Gardener News February 2018

TAKE ONE

Gardener News

February 2018

Serving the Agricultural, Gardening and Landscaping Communities

GARDENERNEWS.COM

TAKE ONE No. 178

Lawsuit filed over landscaper leaf blower ban

Tom Castronovo/Photo

David Johnson uses a gas-operated backpack blower to quickly clean up a property. a leaf blower ban in the Township of Maplewood in Essex County, N.J. The NJLCA, a nonprofit The New Jersey corporation existing under Landscape Contractors the laws of New Jersey, the Association (NJLCA), has largest landscape contractor filed a lawsuit opposing association in the state, which

By Tom Castronovo Executive Editor

had filed a lawsuit opposing the ban in Federal District Court in Newark on May 17, 2017 that was dismissed, re-filed its complaint on October 20, 2017.

But this time it included nine landscape

contractors that do business in Maplewood as co-plaintiffs. Those contractors include County to County Landscaping, Anthony’s Landscaping, Rick D’Addario Landscaping, Joe Zuzuro

Landscaping & Design, Glenn’s Landscaping, Miller’s Landscaping, Grounds for Improvement, Maplewood Tree Experts, and A&J Landscape Design, according to a copy of the (Cont. on Page 13) suit.

2 February 2018

G a r d e n C e n t e r D i r e c t o r y GardenerNews.com

Thank you for a wonderful 2017 season.

See you in March!

The Biondi Family

Celebrating Our 72nd Anniversary

601 Union Ave. Middlesex, NJ

GardenerNews.com

February 2018 3

4 February 2018 I recently attended the New York Produce Show and, in fact, have for several years now been honored to join in cutting the ceremonial ribbon to open the show floor.

At this show, held annually at New York’s Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, produce growers, purveyors and suppliers put on their fanciest polished productions of what they do in the world of fresh fruits and vegetables.

Befitting our nickname of the Garden State, New Jersey has a huge presence at this New York show. That makes sense, since millions of New York customers live just over New Jersey’s northern border or across the Hudson River.

You might think that, this being a produce show, the basic offerings would be arranged in simple displays, with order-takers on hand to facilitate the necessary steps to complete a sale. You might imagine there’d be sampling, discussions of shipping dates and haggling over pricing.

Then a signature is obtained and the deal is done, right?

After all, it is “just a food show.”

There was a time when it was that simple. Not anymore.

The food shows of today must

GardenerNews.com NJ Dept. of Agriculture

By Douglas H. Fisher Secretary of Agriculture

Putting the “show” in food shows make considerable additional efforts to be successful in getting these produce items to your hands, mouths, forks and spoons.

Consumer demand for any number of “staple” commodities may be somewhat predictable, but that is where the “routine” part of these shows ends. It seems now that every given category, for instance, has its varieties that take center stage.

This is to be expected, of course, since trends of what is “hot” in the world of food can change with lightning speed these days. This brings annual changes to what we want to eat, how we want to eat it, why we want it, where we want to be able to buy it, and what it can do for the people who consume it.

These shows are a fascinating look into how

trends emerge, change, enjoy their moment in the sun, and then change again.

For example, at this particular show, one vendor practically ran over to me to show me what seemed to be a half-peeled redskin potato.

Upon further examination, it turned out to be a new variety of a half-red/half-white tuber.

Yes, two varieties bred to be one, and carrying the best subtle and unique qualities in one potato. They are calling it “The Aztec.”

A skim through the “New Product Showcase” section of the show’s guidebook gave show attendees a good feel for how ethnic produce items are making their mark in the domestic marketplace, and not just in whole-produce form.

Among those items highlighted were an unusually large variety of exotic, foraged

Look Who’s Reading the Gardener News!

mushroom medleys, and Dracula Blood Oranges.

However, these shows today are not just rows and rows of new and improved products.

There are demonstrations by some of the most experienced executive chefs in the business. There also are educational sessions, and the titles give you an idea of just how detailed and researched the subjects are.

Titles included in this show were: “Where Consumers Shop and What Consumers Value: A Comparison Between Ethnic Groups”; “Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA): An Emerging System to Grow Fresh Produce in the Northeastern U.S.”; and “Disruptions in the Food Retail Landscape: Implications for Fresh Produce.”

The show even included bus tours to various retailers,

and not just those in New York.

Four New Jersey retailers – Shop Rite, Morton Williams, Kings/Short Hills, and Whole Foods Market – were part of a day-long bus tour as well.

So, look around the next time you’re shopping at your favorite supermarket, on-farm market, or other retailer to see if you can pick up on some of the strategic planning that goes into helping to influence your produce purchases.

With the P.T. Barnum biography film “The Greatest Showman” recently released, it strikes one that Barnum himself would be impressed with how much showmanship goes into what some might think of as “just a food show.”

Editor’s Note: Douglas H. Fisher is New Jersey’s Secretary of Agriculture.

He is the department’s executive officer, secretary to the State Board of Agriculture and a member of the Governor’s cabinet.

Secretary Fisher fulfills executive, management and administrative duties prescribed by law, executive order or gubernatorial direction. He can be reached at 609.292.3976.

For more info, please visit: http://www.state.nj.us/agriculture

morris county park commission

The FrelinghuysenArboretum 8th ANNUAL COMMUNITY GARDEN CONFERENCE*

Keynote speaker Charlie Monroe, President of the American Community Gardening Association. Sessions include weedless gardening, the seed business, seed-starting, growing strawberries, sustainability, pests and diseases, and more. It’s a full day of education, networking and camaraderie.

Lunch included.

This program eligible for 5.0 Rutgers Master Gardener CEU’s

Saturday, March 3, 9 am—4:30 pm • $50 before 2/1, $60 after 2/1.

Philadelphia flower show*

Leave the driving to us! The theme for this year is “Water,” with water-loving plants, fountains, waterfalls, and the Rainforest Central feature.

Monday, March 5 • $85

When gardens don’t heal*

Dr. Robert Lyons, former Director of Longwood Graduate Program in Public Horticulture, talks about his journey following personal loss and the role of gardens in the recovery process.

This program eligible for 1.5 Rutgers Master Gardener CEU’s

Saturday, March 17 • $30

It’s in the news

Tom Castronovo/Photo

American actor Randy Mantooth, who has worked in television, documentaries, theater, and film for more than 40 years, looks over a recent edition of the Gardener News while visiting the Garden State. Mantooth is best known for playing the lead role as paramedic John Gage in the 1970s medical drama, Emergency. Mantooth was discovered in New York by a Universal Studios talent agent while performing the lead in the play Philadelphia, Here I Come. After signing with Universal Studios and moving to California, he slowly built up his resume with work on such dramatic series as Adam-12 (1968), Marcus Welby, M.D. (1969), McCloud (1970) and Alias Smith and Jones (1971). Mantooth speaks regularly at Firefighter and EMS conferences and symposia across the United States, while still maintaining an active acting career.

Introduction to pressed botanicals workshop

Botanical Artist Beth Murphy guides participants in making a collage or bookmark with pressed leaves, flower petals, and grasses.

Fee includes materials.

Tuesday, March 20 • $40

353 East Hanover Avenue • Morris Township, New Jersey • 07960 Pre-registration is required for all programs

GardenerNews.com

February 2018 5

Support NJ Agriculture JERSEY GROWN

Nursery Stock JERSEY GROWN

Sunflower Birdseed JERSEY GROWN

Firewood

JERSEY GROWN

When you’re shopping for JERSEY GROWN nursery stock, you know the trees, shrubs, plants and flowers are checked for quality, disease, are pest free, and accustomed to the Garden State’s climate and soil conditions.

Annuals & Perennials Made With

JERSEY GROWN

Wood Birdhouses & Bird Feeders

Governor Phil Murphy Secretary of Agriculture Douglas H. Fisher

jerseygrown.nj.gov

6 February 2018

R U T G ER S N J AE S / R C E

Let Happiness Grow from Your Garden at the 42nd Annual Rutgers Home Gardeners School Horticulture experts, handpicked by the Office of Continuing Professional Education, to offer a unique learning experience for gardeners, including 38 workshops [19 new] and hands-on demonstrations Whether your outdoor plans include festive gatherings with friends or peaceful moments of solitude, get your yard or garden ready with expert training at the 42nd Annual Rutgers Home Gardeners School. Registration is now open for this once-a-year event, which will be held on Saturday, March 17, 2018, from 9 a.m.- 4 p.m., at the Rutgers University Cook/Douglass campus in New Brunswick, N.J. The Home Gardeners School is made up of 38 individual workshop sessions that cover a wide array of horticulture topics.

This format allows attendees to select the workshops that are most relevant to their gardening interests so as to create their own unique, customized schedule for a fun day of learning. Expert speakers from commercial horticulture and landscape design firms, as well as faculty and staff from Rutgers Cooperative Extension (RCE), provide attendees with the opportunity to learn from highly-respected professionals with a wealth of experience.

Kicking off this year’s Home Gardeners School is a new demonstration workshop called “Easy Garden Walkway Ideas.”

This demo will teach you the A-B-C’s of walkway techniques including base preparation, installation, and natural walkway material options. Another new workshop is “Welcoming Migrating Birds Back to Your Yard this Spring,” in which participants will learn how to create landscapes that provide food, shelter, and nesting for our native avian visitors. Also new is a workshop that deals with those tricky spaces that almost every yard and gardener has to contend with: spots with unusual growing conditions. In “Unique Plants for Unique Spaces,” attendees will hear about these areas and the plants that will grow successfully in them.

Other new workshops for 2018 include Organic, Low Maintenance Landscape Care, Designing Intimate Gardens, Easy Breezy Succulents, Growing Tropicals in Containers, Beds and Borders, Growing the Perfect Jersey Tomato, to name a few. With a total of 21 new or revised workshops this year, you are guaranteed a day of learning experiences that will give you a garden your neighbors will envy.

This year there will be two new keynote presentations happening simultaneously during lunch. In “Keeping Your Pets Safe and Happy Outdoors,” Brian Voynick, DVM CVA (Owner/ Director, American Animal Hospital and Host of The Pet Stop on News 12 New Jersey) will offer suggestions and solutions for creating a safe and happy space for your beloved pets. Nicholas Polanin, County Agricultural Agent, RCE of Somerset County will present “The Rutgers Master Gardener Program - 34 Years and Growing Strong.” Polanin will discuss the history of this great program as well as how you can join this exclusive community of “green thumb” volunteers.

The registration fee for this event is $85, but a special early registration discounted price of $70 is being offered through February 28. An additional discounted fee of $60 is available for Master Gardeners (certificate required) through February 28, as well. Participants can purchase a convenient $13 box lunch when registering or bring their own bag lunch. Pre-registration is strongly recommended.

Continuing our tradition of altruism this year, the Home Gardeners School organizers invite attendees to bring food donations to the event. These items will be distributed to New Jersey families in need through Rutgers Against Hunger (RAH), a universitywide initiative working to address the issues of hunger across the state. Look for the RAH table (look for green bins) to make your non-perishable canned or boxed (no items in glass, please!) donation.

New this year, we are also inviting participants to donate items for our furry friends to benefit Happy Paws Rescue (a 501(3)(c) organization focused on rescue and adoption in the New Brunswick area) and Scarlet Paws Rescue (a 501(3)(c) non-profit collaboration of Rutgers staff, faculty, students and community volunteers that rescues stray animals on the Rutgers campus).

Find their tables to drop off your donations of unopened dry dog or cat food, treats, chews, toys, collars/leashes, waste bags and gift cards, etc.

For more information or to register for Home Gardeners School, visit www.cpe.rutgers.edu/hgs or call the Rutgers Office of Continuing Professional Education at 848-932-9271.

GardenerNews.com

From the Director’s Desk

Rutgers Outreach Provided by Larry S. Katz, Ph.D. Director

From the Food Science Lab: Is the Five-Second Rule Real?

In March 2014, I saw an article in the popular press indicating that researchers from Aston University in the United Kingdom had “proved the five second rule was real.”

We’ve been studying microbial cross-contamination in my lab for more than 15 years, and I have considered myself a quantitative food microbiologist for my entire career. Given those two observations, it’s only natural that I be interested in an article like this. But when I reached out for more information, I learned the research had not been peer-reviewed, and the best that they could offer was a PowerPoint presentation.

A PowerPoint presentation is not real science.

I had a brand-new graduate student starting in my lab, and she needed a research project. We worked together to design an appropriate series of studies that would advance our understanding of microbial cross-contamination while at the same time could generate a press release that might get a little bit of attention. Like any good scientists, we built on the work of others. We acknowledged non-peer-reviewed work from other institutions that paved the way – like high school student Jillian Clarke in Hans Blaschek’s lab at the University of Illinois. We also acknowledged the first peer-reviewed research on the five-second rule from Paul Dawson’s lab at Clemson University.

We submitted our article to the journal Applied and Environmental Microbiology and, after peer review and appropriate revisions, our article was accepted for publication.

We studied four different foods: watermelon, bread, bread with butter, and gummy candy. We also studied four different surfaces: stainless steel, wood, tile, and carpet.

We put high concentrations of a harmless microorganism on all four types of surfaces, and then dropped each of these foods onto those surfaces for different lengths of time (a fraction of a second, five seconds, 30 seconds, and five minutes). We repeated each individual experiment at least 20 times.

So, is the five-second rule real? What I can tell you is we did not see even a single experiment where at least a few bacteria did not transfer to the food. This means there is no “safe” amount of time where you can be assured that bacteria will not transfer.

I should also tell you that we saw much more transfer of bacteria to a wet food like watermelon. We saw virtually 100 percent of the bacteria transfer to watermelon from almost all of the surfaces, even when the contact time was only a fraction of a second. We also found that there was surprisingly little difference in transfer to bread versus bread with butter. We saw the least amount of transfer to the gummy candy. We think this is because it is the driest of the foods we tested, and based on our findings with watermelon, as well as other published research from our lab and elsewhere, the presence of water dramatically promotes bacterial transfer.

I also want to tell you that we did not see much difference at all between tile, wood, and stainless steel. We did see significantly less transfer from carpet surface. Now, before you run out and carpet your kitchen, I should explain those findings a bit further.

Because we deliberately put very high concentrations of bacteria in a liquid solution onto all of the surfaces, when we inoculated the carpet, most of the bacteria soaked down into the carpet instead of remaining on the topmost layer. This was in contrast to the other surfaces, where all of the bacteria remained on the surface, even after the liquid evaporated. Because the foods tended to contact only the topmost layer of the carpet, many of the bacteria never contacted the foods, and therefore never had the opportunity to transfer.

