blade cuts the tip of the grass blade, the wounds are susceptible to infections and insects. The sharper the blade, the quicker you grass will recover. Remove your blade and drop it off at a local shop to have it sharpened. Consider purchasing an extra blade so that you can change it out mid-season without interrupting your mowing schedule. When you put your sharp blade back on the mower, remember to adjust the height. The recommended mowing height for tall fescue is 2 to 3 inches, and for Kentucky bluegrass the height is 2 to 2.5 inches. Mowing at the best height for the grass encourages a deeper root system, discourages weeds, and helps reduce
watering. Setting up your mower is a relatively easy task. Don’t trust the settings on the mower; instead, park your mower on a concrete or other hard surface and measure from the blade to the surface to get the proper height. There is no need to be exact but within ¼” inch is great. Following recommendations for mowing height and frequency will make your lawn care duties easier and result in a more attractive yard. A good fertility program for your lawn should be based upon a soil sample and now is the time to bring a sample to the office. Most of the time, you should not apply nitrogen in the spring. Nitrogen promotes top growth and will only increase your time on the mower. For most lawns, nitrogen should be applied in the fall or even late winter to help develop the roots, increase density, and prepare the plant for the spring green up. These tips are just some basics. Different grass varieties and soil types require unique management practices. The extension office has detailed information on home lawn maintenance and can take your soil samples to help you customize your lawn maintenance.
ller or most crabgrass ki d ee w f ea dl oa br y pl be Don’t ap areas, or areas that will n ed ed se ly w ne to rs te preven decrease the germinatio n ca ts uc od pr e es Th . seeded s. percentage of grass seed
Fruit & Veggie Gardens
2
Which Garden Catalog
Should I Use?
by Amanda Sears
With so many garden catalogs to choose from, which ones should you use? Check to see if the Latin botanic name and/or the cultivated variety is listed with the common name, especially with flowers, trees, and shrubs. Common names for plants vary from region to region, but if a botanic name is listed, you can be more certain you get the plant you intended. Check return policies, guarantees on plants, and shipping charges. A customer service number should be listed prominently. Be careful of companies that ship plants year round.
The size of plants and bulbs should be listed. A two year old plant for $10 may be a better deal than the $3.50 seedling, especially for new gardeners. Take advantage of catalogs with specific growing information such as light, soil, and water requirements. Some plants require very special soil conditions or winter protection. With seeds, look for All American Selections that have performed well through out the United States. Catalogs should list plant hardiness zones rating. We are in zone 6. Some plants listed as perennials (plants that live several years) can be grown as annuals in colder areas. For more information on seed catalogs and varieties of plants that do well here in Kentucky, contact me at 859-623-4072 or amanda.sears@uky.edu.
or sprouting. Pansies, l need 8 do in r fo s ed se g rin de or t Star , and violas al m ia ill tw ee sw , ns io at rn snapdragons, ca ey can be set outside th re fo be g in w so ed se to 14 weeks after ese seeds indoors in th t an pl d an d ea ah go in late March...so early January.
Trees & Shrubs
3
Time to Control
Peach Leaf Curl & Plum Pockets
by Dennis Morgeson
Late fall and winter is the time to control peach leaf curl and plum pockets in peach and plum trees. Control for these diseases must be done before buds start to swell which can happen even in January if we have abnormally warm weather. Peach leaf curl can occur on peaches, nectarines, and apricots with plum pockets occurring on wild and cultivated plums. These diseases are closely related and control can only be done in late fall and winter. Peach leaf curl is caused by the fungus Taphrina deromas. Infection can cause severe defoliation, weakened trees, and reduced fruit quality, set, and yield. It causes distinctive leave curling and puckering before defoliation. The symptoms may be on single leaves, portions of leaves, or entire branches. They are often times accompanied with red or purplish coloration, making them easy to spot. Plum pockets is caused by the fungus Taphrina communis and is closely related to the fungus causing peach leaf curl. Plum pockets infections cause tips of plum shoots to appear swollen and are often twisted and curled. Plum fruit will also appear swollen, misshapen, and have bladder like thick spongy flesh. The centers of the plum fruit will be hollow because of the lack of seed development caused by the fungus. Distortion of the leaves can occur as well. Infection of plum pockets and peach leaf curl occurs during spring or late winter just as buds begin to swell. Rain washes spores of the fungi to the surface of leaf buds where they multiply. Once bud scales loosen in the spring, the rain will continue to wash the spores onto newly forming leaves. The optimum temperature for infection is between 50 and 70
degrees Fahrenheit. Once the disease is spread in the spring and infection occurs, there is no further spread during the season, however by then the damage for the entire season has occurred. A single spray of a fungicide containing active ingredients chlorothalonil, copper hydroxide, copper oxychloride sulfate, copper sulfate + hydrated lime (Bordeaux mixture) or ziram should be made during the trees dormant period between leaf drop and bud swell in the spring. Late fall or early winter is a good time to spray because warm mid to late winter weather can cause premature bud swell and infection. Once infection occurs fungicide sprays are useless. Another option for peach leaf curl control is to plant disease tolerant varieties. Varieties derived from Redhaven have some tolerance, whereas Redskin types are more susceptible. If leaf curl has occurred, thin fruit heavily to reduce the demand on the remaining leaves and reduce drought stress by irrigation. Trees showing disease symptoms will tolerate infection better if provided with good growing conditions to offset leaf loss. Information for this article was derived from PPFS-FR-T-01, Peach Leaf Curl and Plum Pockets, By John Hartman and Paul Bachi
Continue picking off and destroying dry, shriveled, mummified fruits from plants to prevent carry-over of diseases such as brown rot of peaches and black rot of grapes.
