Master Garden Tips

By Vicki Schmitt, Nebraska Extension Master Gardener

Want some pizazz in your yard? Ornamental Grasses can add color, texture, and height to your landscape without much maintenance. Consider your space and read tags carefully. Most ornamental grasses prefer full sun, but some can handle part shade. Be sure to check height predictions to find the best fit for your site. Ornamental grasses can provide interest through the winter, just cut off in early spring.

If your ornamental grass is starting to take on a doughnut shape with no growth in the middle, it’s trying to tell you something. It needs to be divided. Just dig up the clump, get rid of the dead center and divide the actively growing outer edge into smaller pieces and replant or share with friends. Spring is the best time to divide your ornamental grasses. Short on garden space? You can grow herbs in containers, raised beds, or the smallest garden plot. Herb plants are happiest in welldrained soil with plenty of sunshine. Plant seeds according to package directions and remember to thin them to the appropriate distance. Be cautious with mint. It is hardy and easy to grow but will take over if given the chance! Nothing spruces up a yard better than new mulch, but there are practical reasons to use mulch around your plants. Mulch keeps the soil temperature even and prevents water loss. Proper mulching discourages weeds and protects plant roots. Trees with shallow roots especially benefit when their roots are covered and protected from mower damage. So remember mulch isn’t just attractive. It is good for your plants! Want to save money on air conditioning? Plant the right trees. Trees and shrubs can reduce heating and cooling bills by providing summer shade and protection from winter winds. A deciduous tree, one that sheds its leaves in the winter, will provide shade for your home in the summer but still let winter sunlight through the branches. Careful planning can save money and energy.

By Katie Markheim, Nebraska Extension Master Gardener

Both FIFRA and the Nebraska Pesticide Act state that the label must be followed when making a pesticide application. Each product label has specific information regarding use to reduce risk to the applicator, other people, nontargets, and the environment. Some products may require additional data collection or training before applications. Others may require site investigation using FieldWatch, DriftWatch, or BeeCheck. Read and follow the label every time you use a pesticide. It’s the law.

Many vegetables have ornamental as well as food value and can be used as ornamentals where space for a traditional food garden is limited. They can be incorporated as decorative container plantings in outdoor living spaces, big or small, even in floral arrangements for a creative flair. I suggest using these vegetables as ornamentals: peppers, kale, ornamental corn, sweet potatoes, Swiss chard, okra, even tomatoes!

Remembering your roots. When choosing landscape plants, it’s easy to get distracted by the natural beauty offered at first site. Remember to check those roots! Purchase plants with healthy root systems. If plants are in containers, pull them out to observe the presence of healthy white or light-colored roots. Check for spiraling, girdling, or circling roots. This can be corrected at planting by scoring the sides and bottom of the root ball.

A landscape is an investment of time and money that can be a beautiful, functional, and satisfying living space.

Considerations when creating your outdoor space include:

Site preparation

Plant Selection by hardiness zone

Planting season

Spacing in the landscape

Planting depths

Watering habits

Staking, protecting, and mulching

These are aspects of integrated pest management and a great way to ensure the growth and longevity of your investment.

Moles, voles, and gophers…oh my! These burrowing rodents look harmless, but beware, they may be damaging your lawn, garden, tree plantings, or forage crops. They adversely affect turf and crops by directly feeding on roots, stems, and leaves by exposing plant roots to drying and burying plants with excavated soil. Never fear. Management is most effective when using a combination of controls such as trapping, exclusion, fumigants, repellents, or reducing food sources.

By Debbie Post, Nebraska Extension Master Gardener

What do you want from your garden? Fresh herbs and tomatoes from the vine? A lush lawn with flowering shrubs? Or a country cottage vibe in your city backyard? Vegetables

Master Garden Tips

CONTINUED FROM PAGE C30 fill your winter cellar? Or Blooming flowers from spring to fall? Knowing what you want to accomplish can help you take a look at your garden area, allowing you to make plans and help you adjust your goals to fit your space - If you can dream it, you can build it!

Your garden soil might need some extra help this spring. If your dirt is hard and clumpy, it probably has an excess of clay and needs better drainage. If it is thin and crumbly, it could lack moisture and nutrients. Adding amendments like aged manure, compost, peat moss, even egg shells, and coffee grounds can help improve your soil quality for increased garden harvest. Get your hands dirty and get digging.

Don’t buy your plants until you know how much sun they will be getting in the area where you plan to plant them. Making sure your plants have adequate sunlight for their specific needs is one of the most important aspects of gardening. Most labels on nursery plants will indicate how much sunlight they need on a daily basis .. Partial shade labels are the best options giving you the most flexibility in your gardening blueprint - Happy Planting!

Research studies have shown that people who garden have huge health benefits over their couch counterparts. They have lower blood pressure, pulse rates, decreased muscle tension, and improved mental health. People breathe deeper when they’re outside, which helps clear out the lungs, improving digestion and immune response. Not to mention the improved diet when eating those fruits and vegetables harvested from your own garden. Go green, get healthy, plant a garden.

Your USDA hardiness zone is a system that classifies your geographical area according to its seasonal temperatures and can help you choose your plants more appropriately. Basically, higher average temperatures equate to higher planting zone numbers. It’s possible to grow something just outside of your growing zone, but you might need to make more adjustments for it to thrive better. Zone in and get planting!

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The Lone Ranger woke to see his tent blown away by a tornado.

He declared, “Tonto, we’re not in canvas anymore.”

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