We also saw that for some combinations of foods and surfaces, we did see increased transfer over time. So, while the five-second rule is not true, it might be true that the longer a food sits on the surface, the more bacteria might transfer. We’re not sure exactly why this happens, but it might have something to do with the force of gravity causing a greater surface-area-to-surface-area contact over time as the food sits on the surface.

Our science garnered quite a bit of media attention, and thousands of articles mentioning our research were published around the world. The New York Times did a particularly nice piece interviewing me as well as my colleagues Bill Hallman (Rutgers University) and Doug Powell (Barfblog.com).

It was a fun ride, but it’s been nice to get back to my typical Extension Specialist job: providing advice to the food industry and helping my graduate students learn how to do research.

Editor’s note: This month’s column is written by Dr. Donald Schaffner, Distinguished Professor and Extension Specialist in Food Science at Rutgers School of Environmental and Biological Sciences.

GardenerNews.com

R U T G ER S N J AE S / R C E

A Treetop Cactus

The cold temperatures of February often redirect a gardener’s focus indoors, whether to study seed catalogues or to shop for new houseplants.

One plant group that I have avoided for indoor display is the cactus family or Cactaceae; their threatening spines and rather stark appearance lack the lush feeling I personally desire from houseplants.

Oddly, about 10 percent of the world’s cactus population is epiphytic, residing in treetops throughout tropical regions of the world. The treetops of Central and South America are home to the 36 species of a most appealing houseplant that fails to resemble its cactus cousins – Rhipsalis, or Mistletoe Cactus.

Rhipsalis was first described in 1788 by the German botanist Joseph Gaertner (1732-1791). The name is derived from the Greek Rhips or Rhipos meaning “wickerwork,” and refers to the flexibility of the branches.

Each branch divides several times at its tip, yielding a mass of intertwining stems that are circular in crosssection and lack any foliage.

The stems are pendant, extending downward from one to several feet depending upon the species.

It is the cascading branches and its epiphytic habit that provides the resemblance to the parasitic Mistletoe Plant.

Of the species available, Rhipsalis piliocarpa is a very attractive species for the home that is native to Southeastern Brazil. It was originally named Erythrorhipsalis piliocarpa in 1903 by Johan Albert Constantine Löfgren (1854-1908), a Swedishborn Brazilian botanist who chaired the botany department at the Rio de Janeiro Botanical Garden.

It was properly named in 1920 by Alwin Berger (18711931) who specialized in the study of Agave and Cacti.

Unique to this species are the numerous hairs along the green and burgundy colored stems.

Cactus plants have areoles or raised “growths” along

the stems from which the spines typically arise. For this species, the areoles produce small hairs, giving the plant a soft, fuzzy appearance. To further enhance its ornamental merits, a bountiful display of flowers extend from December into January, with the flowers appearing at both points along the stems and the tips.

The flowers are lightly fragrant and typically one to 1¼ inches in diameter. The half-inch-long petals are translucent white in color with a red base, and a blush of red towards the tips. At the center of the flower, a multitude of airy white male anthers appear, through the center of which emerge four to eight radially arranged stigmas, looking very much like a miniature flower. The flowers are followed by red berries that also sport hairs and inspired the species name, since pilos is Latin for hair and carpa means fruit.

Another species that I have seen used effectively in hanging baskets is Rhipsalis baccifera. Originally described as Cassytha baccifera in 1771 by the Swedish botanist

Introduction to Organic Land Care: Certificate Course

The 4 day Rutgers Organic Land Care Certificate Course provides education to landscapers and land care providers on organic practices for promoting healthy soil, enhancing biodiversity, and reducing polluted runoff from managed landscapes.

More than 20 university and industry experts share their experience of how to successfully transition a landscape to organic management and add organic services to a business.

Course Dates: February 5, 6, 12, and 13, 2018 (Snow date- February 15) Time: 8am- 5pm Fee: $500 4000 Kozloski Rd, Freehold, NJ 07728-4364 More information available at http://njaes.rutgers.edu/organiclandcare

NJAES Hosts Introductory Tour of NJ Agriculture for Chancellor Dutta New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station (NJAES) executive director Robert Goodman and research director Brad Hillman led an introductory tour of New Jersey agriculture and NJAES off-campus research facilities for Chancellor of Rutgers–New Brunswick, Debasish Dutta, on December 5. The tour began with a visit to Readington River Buffalo Farm in Flemington, where owner and son of the farm’s founders, Erick Doyle, presented his agricultural operation. Doyle, who is a member of the New Jersey State Board of Agriculture, raises American Bison and practices agritourism.

At nearby Rutgers Snyder Research and Extension Farm in Pittstown, Dutta was given an overview of the facility by director John Grande and farm supervisor Ed Dager. Over lunch, Department of Plant Biology members, distinguished professor Jim Simon and associate professor Tom Molnar, discussed their breeding projects, which are bringing new products on stream for New Jersey growers while enhancing existing crop lines as well as offering new niche markets.

The tour concluded at Beneduce Vineyards, a family operation in Pittstown that practices sustainable farming methods. Family member and the winery’s event director, Justen Beneduce Hiles, is a 2008 graduate of Rutgers School of Environmental and Biological Sciences.

Dutta, a strong proponent of the land-grant mission, acknowledged that supporting statewide agriculture is an integral part of the land-grant system and he will be engaged in learning more about NJAES research and extension. Upcoming tours for Chancellor Dutta will cover southern/coastal and central New Jersey farms and off-campus research stations and extension offices.

Daniel Carlsson Solander (1733-1782), it was not until 1939 with William Thomas Stern (1911-2001), a selftaught botanist and author of over 400 plants, correctly named the plant.

It has a much coarser texture than the previous species with more diminutive quarter-inch diameter flowers that appear later in the winter.

The white fruits that follow are also near a quarter inch in diameter and, as above, served as the source of the species name since Bacci or Bacca is Latin for “bearing berries.”

Culturally, Rhipsalis prefers an eastern window as the stems will scorch in full sun. The plants will survive in a north window as well, but without some direct sunlight, the less likely they are to flower.

The soils should mimic the highly organic and welldrained duff that accumulates in the crotches of trees in the tropics, such as a conventional peat or compost-based potting media. Rhipsalis can dry out thoroughly between watering, although setting the containers

February 2018 7 on a bed of water filled pebbles will help raise the much-needed humidity levels.

The interesting green and burgundy cascading stems of Mistletoe Cactus provide a wonderful touch of the tropics to the winter homestead and to the shady garden come summer. Far from resembling the typical cactus, these easily maintained, long lived and very dramatic cacti should no longer remain just a treetop dweller, but rather a table top tradition.

Editor’s Note: Bruce Crawford is a lover of plants since birth; is the managing director of the Rutgers Gardens, a 180-acre outdoor teaching classroom, horticultural research facility and arboretum; an adjunct professor in Landscape Architecture at the Rutgers School of Environmental and Biological Sciences; regularly participates in the Rutgers – Continuing Education Program; and the immediate pastpresident of the Garden State Gardens Consortium. He can be reached at (732) 932-8451. For more information, please visit www.rutgersgardens.rutgers.edu

Rutgers Cooperative Extension Phone Directory Atlantic County Phone: 609-625-0056 Bergen County Phone: 201-336-6780 Burlington County Phone: 609-265-5050 Camden County Phone: 856 216 7130 Cape May County Phone: 609-465-5115 Cumberland County Phone: 856-451-2800 Essex County Phone: 973-228-2210 Gloucester County Phone: 856-307-6450 Hudson County Phone: 201-915-1399 Hunterdon County Phone: 908-788-1339 Mercer County Phone: 609-989-6830

Middlesex County Phone: 732-398-5260 Monmouth County Phone: 732-431-7260 Morris County Phone: 973-285-8300 Ocean County Phone:732-349-1246 Passaic County Phone: 973-305-5740 Salem County Phone: 856-769-0090 Somerset County Phone: 908-526-6293 Sussex County Phone: 973-948-3040 Union County Phone: 908-654-9854 Warren County Phone: 908-475-6505

8 February 2018

GardenerNews.com

SIGNED: Addiego/Oroho Bill to Promote Local Agriculture Legislation sponsored by Senators Dawn Addiego (R- Burlington, Camden, Atlantic) and Steven Oroho (R-Morris, Sussex, Warren) allowing counties to create labels to help promote local agricultural products has been signed into law.

Based on the success of the “Jersey Fresh” marketing program, the legislation (S-2444) authorizes New Jersey counties to create, adopt, and issue their own promotional labels to market agricultural products that are grown, processed, or produced in a specific county.

“There is no denying that the Jersey Fresh program has been a resounding success,” Addiego said. “Now our farms, wineries, and momand-pop shops will have the opportunity to localize this initiative. Creating ‘made in your county’ labels is a great way to encourage our residents to shop local and support the business owners right in their own backyard.”

According to the New Jersey Department of Agriculture, food and agriculture account for the state’s third-largest industry, with 9,000 farms totaling 720,000 acres. The Garden State is a national top-ten producer of fruits and vegetables, with a wide range of products from eggplants to blueberries.

“Farming has a long tradition of providing the Garden State with over 100 different fresh fruits and vegetables,” Oroho added. “This new law will help advance local farm-to-table initiatives and enhance efforts to encourage residents to buy locally grown fruits, vegetables, eggs, and many other neighborhood products.”

SIGNED: Bateman Bill to Protect Bees From Pesticides

Legislation sponsored by Senator Christopher “Kip” Bateman (R-Mercer, Somerset, Hunterdon, Middlesex) to protect the state’s apiaries from pesticides by establishing beehive registries and a notification protocol has been signed into law.

“New Jersey wouldn’t be the Garden State without the help it gets from its bee population,” Senator Bateman said. “We can’t risk losing these important pollinators to pesticides. The work they do for New Jersey’s farmers is too important.”

The legislation, S-2076, establishes a process by which beekeepers can register their honey or native beehives or beeyards with the DEP. It also requires pesticide applicators to notify any registered beekeeper before they spray a pesticide within three miles of a registered hive. The registrations will allow the DEP to create a list of beehives that can be used as a guideline for the notification process.

Insect pollination services and pollination by bees in particular are extremely important to New Jersey’s agricultural industry. Pollination by animals is required in the production of many crop varieties, and pollination by bees can actually lead to the improved quality of a crop. The pollinating bee population has been declining over the last few years, and according to the United States Environmental Protection Agency, the use of certain pesticides might be responsible.

“Pesticides play an important role in our mosquito control operations, but we can’t risk losing pollinating bees in the process,” Senator Bateman said. “This new law will help ensure the Garden State has a healthy population of bees for years to come.”

2018 New Jersey State

Agricultural Convention February 7-8, 2018

Harrah’s Resort & Waterfront Conference Center, Atlantic City • http://nj.gov/agriculture/conventions/2018

SIGNED: Smith Bill Providing Protection for Food Donation

Legislation sponsored by Senator Bob Smith intended to expand liability protections for food donation and gleaning activities was signed into law.

“Huge volumes of food are wasted each day, while many people in the United States and in New Jersey go to sleep hungry,” said Senator Smith (D-Middlesex/Somerset). “As a state, we need to reduce food waste and for those who have the best intention of donating food to the needy, removing the complexities of the law to provide commonsense protections is the intent of this legislation. Ultimately, wasting food does not make economic or environmental sense.”

The new law, S-3026, clarifies and expands liability protection for food donors and gleaners to donations made to any person. The law would also provide protections for donations of food which has passed its “best by” or similar date but still appears to be fit for human consumption and expand the protections regardless of any laws regulating the quality of food labeling. Under the law, nonprofit organizations that collect or glean agricultural food for the purposes of feeding needy people would not be held liable for damages in any civil action due to the presence or activity of the organization or volunteers unless the damage is a direct result of a gross negligence, recklessness or knowing misconduct of the nonprofit organization or volunteer. The law would also require the Department of Agriculture to prepare and publish on its Internet website a guidance document that provides information on the State and federal liability protections available for food donations, gleaning, and other related activities.

Americans waste a shocking amount of food every year with as much as 40 percent of the food in the U.S. going uneaten. This accounts for 160 billion pounds of food wasted each year. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture these statistics are made even worse when you consider that 42.2 million Americans live in food insecure households.

S-3026 cleared the Assembly with a vote of 65-0-0. It cleared the Senate with a vote of 32-0.

Survey: Higher Percentage of Consumers Prefer to purchase Jersey Fresh Produce The New Jersey Department of Agriculture’s Jersey Fresh Consumer Awareness Study is showing that more people want Jersey Fresh produce when they shop for food. The more than 800 people that responded to the survey indicated a stronger preference for local food than ever before.

The poll showed that 72 percent are more likely to purchase Jersey Fresh labeled products, up from 62 percent last year and an all-time high. Also, 64 percent of the respondents said they are likely to ask for Jersey Fresh if they don’t see it in the store, up 11 percent from last year.

“More consumers are valuing the importance of purchasing locally grown produce than ever before,” said New Jersey Secretary of Agriculture Douglas H. Fisher. “Our farmers consistently harvest the highest quality fruits and vegetables and people recognize that and ask for Jersey Fresh wherever they shop. Locally grown food is good for the consumer and for the farmer.”

People are also seeing the Jersey Fresh brand at higher levels than in previous years. For example, 69 percent reported seeing Jersey Fresh tomatoes this year (up from 59 percent the last year); 54 percent reported seeing Jersey Fresh sweet corn (up from 43 percent last year); and 50 percent reported seeing Jersey Fresh blueberries (up 13 percent from the year prior).

Also, consumers were asked to indicate whether they thought Jersey Fresh products were better than the same products from other states and 79 percent reported that Jersey Fresh tomatoes are better, up from 75 percent the year prior; 76 percent said Jersey Fresh sweet corn is superior, up from 70 percent the year before; and 67 percent said Jersey Fresh blueberries are better, up 8 percent from the previous year.

More people are also keeping up to date by following Jersey Fresh on social media. Nine-percent of those polled already follow Jersey Fresh on social media which means they receive updates and content about Jersey Fresh produce.

New Jersey ranks in the top 10 in the nation in the production of several crops, including peaches, blueberries, cranberries, tomatoes, bell peppers, cucumbers, squash, eggplant, asparagus, and apples.

To learn more about Jersey Fresh, go to www.jerseyfresh.nj.gov.