Flowers
4
How to Have Beautiful
Clematis Blooms
by Lori Bowling Spring just wouldn't be the same without a clematis vine in full bloom. There aren’t too many gardeners who don’t have or don’t dream of having a trellis covered in brilliant red or majestic purple clematis blooms. And then there is the sweet autumn clematis with its intoxicating sweet fragrance. But there is one question many gardeners always ask, “How do I prune my clematis vine?” The truth is, your clematis will bloom without any pruning at all. However, if it is pruned correctly, it will grow and bloom more vigorously. Since we grow clematis for its blooms, we should strive to prune them correctly. Timing is very important when pruning your clematis vine. You never want to prune in the fall, the vine needs to stay dormant until spring and fall pruning can trigger a plant to break dormancy at the first sign of warm weather. The problem with this is that warm weather can occur in January and the new growth can’t take the return to winter weather and it will kill the plant. Before you start pruning you need to know what pruning category your clematis vine belongs to. There are three pruning groups: A, B, and C or sometimes called 1, 2, and 3. When you buy your plant, it may have a tag on it that will tell you this information. If it doesn’t, you can tell by watching what time of the season it blooms and noticing if it blooms on the woody stem that grew last year and survived the winter or if it blooms on green, flexible stems that come straight from the main stem. We will begin with the C or group 3 cultivars.
These include cultivars such as the sweet autumn clematis, ‘Jackmanii,’ and ‘Ville de Lyon.’ This group will die to the ground over the winter and if left unpruned it will flower only on the top with lots of last years dead foliage and bare stems showing down near the base. This group blooms on new growth so you need to cut the entire plant down each spring, if you don’t you will get smaller and fewer flowers each season. The next group will be B or group 2. This group usually includes the largeflowered doubles or rebloomers such as ‘Multi Blue,’ ‘Henryi’ and ‘Nelly Moser.’ The members of this group make a good companion to roses because of their pruning requirements. These plants bloom on old wood in the spring and in late summer smaller flowers will be produced on new wood. When the plants leaf out in the spring you want to remove any stems that have died back and do a light pruning to keep the vines trained to their trellis or structure. If your clematis doesn’t die back in the winter and blooms early in the spring it is probably an A or group 1 plant. Some of the more popular species in this group include C.armandii, C.alpina, and C.montana. These clematis will bloom in early spring on old wood. You should wait to do most of your pruning until after the main flowering has finished. If you prune too early you’ll cut off the flower buds. If you have a group A clematis that is not doing too well or is overgrown for its spot, it is probably due for a renovation pruning. This can be done after the vines flower. You should cut off almost all side branches, but leave the main vertical stem that fastens the plant to the trellis. The following spring the new growth that sprouts will have had time to mature and should flower normally.
If not already done, mul inch layer of pine boughsch over your perennial bed with a 6-8 layer of loose compost , pine needles or straw, or a thinner lilies and other perenniaor bark. Apply winter mulches around freeze. A 2½ inch layer ofl flowers after the ground begins to prevent "frost heaving" bark or woodchip mulch will help caused by freezing and the winter. thawing through
Upcoming Events Upcoming
Horticulture Events Jan. 8 Commercial Arborist, Landscaper, and Nursery Worker Seminar 859-586-6101 Boone County Extension Office Jan. 17 and Feb. 28 Winter Walks in the Arboretum 859-586-6101 Environmental and Nature Center, Union, KY Jan. 21 Commercial Growers Fruit and Vegetable Meeting 270-886-6328 Fairview Produce Auction, Fairview, KY Jan. 29 Lunch and Lecture: Gardening for Butterflies 502-695-9035 Franklin County Extension Office Jan. 30 The Dollars and Sense of Emerald Ash Borer lgrueber@frankfort.ky.gov (pre-registration required) Kentucky History Museum, Frankfort, KY Feb. 3 Veggies 101 hardinext.org Hardin County Extension Office Feb. 3 Home Based Microprocessor Workshop 859-873-4601 Woodford County Extension Office
Feb. 4 Commercial Pesticide Applicator Training 859-586-6101 Boone County Extension Office Feb. 11 Starting Seeds Indoors 859-586-6101 Boone County Extension Office Feb. 16 Pruning Fruit Trees in the Orchard 270-554-9520 Call for directions, Paducah, KY February 16, 6 pm (1st of 5 classes) Let’s Get Growin’ Monthly Garden Series Warren County Extension Office 270-842-1681 February 17, 1 pm GAP & Market Sampling Training Warren County Extension Office 270-842-1681 Feb. 24 Ash Tree Renovation 859-586-6101 Boone County Extension Office Feb. 25 & Mar. 3 Landscape Design (Two-Part Class) hardinext.org Hardin County Extension Office
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