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August 9, 2000

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When The Gardener's Away...
When you're on vacation who takes care of the garden?  If you go away for a week or more and it doesn't rain will the garden survive?

These questions plus many more gardening anxieties run through my mind every year come vacation time.  Last year when we were gone for two weeks, Kansas City was having a terrible heat wave.  Every day we were gone the temperatures were in the high 90's and of course there was no rain to speak of.  All I could do was think about arriving home and looking at a very sad garden.  Fortunately I had a responsible neighbor girl take care of the garden and she did a terrific job.  When we returned the garden was alive and well.  What a relief!

Savvygardeners are a rare breed.  Our garden is our sanctuary, our paradise.  It is after all an extension of who we are.  That is why we are very choosy when it comes to having someone else look after our garden.  When you find that someone treat them well for they are taking care of a very important part of you.


~ Shelly
               

Lush Lawns Are Looming...
Fall is just around the corner and there's no better time of year to renovate your lawn.  Take a hard look at your grass and decide just how much work you have ahead of you.
  • If you just need to thicken it up a round of over-seeding will probably do the trick.  To ensure good seed to soil contact you might want to make use of a verticutter.  This handy machine, which can be rented locally, makes nice vertical cuts in your existing lawn and soil.  Over this cutting you can broadcast your seeds.  Seeds should find their way into the soil where they will germinate nicely.
  • Every other year or so you should try core aerifying your lawn.  Doing so is suggested to control and prevent problems such as thatch and soil compaction.  Core aerifying machines will pull up numerous plugs of soil about the diameter of a pencil, making holes into the lawn.  Leave the plugs on the surface and work the lawn as usual.
  • If your lawn is so overridden with perennial weeds or you're ready to try a new type of grass altogether you will need to eliminate what's there with Round Up or other appropriate herbicide.  Once the grass and weeds are dead use a verticutter or roto-tiller to prepare the soil for new seed.

A note about weeds - If crabgrass is appearing in your lawn in mid to late summer, remember that it's an annual and will die-off as temperatures drop later this fall.  For perennial weeds it is best to delay herbicide applications until a newly planted lawn has been mowed at least 3 times.  This gives the new grass time to mature to a point where it is not so sensitive to the weed killer.


Last Meal For Fall Bloomers...
Savvygardeners that appreciate fall blooms have ample plantings of mums, hardy asters, and other fall blooming perennials.  It's time for one last application of fertilizer for these lovely plants.  You will be rewarded with healthy, colorful flowers in a few weeks!

Handy Harvest Hints...
Fruit and vegetable harvest can be confusing - especially if you're still new at it.  Here are some quick tips to help with a few local favorites:
  • Harvest onions after the tops yellow and fall, then cure them in a warm, dry, well-ventilated area.  The necks should be free of moisture when fully cured in about a week's time.
  • Harvest potatoes after the tops yellow and die.  Potatoes also need to be cured before storage.
  • Pick beans, tomatoes, peppers and squash often to encourage further production.
  • Harvest sweet corn when kernels are plump and ooze a milky juice when punctured with your fingernail. If the liquid is watery, you're too early; if the kernels are doughy, you're too late.
  • Harvest watermelon when several factors indicate ripeness: 
    • the underside ground spot turns from whitish to creamy yellow
    • the tendril closest to the melon turns brown and shrivels
    • the rind loses its gloss and appears dull
    • the melon produces a dull thud rather than a ringing sound when thumped.

Source


What's With Those Webworms...

 

Fall webworms have been making their presence known by building their tell-tale webs at the ends of area tree branches.  You will probably be surprised to learn that the ones we see now are actually the second generation of webworms produced this year. The first generation emerges from over-wintering pupa as adult moths in the spring.  After mating, the females lay masses of eggs (400 to 500 of them!) on the undersides of leaves.  The larvae feed in colonies in web enclosed foliage.  They begin by constructing small webs near the ends of branches and gradually increase the size of the web as the need for food increases.  

Mature caterpillars are yellowish with black and brown markings, and have many tufts of long hair.  Feeding continues for four to six weeks.  Mature larvae crawl down the tree and pupate in the litter on the ground.  Pupation normally occurs in June with the adults of the second generation appearing in late June to early July.  These adults mate and the female lays eggs.  Second generation larvae are usually present from late July through late September.  As larvae mature, they crawl down the tree and spend the winter as pupa in the leaf litter under the tree.  The first generation is often small and usually goes unnoticed.  The second generation is much larger and more noticeable.

In most cases webworms will do little actual damage to a tree.  They often look a lot worse than they are.  Heavy infestations can completely defoliate a host but will not kill it.  Pruning and destroying the infested portions of branches is a common control practice while webs are still small.  Also, a stick or pole with a nail inserted crosswise can be used to snag individual webs.  Chemicals need to be applied while webs are small and before much foliage has been destroyed.  A high pressure sprayer is needed to penetrate the webs of more mature colonies.

Source


Help Fall Vegetables Beat The Heat...
If you're planning a fall harvest of vegetables remember that the late-summer heat can really put a strain on seeds and seedlings.  To improve your success apply a thin mulch over the rows immediately after sowing the fall crop.  Mulching keeps the soil cooler, prevents the rapid drying of moist soil, and protects seedlings as they emerge.  Make sure the mulch is thin enough to not interfere with seedling emergence.  Try it with the seeds of snap beans, turnips, leaf lettuce, spinach, carrots and radishes.  Bonus - Vegetables maturing in the fall often have better flavor because of the cooler growing conditions.  Let's eat!

What's Hot On The Hotline...
Wet and humid weather has prompted a number of calls regarding fungus on ornamentals, vegetables and of course lawns.  See what the experts at K-State's Johnson County Extension office have to say on the Hotline...

Wait Before Watering?
It's not uncommon to venture out to the garden at the  end of a hot day to find some pretty droopy plants.  Don't immediately assume that they need to be watered.  It may be that there is adequate moisture in the soil but your plant's roots just can't keep up with the needs of the leaves.  If the soil is already moist you are better off letting the plants catch up on their own overnight.  If they're still droopy in the morning give them a drink.

Finally...
The tree which moves some to tears of joy is in the eyes of others only a green thing that stands in the way.  Some see Nature all ridicule and deformity, and some scarce see Nature at all.  But to the eyes of the man of imagination, Nature is Imagination itself.

~ William Blake, 1799, The Letters

 

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