GardenerNews.com

February 2018 9 Around The Garden

By Tom Castronovo Gardener News

Rainforests to rain gardens at PHS Philadelphia Flower Show

MVP

WEB DESIGN

Need a Website?

Need Graphic Design Work?

Call or email me today doug@mvpwebdesign.com (678) 327-8185

Website Design Services E-Commerce Websites Graphic Design Ad Design Website Maintenance Photoshop Work

FAST TURNAROUND

I Take Pride in Providing Great Customer Service & Reasonable Prices

Call or visit our site today for a FREE quote or consultation

www.mvpwebdesign.com (678) 327-8185

This month I’m going to share with you how the 2018 Pennsylvania Horticultural Society (PHS) Philadelphia Flower Show, “Wonders of Water,” will celebrate the beauty and life-sustaining interplay of horticulture and water, on March 3 to 11, 2018, at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in the heart of Philadelphia on Arch Street.

America’s leading floral and garden designers will create tropical rainforests, temperate forests, native woodlands and arid landscapes, showcasing the astounding plants that thrive in each environment, from exquisite orchids and flowering vines to luminescent desert blooms.

I’m told that guests will enter the show under a canopy of exotic flowers, and marvel at a modernistic, multi-level bamboo waterfall. An evershifting rain curtain will guide guests over a “suspended” rope bridge, and through a brilliant green rainforest.

Special features of this show will explore innovative ways green infrastructure is used to protect and conserve our water sources. The William Penn Foundation has awarded a major grant to the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society to build an exhibit that illuminates how plant systems cleanse and sustain the Delaware River Watershed through mountains, fields, marshes and streams, and to convene a “Water Summit” at the Show that engages leading environmental and industry experts from throughout the U.S. on freshwater issues and real-world solutions.

Gardeners of all skill levels will find water-wise concepts, including rain gardens and xeriscaping, plant-your-own experiences, and ideas they can use in their own home environment, from small urban spaces to expansive landscapes.

Kathleen Gagan, the 2017 Gardener News Person the Year, will be there every day showcasing her peony farm and sharing her educational peony wisdom with everyone

who stops by her booth to see her.

A new attraction, “America’s Backyard,” will offer smart ideas for outdoor living and conservation tips for the home garden. Guests can create their own mini-water garden or floral headpiece in the “Make & Take” workshop, and interact with the delicate inhabitants of “Butterflies Live.” Maybe you’ll see Gardener News columnist Jeannie Geremia around this exhibit. Special evening events will include the blacktie Preview Party and Flowers After Hours, a lively opening night dance party amid the exhibits.

The show will also bring together thousands of plant lovers who compete for blue ribbons in the Hamilton Horticourt. Their contributions to the Show, together with thousands of volunteers who help create this beauty in the middle of winter, are what make the Philadelphia Flower Show an attraction without peer.

The 2018 show hours are: Saturday, March 3, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday, March 4, 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday-Friday, March 5-9: 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Saturday, March 10, 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday, March 11, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.

The PHS Philadelphia Flower Show is the nation’s largest and longest-running horticultural event, and features stunning displays by the world’s premier floral and landscape designers. Started in 1829 by the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, the show introduces diverse and sustainable plant varieties and garden and design concepts.

In addition to the major garden displays, the Flower Show hosts world-renowned competitions in horticulture and artistic floral arranging, gardening presentations and demonstrations, special events, and the citywide Bloom Philly celebration.

The Philadelphia Flower Show has been honored as

the best event in the world by the International Festivals & Events Association, competing with events such as the Kentucky Derby Festival, Tournament of Roses Parade, Indianapolis 500 Festival, and other international celebrations.

For more information about the PHS Philadelphia Flower Show and to purchase tickets, visit theflowershow.com, and follow the show on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

The PHS is a not-forprofit organization, founded in 1827, whose programs connect people to horticulture, and collaboratively creates beautiful, healthy and sustainable communities.

PHS’s best known activities include the Philadelphia Flower Show, street tree planting and maintenance, community gardening, public beautification, and the PHS Pop Up Gardens. PHS is supported by individual members and supporters, foundations, partners and government grants. PHS programs bring together people from diverse backgrounds to engage in horticultural projects that advance social equity, environmental sustainability, and urban livability. For information and to support their work, visit PHSonline.org.

This year, over a quartermillion guests are expected to attend the show. I hope to see as many of you as possible at the show. And remember, every garden needs water.

Editor’s Note: Tom Castronovo is executive editor and publisher of Gardener News. Tom’s lifelong interest in gardening and passion for agriculture, environmental stewardship, gardening and landscaping, led to the founding of the Gardener News, which germinated in April 2003 and continues to bloom today. He is also dedicated to providing inspiration, and education to the agricultural, gardening and landscaping communities through this newspaper and GardenerNews.com.

10 February 2018

GardenerNews.com

North Jersey Ornamental Horticulture Symposium For the 57th year, a team of Rutgers New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station (NJAES) Cooperative Extension County Agents sponsored the North Jersey Ornamental Horticulture Symposium in cooperation with the County College of Morris in Randolph, Morris County, N.J. The 2018 educational programs (Turf Day, January 8; Tree Day, January 9; and Landscape Day, January 10) featured speakers who are leading experts from Cooperative Extension, state government and private industry.

Hundreds of industry attendees earned a variety of pesticide credits each day they attended.

The 2019 dates for the North Jersey Ornamental Tom Castronovo/Photo Horticulture Symposium are scheduled for Madeline Flahive DiNardo, left, Union County Extension Department Head; Pete Nitzsche, center, Morris County January 7-9.

Extension Department Head; and Jan Zientek, Essex County Extension Department Head, at the registration table.

2018 Gypsy Moth Spray Program Announced The New Jersey Department of Agriculture (NJDA) has proposed spraying approximately 4,000 acres of residential and county owned properties in Burlington, Morris, Passaic and Warren counties this year to combat the tree-killing gypsy moth caterpillar. The NJDA’s spray program in 2017 resulted in a decrease in the number of acres proposed for spraying this year about an 80 percent reduction from the 2016 proposed spraying program.

“We are pleased to announce that last spring’s applications continue to decrease the gypsy moth caterpillar populations in many areas across the State,” said New Jersey Secretary of Agriculture Douglas H. Fisher. “We will continue to act by treating the most impacted areas to minimize tree damage and nuisance to homeowners in the coming years.”

The NJDA held an informational session in Trenton on January 3 to outline its 2018 Aerial Gypsy Moth Suppression program. Egg mass surveys were conducted from August to December in 2017.

The municipalities of Tabernacle in Burlington County, Jefferson Township in Morris County, Ringwood Borough and West Milford in Passaic County, and Blairstown and Hardwick townships in Warren County are recommended for treatment.

Participation in the program is voluntary. If the towns agree, spraying would take place in May and June. To qualify for the spray program, a residential or recreational forest must have an average of more than 500 egg masses per acre and be at least 50 acres in size. A single egg mass contains up to 1,000 eggs.

In 2017, the NJDA’s spray program included 4,500 acres in 11 municipalities in Cape May, Morris, Ocean, Passaic, Sussex and Warren counties to combat the tree-killing gypsy moth caterpillar. Both treatments and defoliation are down due to a combination of effective treatments in 2017 and sporadic E. maimaiga (gypsy moth fungus), reducing the populations especially in the northern counties of the state.

In 2016, the NJDA’s spray program included 20,355 acres in 27 municipalities and one county park system in Cape May, Salem, Hunterdon, Morris, Passaic, Sussex and Warren counties.

The NJDA and Department of Environmental Protection use Bacillus thuringiensis (B.t.) to combat gypsy moth. It is a biological insecticide that kills the gypsy moth caterpillar when ingested.

Two to three consecutive years of significant defoliation (defined as 75 percent or more) can kill an otherwise healthy tree. However, any gypsy moth defoliation can make trees more susceptible to other damage that can lead to the death of the tree. Oak trees are the preferred host for gypsy moths, but the caterpillars can be found feeding on almost any tree in the vicinity.

For more information on New Jersey’s gypsy moth suppression program, visit: www.nj.gov/ agriculture/divisions/pi/prog/gypsymoth.html. Also, for national gypsy moth material, visit www.na.fs. fed.us/fhp/gm/.

GardenerNews.com

February 2018 11

NJ Agricultural Society

By Al Murray Executive Director

Thoughts of Gardens During Bleak Winter Days “If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need.” – Marcus Tullius Cicero, Roman Statesman 106 BC – 43 BC. These words ring true today just as they were when first recorded over 2,000 years ago. Even though winter has settled in, and our gardens currently lie asleep under the snow, a good book by a roaring fire and a glass of a favorite beverage help while away these long, frigid nights.

The seed catalogs are arriving, and it is enjoyable to peruse them and imagine next summer’s garden.

Before long, tender shoots will be emerging in our indoor trays, waiting for the first sunny days of spring to be safely moved outside.

Meanwhile, down on the farm, New Jersey’s agricultural industry is humming along; despite the appearance of silent, barren fields all over the state. The adage of a duck on a lake comes to mind. While the duck looks docile on the water, under the surface, the legs are paddling furiously.

Tractors and equipment are being repaired and repainted. Chores that were ignored during the busy summer season are being completed. Best of all, a walk through a farmer’s greenhouse already shows signs of a new, Jersey Fresh season!

I recently toured a couple greenhouses owned by some farmer friends in Vineland, N.J. What a wonderful respite from the cold dreary outside, to be in a warm, humid, brightly lit environment looking over the various spring vegetable crops that will be transplanted in mid-

March (weather permitting).

Romaine, Red Leaf, Green Leaf, Boston and other lettuces destined to be transplanted into nearby fields are already poking up in their trays.

In another week, summer items such as yellow and green squash, peppers, and our world-famous Jersey Tomatoes will be seeded in trays to begin their growing process. If New Jersey’s agricultural industry was a Hollywood production, the promo ads would read, “Jersey Fresh – growing soon in a field near you!”

And I can’t wait.

Here at the New Jersey Agricultural Society, our programs are also very active. One program I wish to highlight this month, is Learning Through Gardening. The program works with participating New Jersey elementary schools with financial, educational, and agricultural resources to create a school garden which is used as a living-learning laboratory.

Students grow a variety of plants, and some even grow the ingredients that will be used for a future “Pizza Party.” Teachers are encouraged to use the school garden to teach their standard curricula, including math, science, social studies and language arts. Lesson plans are even provided on the Learning Through Gardening website. There are grant programs to help provide resources to schools interested in participating in the program.

Participating students have the opportunity to learn how healthy, nutritious food is produced, why it is important to include fruits and vegetables in their diets, and reasons to care for their

environment. They are also taught responsibility through the care and nurturing of the garden.

Another bonus? What elementary school age child doesn’t like to play in the dirt?

The program, is now in its 15th year. The current director, Ms. Carolyn Taylor, had developed a truly outstanding program that helps students begin a life-long appreciation of gardening and agriculture, through a variety of creative and fun lesson projects. One advantage of this program, is that it can be implemented any time during the year, it does not rely on the growing season.

Last week, Ms. Taylor told me that she was working with a school where the students were creating a “rice paddy in a bucket.” Not only would the students be constructing an artificial “paddy” and grow rice, but would also learn about the vital role this important grain plays to feed our world.

Other lessons include over 20 creative activities including: “Parts of a seed” – learning the parts of a seed by dissecting a germinated lima bean, making “Mud Shakes” to learn about soil, “What makes stuff rot” – how compost works, “Good Bugs, Bad Bugs” in the garden, and how to create a worm bin.

The New Jersey Agricultural Society sponsors this program solely through grants and donations. Currently, we have more interest than available financial resources.

If you want to help support this worthwhile program, please visit our link on The Gardener News website.

Editor’s Note: Al Murray is the Executive Director of the New Jersey Agricultural Society.

Established in 1781, the Society is New Jersey's oldest organization whose purpose is to advocate, educate and promote on behalf of New Jersey's agricultural industry. Mr. Murray previously spent his entire career at the NJ Department of Agriculture, serving as the Assistant Secretary. He can be reached at njagriculturalsociety@gmail.com

NYAA Named Business of the Year by New York State Agricultural Society New York Apple Association (NYAA) has been named Business of the Year (2018) by the New York State Agricultural Society (NYSAS). The award is presented annually in recognition of quality, leadership and innovation in production agriculture and agribusiness in New York state.

NYAA received the award at a ceremony held Thursday, January 4 in Syracuse.

“NYAA is pleased and honored to receive this notable acknowledgment,” said NYAA President & CEO Cynthia Haskins. “To be recognized by the New York State Agricultural Society is one of our Association’s finest highlights and we are proud with gratitude.”

NYAA represents New York’s 700 apple growers and its mission is to promote the state’s apple industry and its prominent place as the second largest apple producing state in the nation.

“This award recognizes qualities New York growers, board members and staff demonstrate daily in their commitment to promoting New York apples,” said NYAA Board Chairman Jason Woodworth of Lamont Fruit Farm, Inc. (District 6 – Orleans County).

NYAA works closely with retailers across the country to promote New York apples, ciders and sauces, offering advertisements, custom promotions and exclusive online content. The association also markets directly to consumers using television, radio, billboards and social media to communicate the distinctive flavor of all New York varieties.

Similarly, NYAA’s website – www.nyapplecountry.com -promotes New York farm markets, cideries and ‘you-pick’ operations where New York apples are grown and sold.

NYAA also links local apple suppliers to schools and other foodservice operations.

The Business of the Year Award was first awarded in 2001 to Wegman’s Food Markets. Agribusinesses recognized with the award through the years include: Canandaigua Wine, O-At-Ka Dairy Cooperative, Stewart’s Shops, Dairylea Cooperative, Inc. Marshman Farms, I.L. Richer Company, Inc., Nelson Farms at Morrisville State College, Carolina Eastern-Vail, Inc., Cayuga Marketing, Hudson Valley Fresh, Eden Valley Growers, Inc., Chobani, Farm Credit East and Upstate Niagara Cooperative, Inc. A nonprofit agricultural trade association based in Fishers, N.Y., NYAA represents the state’s commercial apple growers. The association supports profitable growing and marketing of New York apples through increasing demand for apples and apple products, representing the industry at state and federal levels, and serving as the primary information source on New York apple-related matters. For more information, visit www.nyapplecountry.com.

NYAA Executive Assistant Joan Willis, left; Richard A. Ball, New York Commissioner of Agriculture & Markets, second from left; NYAA President & CEO Cynthia Haskins, center; NYAA Public Relations Manager Tami Bacon, second from right; and John Clark, Vice President Northeast Agribusiness & Feed Alliance, sponsor of the Business of the Year award.

12 February 2018

GardenerNews.com

February 28, 2018

8:00 am - 3:30 pm Meadowlands Exposition Center 355 Plaza Drive, Secaucus, NJ 07094

Hit the Jackpot at Landscape NJ!

Business Workshops

Pesticide Credits

Equipment and supplies

Trade Show Education

• The One-Two Punch for Spotted Lanternfly Control (NJ & NY Credits) • Hardscaping for Profits • What’s in Your Bag of Fertilizer (NJ Credits) • How to Create Winning Marketing Content • Your Potential Impact on Ground Water (NJ & NY Credits) • Drainage for Landscape Professionals

• Plagas y Enfermedades Comunes en Plantas de Jardín (Common Pests and Diseases in Landscape Plants) (NJ & NY Credits) • DOT Regulations Update • Sustainable Winter Management (CSP Credits) • Liquid De-Icers (CSP Credits) • Biología Básica para Jardineros (Basic Biology for Landscapers)(NJ & NY Credits)

Register Early!

Save $10 per person - Register before Feb. 1, 2018.

www.NJLandscapeShow.com 201-703-3600

LNJ2018Ad-GN-Full3.indd 1

1/16/2018 9:19:18 AM

GardenerNews.com Are you a nature lover?

Are you concerned about the environment? Why not speak to your landscape professional about creating a certified backyard wildlife habitat?

In this day of green roofs, sustainable practices and reduce, recycle and reuse, “green” is the new black.

And believe it or not, it is not that difficult to do! The National Wildlife Federation will certify a wildlife habitat, provided that you and your landscape professional create a space that will host wildlife and support the ecosystem.

According to the National Wildlife Federation, currently “200,000 Certified Wildlife Habitats® recognize individuals, farms, schools, businesses and community groups that provide pollinators and other wildlife…” with habitats. What an excellent opportunity this is to be part of this movement!

To become certified, a Wildlife Habitat must offer food, water, cover and places for wildlife to raise their young. What is most exciting is that this can be created on a 35-acre property, a 2,000-square foot plot, or the balcony of a 15-story apartment building.

February 2018 13 The NJLCA Today

By Gail Woolcott Director of Operations

Creating a Certified Backyard Wildlife Habitat

Many landscape plans, in fact, may already include the beginnings of a home for wildlife. Both shrubs and trees, generally included in any landscape construction project, provide both shelter and nourishment for many species. In order to become certified, a property must not only contain native plantings, but also those that will provide acorns and bark for squirrels and birds, nuts and berries for small animals to eat throughout the seasons, nectar for bees and other pollinators, etc.

Although it may be difficult to avoid all nonnative trees, shrubs and flowers, most certainly avoid anything invasive in New Jersey. Some suggestions for trees, shrubs and plants include goldenrod (Solidago), aster, black cherry (Prunus serotina) and oak (Quercus)

trees. Of course, most annuals and perennials will add color to the landscape and can be used to attract birds, butterflies, bees and moths.

Some common to our area include violets (Violaceae), lupine (Lupinus), sunflower (Helianthus) and joe-pye weed (Eutrochium).

Furthermore, several species of milkweed (Asclepias), the only plant that Monarch Butterflies use as their caterpillar host plants, are native to New Jersey. In comparison, 29 species of butterflies and moths use violets as a caterpillar host plant in New Jersey! Native grasses, such as Broom sedge and Indian grass, can provide accommodations and food for several animals and beneficial insects.

Ponds and fountains are an excellent source of water for wildlife. Your landscape

professional can show you hundreds of fountain and waterfall options, but if space or finances do not permit, a bird bath or rain garden, a recess or channel that is planted and can hold runoff from roofs, driveways and roads, will work.

For shelter, not only can wildlife use the shrubs and trees, but you might want to add nesting boxes. Just an FYI, after much reading, it appears that Butterfly Houses don’t seem to work unless they are embedded in a nearby forest! Skip them and have your contractor add more shrubs, thicket and nectar. Bat houses, however, do seem to work. Ask your contractor if he or she has a source for these and bird houses, which are always an excellent place for birds to raise their young.

It’s now time to let the wildlife habitat grow

Township of Maplewood, as defendants.

Nelson Lee, president of the NJLCA, says that the ordinance is unfair and unjust because the Township of Maplewood is impermissibly targeting contractors for using gasoline operated blowers when homeowners can use them.

The opposition to gasoline-powered leaf blowers dates back to 2016 when Maplewood Township Committee member Nancy Adams sponsored a ban that initially outlawed commercial firms from using the gas leaf blowers during June, July and August of that year. This sponsored ban had absolutely no enforcement component to it and contractors viewed it as harassing and an unprofessional scare tactic.

On April 4, 2017, an official ordinance was adopted by the Township Committee after the subject was discussed at several township committee

(Continued from page 1) meetings, and it legally went into effect on May 15, 2017 and runs through the end of September 2017 of each year. It sets certain hours for use and a complete ban on Sundays by commercial entities. Electric leaf blowers were exempt, as were those used by residents.

While the ban doesn’t apply to Maplewood residents or non-commercial associations, it weighs heavy on local landscaping businesses, who are only allowed to use gas-powered leaf blowers when the ban isn’t in effect, and only then during restricted hours (Mondays to Fridays from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.) On Sundays, only residents can use leaf blowers from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The Ordinance states that a commercial entity shall include but not be limited to lawn maintenance businesses, tree removal or maintenance businesses, paving companies, gutter

cleaning companies and shall include any person or entity charging a fee for services.

“Gas powered leaf blowers are an essential tool used by the entire cross-section of society, from public to private to professional entities. In fact, the Township of Maplewood owns and operates five gas powered leaf blowers,” said Lee The township had until December 5, 2017 to respond to the lawsuit, and missed that deadline. A new date of January 4, 2018 was set. The Township also missed that deadline. A new January 31, 2018 deadline was set by the court as this paper was being printed. The township has switched attorneys. I wonder if they’ll respond on-time to the new date.

Lee said the NJLCA sent a letter to the township, hoping to meet with officials and seek a reasonable, effective and non-discriminatory solution

naturally! No chemicals should be used, but feel free to add compost and have your landscaper add grass clippings to this area. The clippings decompose quickly and release nitrogen back into the soil. Now sit back and relish watching the birds and animals take up residence in your newly created wildlife habitat.

The last step is to visit the NWF website to fill out the application to have the area recognized as a Certified Wildlife Habitat®.

On a final note, your landscape professional should be attending the NJLCA’s Landscape New Jersey Trade Show & Conference on February 28 in Secaucus, where we will be offering many new and exciting educational classes on everything from hardscaping to proper drainage, sustainable winter practices to following proper DOT regulations, biology for the landscape to weed and disease control.

Editor’s Note: Gail Woolcott is Director of Operations for the New Jersey Landscape Contractors Association. She can be reached at (201) 703-3600 or by emailing gwoolcott@NJLCA.org

Lawsuit filed over landscaper leaf blower ban

The NJLCA initiated this action, on behalf of itself and its individual members, including but not limited to the named plaintiffs, to invalidate as unconstitutional Ordinance No. 2854-17 (the “Ordinance”) entitled “An Ordinance Limiting the Use of Gas Powered Leaf Blowers within the Township of Maplewood.”

“This is essentially the same lawsuit, but it names individual landscape contractors that do business within the township that are also members of the association,” said David J. Mairo, an attorney from the law firm of Chiesa Shahinian and Giantomasi, PC., representing the NJLCA. The association was not permitted by the court to file suit on its own, otherwise, the allegations are the same as the original one filed, he said.

The lawsuit names the Mayor of the Township of Maplewood, the Township Committee, and the

prior to the ordinance being adopted, but the township issued no formal response to the letter and made no effort to enter into any substantive discussion about the ordinance’s terms and conditions.

According to the minutes of the February 21, 2017 Township Committee Meeting, Richard Goldstein, vice president of the NJLCA, stated that the Township Committee “should look at this hard and heavy and really think about how the Township is going to pass this ban and how it is going to affect everybody and not just the contractors who do this for a living.”

Goldstein, stated to the Committee that night that “the landscapers are here to work with the Township Committee and hopefully come up with a little bit better resolution that is going to work for all parties and put something in place that, from a year from now, e v e r y o n e (Cont. on Page 16)

14 February 2018

GardenerNews.com Graphic Design | Printing | Mailing

Establis h e d 1978 Your local printing company is more than just printing!

Reach your audience In Print | With Mail | On the Web

FLORIST 700 Springfield Avenue Berkeley Heights, NJ 07922 Phone: (908) 665-0331 Fax: (908) 665-9804 email: hallsgarden@earthlink.net www.hallsgarden.com

Postcards | Invoices | Ad Booklets | Stationery | Mailing Services Programs & Directories | Posters | Brochures | and more for businesses, organizations & schools

12 Center Street, Chatham, NJ 07928

(973) 635-1880 www.ChathamPrint.com

to upload artwork, get a quote, send an email, get work done!

GardenerNews.com

Energex Premium Grade HARDWOOD PELLET FUEL

          

February 2018 15 Visit Our Showroom & Display Area

311 Roycefield Road, Hillsborough (908) 252-1550 LandscapeMaterialsInc.com

Brick Pavers Decorative Gravel Retaining Wall Block Limestone & Bluestone Fieldstone Mulches Top Soil  Lawn & Garden Tools Grass Seed  Landscape Lighting Fertilizer Decorative Mail Boxes  Masonry Supplies ...& MUCH MORE Drainage Products

OPEN

Monday thru Friday Ice Control 24 Hours 908-252-1550

Ice Control Bulk  Salt  Salt/Sand Mix

By The Bag/By The Pallet  #50 Halite  #80 Halite  #50 Calcium Cloride  #50 Urea

Scan Here

Now accepting leaves, tree branches, limbs, trunks, brush and wood chips.

IF OTHER HOMEOWNERS CAN GET RESULTS LIKE THIS,

Nicholas in Egg Harbor Twp., NJ

Vinny in Lyndhurst, NJ

Andy in Moorestown, NJ

SO CAN YOU!

IT’S AS EASY AS U-S-A!

Available at garden centers and hardware stores in your area.

Ask for a free copy of our guide.

supreme

Stop

soil compaction with

Adjust

BLACK BEAUTY

LOVE YOUR SOIL

MAG-I-CAL

Use Grass Seed

soil pH with

COME SEE US AT THE

NJ FLOWER SHOW 2/22 - 2/25 • Booth 314 2/18

16 February 2018

GardenerNews.com

Lawsuit filed over landscaper leaf blower ban (Continued from page 13)

does not have to sit here and say we should have done this or we should have said the same thing.

Goldstein hopes that the Township Committee sits down with the landscapers before the Township Committee passes some kind of law.

“Ideally, (our goal) would be to get rid of (the ban),” Mairo, the plaintiffs’ attorney, said.

“But, honestly, let’s sit down and talk about something more reasonable. Maybe some limits on the number of leaf blowers that could be used at any one time. There are many ways to achieve the township’s apparent goal without a complete prohibition.

Moreover, if the purported goal is to protect the health and safety of the residents and prevent annoyance, then why aren’t residents similarly restricted or penalized? Why isn’t the township prohibited when they have at least five gaspowered leaf blowers? It simply doesn’t make sense.”

As a former landscape contractor by trade, nothing replaces the power of a gasoline operated backpack or ground blower.

In my opinion this ordinance is extremely discriminatory toward contractors.

This new ordinance doesn’t apply equally to all (residents and municipal workers are still allowed to use the equipment).

Landscapers are forced to use “inefficient and timeconsuming methods” like rakes, brooms and hoses in lieu of leaf blowers.

Driving around the great Garden State, and surrounding states, I have seen numerous people operating blowers of all makes and models. Most of the time, I laugh watching them. The inexperienced weekend warriors have no idea on how to move a leaf pile. Most of them just move the air nozzle from side-to side creating a huge pile of leaves that goes nowhere, spending unnecessary time on their clean-up efforts. On the other hand, I’ve watched

skilled contractors lift and maneuver the air nozzle up and down and around to lift and push a leaf pile to a predetermined location with ease in a much shorter time period.

Landscape contractors are working on time. And time is money to them.

The faster they can clean up a property using a gasoperated backpack or ground blower, the less time they spend on a property, the more efficient they are, which will allow them to easily adjust their fixed costs, ultimately reducing what they charge the property owner.

Gas-operated blowers are an efficient way of protecting the environment.

I like to use my gas–operated blower to clean up my sidewalk, driveway and curb line after I apply granular fertilizer to the lawn. I don’t want to take a chance on any of it getting into the storm sewer and contaminating the underground aquifer system.

The power of the gas blower easily pushes the fertilizer back into the lawn where it belongs. Brooms, hoses, rakes, and electric and battery-operated blowers simply can’t match up to a gas-operated blower.

When you try to clean fertilizer pellets up with a broom or try to clean that up with a rake, you just spread the pellets all over the place as opposed to putting them back into the lawn. And I would never try to clean up anything with a hose Everything would just run, and it’s a waste of water.

I usually cut my lawn and let the clippings fly.

Leaving the grass clippings where they fly fertilizes your lawn with a nitrogen boost. A few clippings escape into the roadway each time I cut, and the string trimmer throws a few clippings around as well. I use my gas-operated blower to quickly clean up the curb line after I’m done working. I bet most contractors do the same. By eliminating powerful gasoperated blowers, business owners would have to put several people in the street with a broom to sweep up the grass that would be on the curb and the roadway.

Now with putting someone in the street with the broom you also have to put someone in the street with a shovel so that someone can sweep that grass up off the street into a shovel. And you would

need to put a third person in the street to watch the other two people so they won’t get hit by a car or a truck, which ultimately increases the amount of people needed to service a property, which will increase the overhead of the business owner, which increases the cost of the job, ultimately the cost is passed on to the property owner.

I don’t believe the township officials have even thought about traffic safety when this ordinance was crafted. I usually clean up my curb line in under a minute. I have no interest in getting hit by a car or truck.

By the way, after a light snow fall, I used my gasoperated backpack blower to clear the snow from my walk, steps and shrubs. It’s quick and easy. Depending on the snow’s depth, I sometimes blow the entire driveway instead of firing up the snowblower. Time means everything when it’s cold.

“The lawsuit states that the Township of Maplewood is in violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution, Pursuant to 42 U.S.C § 1983 and § 1988,”

Tom Castronovo/Photo

Township of Maplewood Municipal Building on Valley Road in Essex County.

Maplewood is governed under the Township form of government with a fivemember Township Committee.

Mairo said. “And that is also a Violation of Equal Protection Clause of the New Jersey Constitution, Article 1, Paragraph 1. By banning commercial entities from operation of leaf blowers from May 15 through September 30 each year, but permitting residents and non-commercial entities to use leaf blowers during those times, and by imposing hefty penalties only on commercial entities for violating the terms of the ordinance, but not upon anyone else.

Consequently, the ordinance arbitrarily, unreasonably and irrationally discriminates against commercial entities with respect to the use of gas powered leaf blowers, and such discriminatory treatment is not rationally related to a legitimate government objective.

Accordingly, the ordinance violates the United States Constitution and is unlawful.

And violates the New Jersey Constitution and is unlawful.”

I don’t understand how the Township of Maplewood can take away an advanced tool like a gas-operated backpack or ground blower from a contractor’s inventory. In my opinion, this ban causes an adverse impact on business. It’s a shame the governing body in Maplewood had no interest in working one-on-one with the NJLCA as they were preparing the language in the ordinance. I also don’t understand how a township’s governing body allows discrimination to happen in today’s world.

Editor’s Note: Tom Castronovo is executive editor and publisher of Gardener News. Tom’s lifelong interest in gardening and passion for agriculture, environmental stewardship, gardening and landscaping, led to the founding of the Gardener News, which germinated in April 2003 and continues to bloom today. He is also dedicated to providing inspiration, and education to the agricultural, gardening and landscaping communities through this newspaper and GardenerNews.com.

GardenerNews.com

February 2018 17

18 February 2018

GardenerNews.com

Jersey Fresh Farm To School Summit Agenda

This is a day of networking, collaboration and information sharing to strengthen Farm to School impacts in New Jersey! There’s something for everyone―food service, educators, farmers, produce distributors, higher ed, non-profits and parents alike will learn from peers doing this work in New Jersey. Our state’s Farm to School, Farm to Preschool and Farm to Summer efforts are teaching the next generation of consumers just how great New Jersey agriculture is.

March 14, 2018 8am-3pm Robert Wood Johnson Conference Center 3100 Quakerbridge Road Mercerville, NJ 08619 The Summit is free to attend but registration is required at this link https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/JFF2SSummit. Due to limited space, attendees are asked to communicate if their plans change and they are unable to attend so that they may open the registration to the maximum number of attendees. Please call the NJDA Farm to School Program at 609 -292-8747 or email newjerseyf2s@ag.nj.gov if you need to cancel your registration.

Through the New Jersey Department of Agriculture’s Farm to School Program, schools throughout New Jersey can partner with NJ farmers to source more than 100 types of Jersey Fresh produce grown here in the Garden State. Opportunities exist for New Jersey farmers to provide agricultural products to school food service departments throughout the growing season. The object of serving healthy meals in school cafeterias is to improve student nutrition, provide healthy options and nutrition education opportunities that will last a lifetime, as well as support local farmers. Additionally, the Farm to School Program includes schools garden activities, which help teach students where food comes from by growing it themselves. Students benefit by learning the science behind farming and the nutritional values of fresh products and gain a greater understanding and appreciation of the environment. Educators can use school garden programs to teach any subject - math, science, language arts, health and nutrition, art or social studies. Farm to School programs promote and create a sense of community for all involved.

Chili today, hot tamale!

Well, we’re not going to be making tamales, which I love to death, but we will be discussing chili.

The origin of chili is as controversial as the origin of pizza. Mexicans have never tried to claim it as their own and it seems as if Texas could be the home of chili. The ingredients, which seem of Mexican origin, are also likely to have come from the Texas region.

True chili people say that it doesn’t contain beans, I like the beans, but I could care less, simply because stewed ground beef with tomatoes, spices and a lot of love can be spectacular without the beans.

By its very basicness, it is a stew consisting of at least meat, peppers and tomato. There are so many schools of thought regarding this “American” dish. You can argue the recipe over and over again, like marinara sauce or meatloaf.

To me it is a work in

A Must-Have Tactical Flashlight A A Must-Have Must-Have Tactical Tactical Flashlight Flashlight

The The brightest brightest flashlight flashlight ever ever created created by

by NEBO NEBO is is here here – – the the REDLINE REDLINE BLAST. BLAST. The brightest flashlight ever created by NEBO is here – the REDLINE With 1,400 lumens of high intensity light, this must-have flashlight can With 1,400 lumens of high intensity light, this must-have flashlightBLAST. can With 1,400 throw lumens of high intensity light, this must-have flashlight can a spectacularly bright beam over 850 feet. throw a spectacularly bright beam over 850 feet. throw a spectacularly bright beam over 850 feet.

The BLAST is completely waterproof and ready for any weather condition.

The BLAST is completely waterproof and ready for any weather condition.

The BLASTWant is completely waterproof and ready for5 weather more? about zoom and light modes Want more? How How about a a 4x 4x zoom and 5any light modes condition.

Wantmedium, more? How a 4x strobe zoom and 5 light modes (high, low, defensive & beacon). (high, medium, low,about defensive strobe & flashing flashing beacon). (high, medium, low, defensive strobe & flashing beacon).

Makes a Great Holiday Gift!

Makes Makes a a Great Great Holiday Holiday Gift!

Gift!

AVAILABLE AT AVAILABLE AT AVAILABLE AT Edgewood Pharmacy Edgewood Pharmacy

Edgewood Pharmacy 62 B Mountain Blvd.

Warren, NJ 62 B Mountain Blvd.

Warren, NJ 62 B Mountain Blvd.

Warren, NJ (Next to Kings Food Markets) (Next to Kings Food Markets) (Next to Kings Food Markets) 908-754-4400 www.EdgewoodPharmacy.com 908-754-4400 www.EdgewoodPharmacy.com 908-754-4400 www.EdgewoodPharmacy.com

From the Deep

By Craig Korb Executive Chef

A simmering pot of chili warms up any occasion progress. Meaning that I have never made the same recipe twice. You can use different types of meat, different cuts of meat, different types of peppers, different types of beans, no beans, different types of spices, no meat at all, and so on and so forth.

One thing I can say is that I feel that cooking for a long period of time is key. Like any good tomato sauce, it needs time. It seems to mellow it out and make it more smooth. I mean, in all actuality, chili can technically be healthy depending on how it is made. I like it topped with shredded cheddar, sour cream and chopped onions, which probably isn’t that healthy. But then again,

I don’t view it as health food. Therefore, it is midwinter comfort food that sits so well in the belly on a cold wintry Sunday!

The recipe I’m giving you is simple and easy.

Open to changing any way you want. More spice, less spice, more this, more that, whatever you want. That is the joy of cooking. Chili happens to be one of those dishes that is so based on the cook’s opinion. So that being said, have fun and eat well!

Chili con carne (serves 2-4) 1 lb. ground beef 1 lg. onion, diced 1 green pepper and/or a hot pepper of choice 1/2 tsp. cumin 1 tsp. chili powder

1/2 tsp. sugar 1 clove garlic, minced 1 can of crushed or diced fire roasted tomatoes 1 can red kidney beans Salt and black pepper to taste 1 Tbsp. light olive oil or vegetable oil 1/2 can beer of choice method-sauté onions, peppers and garlic in oil until lightly caramelized -add beef and cook, while chopping in the pan, until cooked through -add beer and reduce by half -add tomato and bring to a low simmer -cook about an hour, stirring every 10 minutes or so -add beans at the end

and heat for 5 more minutes -serve over rice or plain.

Optionally top with shredded cheddar cheese, sour cream, and diced onion.

Enjoy!

Editor ’s Note: Craig Korb is executive chef at The Crab’s Claw Inn, Lavallette, New Jersey.

He has an Associates degree in Culinary Arts and a Bachelors degree in Food Service Management from Johnson and Wales University. For more information visit www.TheCrabsClaw.com or phone (732) 793-4447.

Recycle the

Gardener News show it to a friend!

GardenerNews.com

February 2018 19

A Nice Winter Family Activity Hunt for Praying Mantis Egg Cases

By William A. Kolbe B.C.E. “Baby It’s Cold Outside,” but a lot of insects and other arthropods are doing just fine resting out the winter in a state of diapause. Most have set up in areas where they will successfully overwinter.

I thought I would write about one of the “beneficial” insects gardeners are familiar with, the Praying Mantis. We’re still a long way off from the first sighting of baby praying mantises. Around here, in New Jersey, they generally make their first appearance in May. With leaves off of the deciduous trees, shrubs and bushes, now is the perfect time to bundle up the family, take a nice walk in the woods and look for egg cases. A pair of clippers help too. And maybe a bag to carry your treasure back to the garden.

Treasure? Yep. Because,

come springtime, those brownfoam egg cases will erupt with dozens of baby mantids that are hungry predators. They really are goofy looking when they hatch. If you live anywhere near a field, roadside ditch, or overgrown brambly area, then you’re in luck. Praying mantis mamas seem to prefer laying their foam-like egg cases on the upright stems of blackberry, raspberry, large grasses, young trees, and other thin-butstrong-stemmed plants in open or semi-open areas.

A few easy steps, and you’ll be all set to welcome lots of bug-eating baby mantids to your garden this spring.

First, find them. Venture out into any brambly area (ideally somewhere you actually have permission to be). Take a small pair of clippers with you — blackberry stems are tough! A plastic bag will help carry your prizes, but it’s totally optional.

Walk slowly and look side to side into the brambles. You

want to concentrate on a height range of about one to three feet off the ground. Don’t look for an egg case. Instead, let your eyes go a little out of focus, and look for a roundish strawbrown blob where just a stem should be.

Once you’ve seen one, it’s much easier to see more.

Collect about 12 to 18 inches of stem along with the egg case. That may seem a bit ungainly now, but it makes it MUCH easier to reposition the egg cases in your garden later. Please don’t over-collect.

Harvest every other egg case you find, ensuring to leave plenty behind to restock the local population. Don’t worry.

Those eggs are dormant; they won’t hatch in your car. But, uh, don’t leave them in the car either. A few sunny days in a warm car might be all it takes to break their dormancy and convince them to hatch in your passenger seat.

Then, set them up in the

garden. This is like a reverse hunt. Take those egg cases and find new homes for them. Use string or twisty ties to attach the egg cases to their new homes. Or, just prop them up in a bush or shrub if that works, too. The egg cases will hatch in late-spring (early- to mid-May around here), which is before the garden really bulks up with plant life.

Choose places for your egg cases where the springtime plant growth will be dense enough to support plenty of little tiny bugs for eating. Set them up at least a foot off the ground. Those egg cases are little packets of protein, and mice and other critters will eat them if they find them before springtime. The best survival rates seem to come from egg cases set one to three feet off the ground. Just like mama mantis would choose. Spread them out so they don’t all eat one another.

Oh, and by the way. It is

not illegal to kill a Praying mantis. That is a myth that started back in the 1950s.

Who would want to kill them anyway? The female will take the head off of a male mantid.

It is reported she does this so he will mate with her longer! And while mantids are considered “beneficial”… well not so much. They will eat any and all insects, good or bad; even honeybees!

Editor’s Note: William A. Kolbe, BCE is Director of Technical and Training for Viking® Pest Control based out of Warren, NJ. He is a Board Certified Entomologist and has a Bachelor’s Degree in Entomology with a minor in Ecology from the University of Delaware. Bill is a member of The Denville NJ Community Gardens.

His career in Professional Pest Control started in June 1974. He can be reached at 732-356-3100 or visit www.vikingpest.com

USDA to Measure Agricultural Land Values The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) is encouraging agricultural operations to respond to the New England Agricultural Land Values Survey.

Agricultural land values are one of the major indicators of the financial health of the agricultural sector. The value of land and buildings accounts for the vast majority of all farm assets. Accurate land values are necessary for Federal and State deliberations on farm programs, for lending agencies (e.g. determining collateral assets), and for individual producers to determine their net worth.

This survey collects agricultural farmland values, cropland and pasture values on a per-acre basis (excluding buildings), and year-to-year percentage changes in land values. This data will be summarized in conjunction with June Area survey results to maximize precision of aggregate data.

NASS will publish the results in the August 2, 2018 Land Values publication. The publication will be available on the USDA-NASS website at https://www.nass.usda.gov/.

NASS gathers the data for the survey online, by mail, phone and in-person interviews. “The cooperation of the agricultural sector is crucial to ensure that NASS accurately provides the most comprehensive estimate of U.S. farm real estate data for 2018,” said Gary Keough, State Statistician for the USDA’s NASS New England Field Office. “NASS safeguards the privacy of all responses and publishes only state and national level data, ensuring that no individual operation or producer can be identified,” added Keough. For more information on NASS surveys and reports, call the NASS Northeastern Regional Field Office at (800) 498-1518.

20 February 2018 So, what’s new in your life? Did you get the latest phone for Christmas? Or, are you considering getting a new car this year, perhaps a hybrid?

Did you finally figure out how to program the new big screen TV-DVR you bought for the Super Bowl?

Did you get to try out new snow boots? Even some professional performers use “auto-tune” to help them sound the best they can, or to cover up mistakes while on tour.

What do these questions have to do with your lawn?

Let’s find out.

Spring is right around the corner, what’s going to be new with your lawn program this year?

Sometimes fixing your lawn is not so easy. Perhaps you need some hybrid grasses with roots that can grow up to four feet deep? If you have not re-seeded your lawn in five-plus years, your lawn needs some improved grass varieties, like my friend Paul says, “a dose of penicillin,” to help your lawn out.

This is like getting a

By Hubert Ling Actually, New Jersey has three commonly grown native hollies: there is Ilex opaca, the familiar prickly holly used for decorations at Christmas, and two other not-prickly hollies: Ilex verticillata, winterberry and Ilex glabra, inkberry.

Inkberry holly has become so very popular with landscape architects that not many people realize it is a common native plant growing wild in Eastern North America, from Canada to Florida, and is found in almost all counties of New Jersey.

The name Ilex comes from the Latin name of the Holm Oak, Quercus ilex. This oak has evergreen leaves similar to those of the hollies. The species name glabra means smooth, which refers to the smooth, hairless, surface of the leaves.

Inkberry is a slowgrowing evergreen shrub.

A mature inkberry is from

GardenerNews.com Turf ‘s Up

By Todd Pretz Professional Turf Consultant

What’s new…..? blood transfusion, bringing new life to your tired lawn.

Seed some of the new turftype tall fescues into your lawn this spring. It may be the best thing you ever did for your lawn. I have heard many success stories from proud homeowners about how happy they are since they renovated and re-seeded their lawn this past fall. They send in gorgeous pictures of their lawns.

Just like a new, improved, hybrid car drives better than your car with 100,000-plus miles, your new lawn will “wow” both you and your neighbors.

Did you only fertilize your lawn once or twice last year? During the growing season from spring through fall, your lawn will perform

best when fed three to four times. Did you have crabgrass last summer?

If so, apply a crabgrass preventer plus lawn food in spring.

If you do not like dandelions on your lawn, apply a weed-and-feed product in late-spring when broadleaf weeds are actively growing. Earlysummer is a good time to consider mixing it up and applying a slow-release organic lawn food.

How many of you did not apply any fertilizer last fall? Fall is the best time to rejuvenate your lawn with fertilizer to grow strong roots and fill in bare spots after summer damage.

Feeding your lawn is important, but what about feeding the soil?

How

can you grow a great lawn without some great soil? All plants need the correct soil conditions to thrive, whether you are growing grass, tomatoes or blueberries. Soil pH needs to be between 6.2 to 7.0 to grow a thick and healthy lawn. Buy a soil test kit at your local lawn and garden or hardware store or contact your local county extension office for a soil test kit.

Make adjustments to soil pH using calcium carbonate to raise soil pH and sulfur to lower soil pH values.

Right now, your lawn is probably hard as a rock, possibly frozen. What if your lawn stays that way this spring because you have compacted soil?

Could you grow tomatoes or flowers very well in the

five to eight feet tall and the plant generally spreads out a bit and loses lower foliage, but will be bushier and more graceful if pruned. In addition, many cultivars are available and several of these are more compact, such as “Shamrock” or obviously “Compacta.”

Inkberry have dark-green, spineless, oval leaves (to 1.5 inches long).

Inconspicuous, greenishwhite flowers appear on mature plants in spring. The nectar from these flowers produce the highly rated Gallberry honey, which is popular in the Southeastern United States.

Male and female flowers are found on separate plants, so you should have at least two plants. Female flowers are borne singly and have large protruding stigmas and small non-functional stamens. Male flowers are borne in clusters and have a ring of prominent stamens and a small, sunken, non-functional stigma.

The fruits are about threeeighths of an inch long and

turn jet black at maturity, which is where the plant gets its common name. Fruits ripen in September to October, but generally persist until earlyspring, when they may be consumed by birds with few other choices. White-fruited cultivars “Ivory Queen” and “Alba” are also available commercially, which can provide winter interest to your garden. Inkberry leaves are relatively thick and remain evergreen unless the temperature is well below zero for extended periods.

All Ilex species are mildly toxic if ingested; children should be warned not to eat the berries or leaves. This is curious, since a few sources list Ilex glabra dried, roasted leaves as Appalachian tea, although I could not find any original references of anyone actually using such a tea.

In the absence of any hard evidence one should approach this tea idea with extreme caution, since the leaves are generally free of insect bites, which indicates formidable

toxic, chemical defenses.

Inkberry plants do well in full sun to partial shade in a variety of soils from medium to wet and from very acidic to slightly acidic soils. They do not grow well under neutral or basic conditions and the foliage may burn in exposed locations. Inkberry tolerate deer, rabbits, erosion, salt, sandy soil, and air pollution.

Inkberry are resistant to most pests, but new shoots may be attacked by aphids. In addition, there are occasional problems with scale, spider mites, leaf miners, and the fungus Phytophthora.

Inkberry grow best naturally in partial shade around ponds, streams and in swampy areas. Mature plants may send out suckers to produce slow-growing colonies, some over 100 years old. Propagation is by root cuttings taken year round and treated with commercial rooting powder. Propagation can also be done through seed, but hollies are famous for the length of time required for seed

The Other Holly

same hard soil you have on your lawn?

No, you need to perhaps aerate your lawn and apply gypsum-type products to “loosen” the soil. Using organic lawn products over time will also help to build up soil quality by stimulating microbial activity and improving water-holding capacity during times of drought.

Grass roots need loosened soil, water, air and nutrients availability to thrive.

Each year we make New Year’s resolutions and many of us forget or drop most of them in the first months of the year. Make this year your best lawn ever, do something different with your lawn this year, like changing your lifestyle for a healthier you.

Come see us at the N.J. Flower Show from February 22-25.

Editor’s Note: Todd Pretz is Vice President of Jonathan Green, a leading supplier of lawn and garden products in the northeast. For more information, please visit: www.jonathangreen.com

germination. Under natural conditions, germination times of two years are common.

However, cleaned, freshly collected and planted seeds may germinate after eight months in a heated greenhouse.

Inkberrys are adapted to surviving in areas with frequent fires. The root crowns and rhizomes vigorously sprout after a fire and rapidly restore a burned area to full vegetation. Thus the plant is useful to maintain a habitat and is occasionally browsed by bluebirds, Bobwhite, and turkeys. White tailed deer and bear may also eat inkberry.

If you are interested in an easy-to-grow-and-maintain small shrub for hedges, screens, and barriers, consider inkberry. Your descendants for hundreds of years may thank you for this well behaved holly.

Editor’s Note: Hubert Ling is the Horticulture Chairman for the Native Plant Society of New Jersey. He can be reached at milhubling@verizon.net

GardenerNews.com Chase Away the Winter Blues with Exotic Orchids

The Deep Cut Orchid Society will hold its annual orchid show and sale on Thursday, February 8th through Sunday, February 11th in Dearborn Market’s 11,000 sq. ft. greenhouse, 2170 Highway 35 South, Holmdel, New Jersey. The orchid show is open 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.

Thursday through Saturday and 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on Sunday.

This spectacular four-day event will feature garden exhibits and orchid displays by local and international orchid growers. American Orchid Society judges will award the best exhibit and orchid at the show.

Free guided tours and educational workshops for orchid enthusiasts of all levels. Come and learn about nature’s most coveted and beguiling varieties of orchids and their culture.

Orchid experts will be on hand every day during the show to answer all of your orchid questions.

Have fun participating in our raffles and silent auctions throughout the day.

Exotic orchids from around the world will be available for sale.

Deb Bodei, President of the Deep Cut Orchid Society said, “Orchids are perfect for providing a tropical touch to your interior space. If you want to enjoy these exotic blooms, but are worried that they are difficult to grow, don’t despair. There are plenty of fool-proof varieties that will flower again and again with the minimum amount of fuss.”

Helen Kroh, Show Chairperson, said, “Orchids are beautiful and fascinating plants. The thought of growing orchids, especially indoors should not be intimidating.

Despite their reputation for being finicky flowers, orchids aren’t difficult to grow. Like any plant, they’ll thrive in the right conditions. The trick is sizing up your indoor environment and choosing the orchids that will be happy there.”

Bring your friends, family and colleagues and marvel at the diversity of orchids!

Admission and parking are free.

Dearborn Market offers fresh food and deli selections.

Payment accepted: Cash, Check and Credit Card Established over 30 years ago, the Deep Cut Orchid Society is a non-profit organization and one of the largest orchid clubs in the tristate area. It is a non-profit organization dedicated to the education and culture of orchids. Deep Cut Orchid Society meets on the second Tuesday of every month at the Monmouth Reform Temple, 332 Hance Avenue, Tinton Falls, New Jersey at 7:30 p.m. An orchid expert gives a presentation, members bring in their special blooms, and experienced orchid growers are available to provide advice and answer culture questions.

y pp a H ntine’s e y ValD a

from Gardener News

February 2018 21

The Magic of Birds

By Jeannie Geremia Contributing Writer

Birds are a magical and intricate part of our lives.

As they entertain us with their comings and goings on a daily basis, so much so that we can almost take them for granted.

This then is a reminder to us of how important they are to the fabric of life in so many ways. How sterile our world would be without them, and I’m not even sure what the consequences would be of a world without birds.

Lucky for us, they seem here to stay, with a little help from their friends.

My childhood was replete with birds, for as a farmer’s daughter, I had close encounters with meadowlarks, bobolinks, crows, red-winged blackbirds, barn swallows, killdeer and kestrels.

Some of these are, sadly, on the wane due to loss of grassland habitat.

I was thrilled to see many bobolinks here in my township, thanks to the addition of a huge farm to the Hunterdon County park system. My fear is mowing of this grassland habitat during nesting season. All counties and municipalities in New Jersey need continuing education on the optimum times mowing should be allowed so that our pollinators, including birds, can safely nest, and have ample food available, including wildflowers and milkweed.

Our bird population mirrors us in many ways as their personalities range from gregarious and social, such as starlings, crows, blackbirds, blue jays, sparrows, and finches, to solitary, shy birds such as towhees, tanagers, thrushes, thrashers and warblers.

Then there are those in between, such as wrens, cardinals, titmice, chickadees, grosbeaks, and catbirds that will frequent feeders and yards in pairs. It’s amazing, if not magical, to read personal

accounts of rescued birds who adapt so well to human companionship that they become part of the family.

One case in point, is a book I’ve just read entitled “Arnie, the Darling Starling,” by Margarete Sigl Corbo and Diane Marie Barras. Margarete’s description of her initial encounter of a featherless, homely baby bird whose species she could not identify, his will to live, and his subsequent refusal to return to the wild, is a “must read!”

Arnie had personality plus, an extensive vocabulary and uncanny wisdom. Not to be missed, too, is “One Wild Bird at a Time,” by Bernd Heirnrich, reinforcing the fact that starlings, like crows, can develop an extensive vocabulary and even sing stanzas from songs they hear.

My bird encounters were never as longlasting as the above authors, but unforgettable, nevertheless.

One instance was with my young son as we drove to my grandparents, and found a bird lying in the middle of the road. We rescued what turned out to be a “stunned” Baltimore oriole that Joey held and turned over to his great grandfather who promptly nestled him in a cardboard box overnight and let him go the next day.

Another occasion was a late-winter snowstorm that deposited a stationary, very frozen female rufoussided towhee huddling on my sidewalk. I picked her up, cradling her in my hand until she warmed up and flew off. This was my first and only sighting of a towhee until the following spring when I heard a rustling under my azalea bush, and to my surprise, scratching away like a chicken, was a male rufous-sided towhee. I have since learned that these are migratory, woodland birds so I had a magical experience indeed.

My third amazing

encounter came unexpectedly with a visitor in my front garden who had a Chuck Berry duckwalk gait that was comical to see along with huge eyes that appeared to be almost on top of his head. Naturally, I’m describing a woodcock who was disturbed from his normal woodland habitat by construction and decided to pay me a visit.

The “magic of birds” resonates in all of us as we recount moments like the ones I’ve just related. Their beauty, industriousness, personality, and soul add countless benefits to mankind, including their elimination of pesky insects, dispersal of seeds (blue jays are noted for planting oak trees as they bury acorns as part of their larder), their musicality, alarms raised when predators are near and so many things we take for granted.

Please consider them and provide water with a heater in winter, plant material with seeds and berries that will sustain them through winter, and shelter so they can survive frigid weather.

Suet, sunflower seeds, nyger, peanuts and more will help them and provide endless delight for us as we watch woodpeckers and nuthatches running up and down trees.

Remember, too, that many bird species start nesting in mid- to latewinter, including great horned owls, screech owls, eagles, bluebirds and tree swallows.

Editor’s Note: Jeannie Geremia is The Garden Club of New Jersey First Vice President, GCNJ Wildlife Habitat Chair, and is a National Garden Clubs, Inc. Accredited Life Flower Show Judge for the GCNJ. Jeannie is a member of Neshanic Garden Club, The Raritan Township Historic Committee and the Raritan Township Board of Health. Jeannie’s email address is: jgeremia42@gmail.com

22 February 2018

GardenerNews.com

New Members Take Seats on State Board of Agriculture

Cape May County vineyard owner Al Natali and Hunterdon County livestock and hay producer Erick Doyle were sworn in to 4-year terms on the New Jersey State Board of Agriculture during the Board’s regular and reorganization meeting held on December 20 at the Public Health Environmental & Agricultural Lab (PHEAL) in Ewing.

Doyle, who has been serving an unexpired term on the board since 2015, and Natali were elected to the Board by delegates at the February 2017 State Agricultural Convention, then nominated by the Governor, and later confirmed by the State Senate.

“We are glad to have Erick Doyle continue his service on the board and we believe Al Natali will be a great addition to the State Board of Agriculture, demonstrating the diversity of New Jersey’s agriculture industry,” said New Jersey Secretary of Agriculture Douglas H. Fisher. “They bring their vast knowledge and experience to the board, which sets policy for the industry throughout the entire state.”

Natali converted a 22-acre pasture in Cape May County into an experimental station (all vinifera) vineyard, planting 15 diverse cultivars on four rootstocks. That land eventually became Natali Vineyards, the third vineyard in Cape May and 24th winery in New Jersey. Natali Vineyards has 30 registered labels, producing award winning wine. Natali was also the author of the Petition to Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau to designate the Cape May Peninsula as an American Viticultural Area in the Code of Federal Regulations.

Natali earned a Ph.D. from Columbia University in 1973 and taught modern European and Italian history at the City University of New York. He also has been a technical consultant for several national private clients, and was vice-president of Network Planning and Administration for ADP until 2006. He has been a managing member of Natali Vineyards since 2002. He also has served on the Garden State Winegrowers Association and New Jersey Wine Council as well as on the Cape May County Board of Agriculture.

Doyle, who owns Readington River Buffalo Company in Readington, earned a Bachelor of Arts in mathematics from Colgate University. He manages a heard of bison ranging from 90 to 150 head on 110 acres of pasture and oversees breeding, nutrition, vaccination, and transportation. He manages an on-site retail operation featuring meat raised on the farm and locally sourced agricultural products, and produces 200 acres of hay per year to feed the herd and to supplement neighboring farmers. Doyle also hosts Rutgers University students in an annual practicum to teach proper handling methods of large animals. He is a 2009 graduate of the New Jersey Agricultural Leadership Development Program, a Sunday school instructor and an Eagle Scout.

During its reorganization, the Board of Agriculture elected Mitchell Jones, a Warren County hay and grain producer, as President and Shirley Kline, a Cumberland County fruit and vegetable grower, as vice-president.

The State Board of Agriculture comprises eight members who serve for four years. By law, at least four of its members must represent the top commodity groups in the state. Members serve without salary. For more information, visit www.nj.gov/agriculture/about/sba.

Recycle the Gardener News show it to a friend!

Recently, there was a well written article in the New York Times by Steve Eder that chronicled the efforts of an apple orchard in upstate New York and the multitude of regulations with which they had to comply in order to stay in business.

The author did an outstanding job of highlighting a few areas where government rules and regulations have been gradually piled on over the years and the effects that complying with these rules had on the overall sustainability of that farm.

As a fellow grower with a seemingly similar operation in terms of both size and scope, I could certainly empathize with the owners in the article and some of the struggles they have had in complying with many of these regulations. But the scariest part for me, however, was the fact that this article only touched on a portion of the various rules that have been adopted by multiple agencies at the federal, state, county and local level that in some way govern the way in which farmers must grow, package, distribute, market and sell

The Town Farmer

By Peter Melick Agricultural Producer

their crops.

Now, I realize that here in 2018, agriculture is not the only segment of society that feels as if it is being overburdened by the weight of too many rules and regulations. I am sure that someone could make the case that just about every industry in America is currently being over-regulated to a certain extent. And I would not hesitate to doubt that for even a second.

But I think that the main problem for agriculture is that there are so many different agencies that play a role in regulating the industry. If farmers could only have to deal with one or two regulatory agencies, that would not be so bad. Instead, all of these different agencies tend to promulgate and enforce their

Regulatory Fatigue own rules, which many times, either mimic or duplicate other rules, or in some cases, even contradict them entirely.

Probably the best way to explain this is with an example. A couple of years ago, the Food Safety and Modernization Act was passed at the federal level. One of the areas within the Act has to do with allowing pets into the fields where produce is grown. At first glance, this seems like a no-brainer. Why risk any type of contamination if it can be avoided?

On our farm, in years past, we had allowed customers to our pick-your-own apple farms to bring their dogs, as long as they were on a leash.

But in accordance with this new rule, we limited pets to our parking area only.

Needless to say, quite a few

people were not happy with this. But, for the sake of food safety, we felt that this was the right thing to do. Other growers did this as well.

Another grower I know refused entry to his pickyour-own farm to someone with a therapy dog. There are obviously rules on the books that are both pro and con in this instance. Which rules take precedence? Maybe one day the courts will decide.

Or maybe they won’t and growers will be left caught in the middle.

One of the problems with the piling on of all of these rules and regulations is that it makes it extremely difficult for the small- and mediumsized operations. While a large operation can justify the expense of hiring someone to carry out and record some

of these compliance oriented tasks, a smaller grower will more than likely eat this responsibility himself. To try and hire someone would be prohibitively expensive and it would be impossible to pass on the costs to the consumer anyway.

I don’t believe that there are growers out there who are against a safe food supply, or who don’t see the need for some form of government oversight, but good old fashioned common sense has to be a factor as well.

And on a personal note, if I had wanted to keep records and crunch numbers, I would have become an accountant.

Editor’s Note: Peter Melick is co-owner of Melick’s Town Farm in Oldwick and a 10th-generation New Jersey farmer. Peter is currently the Mayor of Tewksbury Township. He also served as a director for the New Jersey Farm Bureau and is a past president of the New Jersey State Board of Agriculture. Peter has also been featured on NJN, News 12 New Jersey and on the Fox Business Network.

GardenerNews.com

February 2018 23

Trees, Please!

By Brian Bosenberg Trees are a defining feature of our landscape, supporting ecosystems, providing resources, and framing our state of mind and nearly every experience. Perhaps one of our most underappreciated and little understood partners on this planet.

As Landscape Architects, we celebrate nature’s gift of sculptural, majestic and sometimes whimsical sentinels of the landscape.

We do not have a favorite tree; we embrace the diversity of trees. Just like people, trees come in all shapes and sizes with a kaleidoscope of varying characteristics. They can be tall, wide or short; some are showy or shy, short-lived or long, and have characteristics that we may or may not like.

Trees, like children, may surprise us when they grow up, our expectations may be pleasantly exceeded, or we may be disappointed by unmet potential. Some trees thrive

with intense maintenance and care; others perform better if left alone. Although each tree holds inherent beauty, beauty is a subjective quality and one must consider myriad factors prior to final selection.

The early 20th century saw the near extinction of the American Chestnut, arguably the most majestic hardwood, due to chestnut blight, a host brought to North America via Asia from the Chinese chestnut trade.

Mid-century, the decline and loss of the American Elm was visually and psychologically devastating to towns and cities across America. The loss of single species of tree planted block by block as a street tree in neighborhoods has altered the suburban landscape to this day. Generational continuity severed by the results of unintended consequences.

The American Ash tree is currently being decimated by a two-pronged assault of Ash Yellows, a bacterial invader, and the emerald ash borer, an unintentional invader

from abroad who traveled in on shipping pallets to North America. The Canadian and Carolina Hemlocks are under attack by the woolly adelgid, a small aphid-like insect, whose range is greatly expanding due to climate change. This is rapidly changing the composition of our forest ecosystems and landscapes.

Another tree on our do-notplant list includes Bradford Pears, propagated to be sterile.

However, the Bradford pear readily cross-pollinates with the later propagations of Cleveland Select, Aristocrat, and Chanticleer pear varieties, creating fruits whose seeds are dispersed by birds, allowing the plant to colonize unmanaged wood lots, crowding out native species, especially along roadways and wooded highway intersections.

Norway maples, once a popular choice for a street tree in many urban and suburban neighborhoods, were planted widely in the 1950s and 1960s, mainly as a replacement for the American Elm Canopy. It has been found to be very

invasive, self-seeding into our woodlands and shading out nearly all other trees and shrubs, reducing the forest understory to a vacant, leafy refuge fit only for other invasive perennials and annuals.

Selecting the ideal tree for your landscape is best undertaken with careful consideration. So, what’s left to pick from? There are many trees to use that have wonderful attributes; the trick is to pick the right tree for the right place. Planting a diverse palate of trees offers more resilience to diseases. It is best to avoid planting too much of a single species or a monoculture.

Native oaks and maple trees are well known candidates, but consider looking at other trees such as hackberry, sassafras, linden, black tupelo, Kentucky coffee tree, sweetgum, horse chestnut, river birch and, within five years, transgenic American Chestnuts could be available. Each brings its individual beauty with a wide

Perdue Names Appointees to the New Jersey and New York USDA Farm Service Agency State Committee U. S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue recently announced the individuals who will serve on the New Jersey and New York USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) state committee. The state committee is responsible for the oversight of farm programs and county committee operations, resolving appeals from the agriculture community, and helping to keep producers informed about FSA programs.

NEW JERSEY • Committee Chair Linda DuBois – Pittsgrove Township, Salem County • Kurt Alstede – Chester Borough, Morris County • Sam Conard – Hillsborough Township, Somerset County • Jim Etsch – Monroe Township, Middlesex County NEW YORK • Committee Chair Judi Whittaker – Broome County • Michael Bittel – Washington County • Lawrence Eckhardt – Rensselaer County • Theodore Furber – Wayne County • Barbara Hanselman – Delaware County The Farm Service Agency serves farmers, ranchers and agricultural partners through the delivery of effective, efficient agricultural programs. The agency offers farmers a strong safety net through the administration of farm commodity and disaster programs. FSA continues to conserve natural resources and also provides credit to agricultural producers who are unable to receive private, commercial credit, including special emphasis on beginning, underserved and women farmers and ranchers.

Under the direction of Secretary Sonny Perdue, the USDA will always be facts-based and datadriven, with a decision-making mindset that is customer-focused. Secretary Perdue leads the USDA with four guiding principles: to maximize the ability of American agriculture to create jobs, sell food and fiber, and feed and clothe the world; to prioritize customer service for the taxpayers; to ensure that our food supply is safe and secure; and to maintain good stewardship of the natural resources that provide us with our miraculous bounty. Understanding that we live in a global economy where trade is of top importance, Secretary Perdue has pledged to be an unapologetic advocate for American agriculture.

variety of characteristics to the landscape.

Because trees are such an integral part of our ecosystems, we must consider wisely when choosing the species and location for each new planting.

Many environmental factors can affect the health of a tree and we must also avoid the unintended consequences of introducing new “fashionable” trees, as they may harbor pests or diseases unseen or have the ability to dominate our already fragile ecosystems.

Planting a tree is a lifetime event for future generations, so think carefully before you make the choice.

Editor’s Note: Brian W. Bosenberg is a practicing landscape architect licensed in New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Maine and Vermont, and a principal in the firm of Bosenberg & Company Landscape Architects, Far Hills, N.J. He can be reached at 908-234-0557, info@bwbosenberg.com or www.bwbosenberg.com

Gardener

News

is Now Accepting Nominations for its

2018 Person of the Year Award.

Do you know someone in the “Green Industry” whose contributions deserve recognition?

This person must be from the landscape, nursery, garden center or gardening industries who best epitomizes concern for, involvement in, and dedication to those pursuits. Or a person who performs exemplary outstanding service to the green industry.

The deadline for receiving nominations for 2018 is November 1, 2018.

Gardener News annually bestows our “Person of the Year” Award in our January edition.

To download the form, please visit www.GardenerNews.com and click on the “Person of the Year” link on the left side.

Thank you!

24 February 2018

GardenerNews.com

New York Agriculture Commissioner Announces $600,000 Available to Strengthen States Specialty Crop Industry Proposals Currently Being Sought for Research and Grower Education Projects State Agriculture Commissioner Richard Ball announced up to $600,000 is available to help strengthen New York State’s specialty crop industry.

The NYS Department of Agriculture and Markets, in partnership with the New York Farm Viability Institute (NYFVI), is seeking proposals for research and grower education projects that aim to enhance the competitiveness of New York’s specialty crop producers and increase the long-term success of the State’s agricultural industry. The funding is provided through the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Specialty Crop Block Grant program.

Since the USDA began the program in 2006, New York State has awarded $11.1 million for 117 specialty crop projects across the State.

Commissioner Ball said, “Specialty crops are some of our most valuable agricultural products, contributing more than $1 billion in sales each year. That success is driven by hard-working, innovative farmers and continued support for important research and outreach that tackle key issues in production, increase the health and resiliency of significant crops, and educate growers about new and improved practices on the farm. This grant program provides us an opportunity to build on those efforts and ensure that New York remains a national leader in specialty crop production for years to come.”

New York State’s specialty crops include fruits, vegetables, tree nuts, maple syrup, honey, horticulture and nursery products. The Specialty Crop Block Grant program will provide eligible not-for-profit organizations, educational institutions and local governments up to $100,000 for projects that address or enhance specific opportunities, needs, or challenges impacting specialty crop production in New York. Projects may focus on boosting efficiencies, reducing costs, managing pests, or fostering innovation to strengthen the viability and competitiveness of specialty crop producers throughout the state.

The following priority areas have been identified within the Request for Proposals: Research and/or education addressing a key conventional or organic production problem or need specific to New York State; Developing and increasing the use of Integrated Pest Management strategies and programs; Prioritizing and addressing native and exotic pests and disease threats through development of pest risk assessments; Supporting plant breeding for the development of specialty crops resistant to exotic and native pests; Applied research and development to extend the growing season of New York specialty crops through new technologies, improved management practices, or other innovative production strategies; and Developing new seed varieties and specialty crops with optimal performance under New York State conditions.

Grant funds will only be awarded to applicants whose projects have statewide significance to the specialty crop industry and do not only benefit a single organization, institution, individual or commercial product.

Applicants must submit their proposals by Sunday, February 18, 2018. The application is available at http://www.nyfvi.org/default.aspx?PageID=2489.

For more information on the Specialty Crop Block Grant program, visit: https://www.agriculture.ny.gov/AP/slide/SpecialtyCrop.html.

The Specialty Crop Block Grant program is administered through the NYS Department of Agriculture and Markets in coordination with the NYFVI, which evaluates the proposals and submits its recommendations to the Department.

AT T E N T I O N L A N D S C A P E R S !

REPAIR AND RENOVATE YOUR CUSTOMERS’ LAWNS WITH THE BEST!!!

Visit the New Jersey Turf-Pro Distributor near you for top-notch, professional landscape lawn care products: NEW JERSEY Animals & Gardens Unlimited 14 Jacobstown Rd. New Egypt, NJ 08533

609-752-0000

Brock Farms - Freehold 4189 Rt. 9 Freehold, NJ 07728

732-462-2700

Empire Supplies

1232 North Ave. Plainfield, NJ 07062

908-668-0244

Hammetts Landscape and Garden Center 425 South Main St Forked River NJ 08731

609-971-0453 John Guire

Celtic Concepts

187 Brighton Ave Long Branch, NJ 07740

91 Broad St Eatontown, NJ 07724

Mike’s Country Market

732-496-2113

200 Riva Ave Milltown, NJ 08850

18 Hamilton Rd Hillsborough, NJ 08844

Pride Landscape Supply

Country Mile Garden Center 1108 Mt. Kemble Ave Morristown, NJ 07960

973-425-0088

Donaldson’s Greenhouses & Nursery 178 Airport Rd Hackettstown, NJ 07840

908-852-7314

NEW YORK Priority Landscape Design 1861 McDonald Ave Brooklyn, NY 11223

609-465-4500

718-376-3344

W. H. Potter & Son, Inc.

Sweetbrook Nursery

470 Red Hill Road Middletown, NJ 07748

2371 Forest Ave Staten Island, NY 10303

732-671-0552

718-448-5661

732-374-9383

Central Jersey Nurseries 908-359-4652

Smeltzer & Sons 1139 Rt. 9 South Cape May Ct. Hse., NJ 08210

732-821-7144

350 Ernston Road Parlin, NJ 08859

732-721-0554

Stone Brook Garden Center

451 Market St. Saddlebrook, NJ. 07663

973-778-4883

Sweet Valley Farms

1034 Rt. 202 Ringoes, NJ. 08551

908-892-9701

Visit us at

Landscape New Jersey 2018 Trade Show Conference Booth #608 Feb. 28th - 8am-3:30pm • Meadowlands Exposition Center, Secaucus 2/18

GardenerNews.com This past summer, standing in a field of deciduous trees in Pennsylvania, my friend John Stella and I had a conversation that was subjective, yet enlightening.

Speaking about different trees and the parasitic problems which can arise on certain ones at times, our discussion quickly turned to those trees seldom plagued by such problems. As our discussion continued we realized that many of the trees we were speaking about, seldom affected, also grow slowly. Could it be that there is a correlation between trees which grow slowly and their resistance to insect and fungal problems?

The first tree which came to both our minds was Ginkgo or Maidenhair tree, Ginkgo biloba. Those of you who read my columns regularly know that this is my favorite tree. A prehistoric beauty, this tree has remained unchanged for the past 150 million years. Unique fanshaped leaves are perhaps the most widely recognized, even among school children and their leaf collections. After an awkwardlooking adolescent period, Ginkgo become handsome, full specimen trees capable of withstanding even the harshest conditions. Their sensational, brilliant yellow fall color and resistance to just about everything has always made it a perennial favorite for me.

Though the holidays are past and the decorations down and stored, I hope you got your kiss under the mistletoe.

Whether an artificial mistletoe ball or a sprig of the real thing from a florist, when hung above the door it is a great excuse to steal a kiss…just be sure in this day and age that it is consensual!

But do you really know what mistletoe is?

Mistletoe is a flowering plant that is parasitic on other plants. Now parasitism is not common amongst the angiosperms, probably less than 1 percent of named species.

That will change as botanists continue to explore and learn, but the point is there are few parasitic plants. Few, but they can be a problem.

Most gardeners know one parasitic plant, Cuscuta, or dodder. These true parasites of the morning glory family show up in perennial and shrub beds, and are recognized by a sudden appearance of yellow, orange, or red vines entangling your plants. True flowering plants, they give up their roots and produce invasive projections called haustoria, penetrating into the host plant to steal nutrients.

February 2018 25 Unique Plants

By Bob LaHoff Nursery Specialist

Amur Maackia, Maackia amurensis, was the second tree we talked about. A lesser known tree in residential and municipal settings, Maackia is a solid candidate for almost any garden. Leaves that have five to seven leaflets, muted, white pea-like flowers appearing on six-inch racemes, and shiny amber-colored bark all contribute to this standout for “those in the know.” A well contained tree, maturing to 20 to 30 feet with a rounded canopy, Maackia is another tree with very few issues.

Persian Parrotia, Parrotia persica, was next on our short list, and this tree can be frustrating for me. Gorgeous exfoliating bark and crisp green summer foliage should be enough to consider this for your garden. Additionally, tiny maroon flowers will greet you on a late winter day and the anticipation of outstanding fall color can frustrate even the most patient gardener.

Yellow, orange, apricot and burgundy hues have all been

Slow & Steady

academically described. However, in the nine years we have had ours, only once has this been realized.

Nonetheless, we do appreciate the reddish-purple leaves as they unfold in the spring, and this tree’s “bulletproof” resistance to disease and insect.

Japanese Stewartia, Stewartia pseudocamellia, was the next ornamental to come to mind. This quintessential deciduous beauty really does have it all. Known for having a pyramidal shape in its youth, given time, Stewartia opens up, presenting a beautiful, rounded canopy.

Its leaves emerge a bronzypurple with solid green summer color. However, Stewartia’s fall color can have reliable orange, red and bronze markings. Summer flowers, opening in July, are white and cup-shaped, complete with orange anthers. Brownish capsules, five-valved fruit, follow the flowers, but let’s face it, gardeners all wait for the mature

bark of Stewartia to help showcase their garden.

In my opinion, Stewartia pseudocamellia has by far the nicest markings of any of the Stewartia types. Exfoliating patterns have orange, gray and reddish-brown markings and have always reminded me of the “saddles” on a boa constrictor.

Bark, leaves, fruit, fall color and a long-lived specimen, this tree does it all.

Finally, we come to the stately genus… Fagus. Beech trees have long been revered, not only by the gardening community but by any novice who stumbles upon their imposing mature size.

And whether we’re speaking about American Beech, Fagus grandiflora, or European Beech, Fagus sylvatica, their growth rate is slow to medium at best.

Both make outstanding shade tree candidates and remind me of a famous tree quote: A man has made at least a start on discovering

Tree Notes

By Steve Schuckman NJ Certified Tree Expert

Mistletoe With no need for chlorophyll and hence photosynthesis, they are efficient thieves of the products of their host plants.

Mistletoe, in contrast, is better classified as a hemiparasite, as many species remain photosynthetic (green) for much of their life. In other words, they are not 100-percent reliant on their host (there are exceptions). Once classified in only one family, mistletoes now occupy a couple of families as molecular botanists continue to reclassify plants. There are thousands of species, mostly subtropical to tropical, with a couple of important species in temperate zones. The most common species in Europe, Viscum album, does occur in California now. Our eastern mistletoe is Phoradendron leucarpum.

Mistletoe is a parasite of

many host trees and other plants, including cacti and succulents.

Seeds (fruits) are deposited by birds on host plants, and upon germination, the roots penetrate the bark and get “established.”

New leaves photosynthesize as haustoria invade to begin stealing carbohydrates and nutrients.

Once the plant has settled – and this may take years roots die and the mistletoe is now established, and may live for many, many years. Most flowers are small and insect pollinated, but there are some tropical species with large, attractive bird-pollinated flowers. Some of the mistletoes of Australia and New Zealand, in flower, warrant a gardener’s attention.

For the most part, mistletoes of trees are woody and hence persist. They get larger and

larger with each growing season, and often take on the look of what we call “witch’s broom.” In contrast, a witch’s broom is the aberrant growth of the tree itself, due to insects or disease.

A mistletoe is not a witch’s broom…it is an individual plant. It is just a plant really good at taking advantage of another. Not to be gross, but imagine another organism growing on your shoulder or belly or back. Your new friend, just hanging out.

Yet despite mistletoe’s seemingly non-aggressiveness, the plant does cause decline and potential death of its host if it persists for many years.

Anything that grows on you and takes away your nutrients will be detrimental, and there are reports in the literature of trees appearing “alive” only to

the meaning of human life when he plants shade trees under which he knows full well he will never sit.”

D. Elton Trueblood… American author.

While all the foregoing trees are slow in habit, sturdy in structure and resistant to many parasitic problems, they are not impervious to all natural threats. That said, all will make wonderful candidates in the right garden setting, offering decades of enjoyment to those who plan ahead.

Future discussions and studies may find that there is a link between those trees that pace themselves and the problems that could lie ahead. Incidentally, “It is known that trees that grow more slowly have harder wood and are able to withstand heavier winds,” says Stephen Schuckman, First Mountain Arboriculture and consulting forester.

Editor’s Note: Bob LaHoff is co-owner of Hall’s Garden Center and Florist in Union County, a member of the Union County Board of Agriculture, the New Jersey Nursery and Landscape Association, ReevesReed Arboretum Buildings and Grounds Committee, a lifetime member of the Conifer Society and past member of the retail council for Monrovia Growers.

He can be reached at (908) 665-0331. find the crown is only mistletoe.

Once the entire tree dies, soon does the mistletoe.

Mistletoe, to me, is fascinating. Another plant taking advantage of another plant. Not necessarily in a bad way, just Nature. A way to keep things honest. A way to live together. We humans should pay attention.

So why kiss under the Mistletoe? I have researched and read and still have no idea.

There is much history and speculation why, but I say… just do.

This winter, take care of your family and friends, and as Stephen Stills said, “Love the One You’re With.”

And never fail to kiss the one you love under the Mistletoe Editor’s Note: Steve Schuckman is owner of First Mountain Aboriculture, which provides horticultural consulting and community forestry services. He is currently the consulting forester for Bloomfield, Hawthorne, Maplewood, and Montclair, in New Jersey. He is also a New Jersey Certified Tree Expert. He can be reached at smschuckman@verizon.net

26 February 2018

GardenerNews.com “Stewarding Resilient Forests for the Future” at the New Jersey Forestry Association’s 43rd Annual Meeting & Member Program

The Premier Gardening Monthly Newspaper Number 178 Published Monthly Reserve Ad Space Phone: 908.604.4444 Website: www.GardenerNews.com E-Mail: Mail@GardenerNews.com Staff Executive Editor/Publisher . . . .

Art Director . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Advertising . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Tom Castronovo Clarissa J. Roper Tom Castronovo

February Columnists

Tom Castronovo

Gail Woolcott

Bob LaHoff

Larry Katz

Craig Korb

Todd Pretz

Douglas H. Fisher Steve Schuckman Peter Melick Al Murray

Contributing Writers

Bruce Crawford Jeannie Geremia

Brian Bosenberg William A. Kolbe B.C.E. Hubert Ling Gardener News is published monthly by

Gardener News, Inc.

16 Mount Bethel Road #123 Warren, NJ 07059

The Gardener News invites correspondences on gardening subjects of interest. Gardener News, Inc, and its Publisher reserve the right to accept, refuse, or discontinue any editorial or copy, and shall not be liable to anyone for printing errors, misinformation or omissions in editorial or copy. The information contained in articles herein represents the opinions of the authors and, although believed to be accurate and complete, is not represented or warranted by Gardener News, Inc. to be accurate or complete.

All advertising is subject to the Gardener News advertisement rates, and must be PAID IN FULL at time of submission. Publisher reserves the right at its absolute discretion, and at any time, to cancel any advertising order or reject any advertising copy whether or not the same has already been acknowledged and/or previously published. In the event of errors or omissions of any advertisement(s), the newspapers liability shall not exceed a refund of amounts paid for the advertisement.

NOTE: All editorial, advertising layouts and designs and portions of the same that are produced and published by Gardener News, Inc., are the sole property of Gardener News, Inc. and may not be reproduced in any form unless written authorization is obtained from the publisher. POSTMASTER: Send all address changes to: Gardener News, 16 Mount Bethel Rd - #123, Warren, NJ 07059. (c) 2018 Gardener News, Inc.

Full Moon, January 31 & March 1, 2018 Eastern Daylight

TIP OF THE MONTH

Zen up your indoor breathing room and improve your mental health by adding a special space in your home or office to reflect and relax. Create a green canopy with aloe, ferns, spider plants, jade plants, orchids, peace lilies, philodendrons, or pothos. Indoor plants not only help clean the environment around them, but they act as a quick decorating tool as well.

If you have a woodland management plan or need more information on farmland assessment, join the New Jersey Forestry Association on Saturday, March 17th from 8:30am to 4:00pm at the Rutgers University’s Cook Campus Student Center in New Brunswick, New Jersey for the association’s 43rd Annual Meeting & Member Program.

The theme for this year’s program is “Stewarding Resilient Forests for the Future”.

Presentations include “The Young Forest Initiative” by Mark Banker, Wildlife Biologist at The Wildlife Management Institute, “Trends in Forest Composition & Stand Age”

by Don Donnelly, Stewardship Forester of NJ Audubon Society, a “Trends in Markets Panel Discussion” with Doug Tavella (Consulting Forester) & John Falconio (Riephoff Sawmill) as moderators, “Legislative and Regulatory Actions in Trenton that Affect Woodland Owners”, and a report by our State Forester, John Sacco.

The afternoon will be devoted to Farmland Assessment with a presentation entitled “Farmland Assessment or Forest Stewardship? Woodland Owner Options”, by Andy Kimm, President of the NJ Forestry Association, followed by “Forest Stewardship and Farmland Assessment Q&A” – a time for YOU to ask the questions you have regarding forest stewardship and farmland assessment.

There will be plenty of good food, great friends, a 50/50 cash raffle with one BIG winner, a chainsaw raffle, and an array of items for bidding at our famous silent auction!

Don’t miss this opportunity to gain educational knowledge & to learn about how current regulations can affect you. To register, or for more information, visit njforestry. org. And since it is Saint Patrick’s Day, be prepared for a few Irish twists this year!

SPRAY TECHNICIAN NEEDED Small, growing company (NJ Deer Control) is looking for a backpack spray technician.

Tech is needed to spray landscapes with a natural deer repellent. Must enjoy working outdoors. Landscape/spray tech experience is a plus, but not required. Valid driver’s license is a must. Paid training period then $14-$15 hourly pay with 30-40+ hr work week available! Please send resume for possible interview to info@njdeercontrol.com Deadline: Until filled.

HELP WANTED Middlesex Power Equipment - Full time parts counter person needed to help customers with parts sales, equipment sales, parts look up, answering calls, and repair order write up.

Computer skills required. Fluent in Spanish a plus, over time and health benefits available.

Job training also available. Call 732-968-0778 or email Resume to midd_power@yahoo. com. Middlesex Power Equipment is located at 635 Bound Brook Rd, Middlesex, NJ. Deadline: Until filled

GardenerNews.com

February 2018 27

Oldwick Lamington

206

78

202

kR

d.

Pluckemin

Hunterdon

Somerset

m La

Old

wic

78

nR to ing d.

North Branch

od

Rd.

Somerville Raritan

202 Old

Buy Direct From One Of New Jersey’s Largest Growers Of Plants & Flowers!

Six Acres Under Glass/Garden Center

202 206

Solberg Airport

Rea din gto n

& Garden Center

Bridgewater

22

4C

Whitehouse Station

din

gto

nR

d.

287

k Yor

Rd.

4 Coddington Rd. Whitehouse Station, NJ 08889 908.534.7710 www.HionisGreenhouses.com

28

28 February 2018

GardenerNews.com

Count On Toro for the Results You Want, Season After Season.

Power Clear®

$

359.00

• 18" clearing width throws snow up to 25' • Power Curve® Technology moves more snow in less time • Locking style deflector throws snow exactly where you want

$

649.00

• Innovative In-Line Two-Stage auger technology • Personal Pace® automatically adapts to your walking speed • Integrated automatic steering for easy turning - no levers or triggers

See dealer for full warranty details

See dealer for full warranty details

*See dealer for full warranty details

*See dealer for full warranty details

Power Max®

$

SnowMaster®

749.00

Power Max® HD

$

1499.00

• 24" clearing width throws snowup to 40'

• 28" clearing width throws snowup to 45'

• Anti-Clogging System reduces clogging in heavy snow conditions

• Anti-Clogging System reduces clogging in heavy snow conditions

• Quick Stick® chute control easily changes the direction and angle of thrown snow

• Quick Stick® chute control easily changes the direction and angle of thrown snow

See dealer for full warranty details

See dealer for full warranty details

*See dealer for full warranty details

*See dealer for full warranty details

toro.com

See Your Local Servicing Toro Dealer Locally Owned and Operated, ., . www.toro.com