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Thanksgiving 2000

Thankful For Planning Ahead...
Don't panic!  It's not Thursday morning.  We just wanted to get this week's issue out a day early to make sure all you Savvygardeners got a chance to see it before the holidays.  

Thanksgiving is upon us and Christmas is right around the corner.  Don't forget to take some time to enjoy the holiday season.  Easier said then done you might say.  Planning is the word.  I have already finished most of my Christmas shopping so I feel I am headed in the right direction.  Thanksgiving will be spent with friends so I won't have to fix a large meal or prepare the house for guests.  More time saved by not having to shop, clean or cook.  See how easy this is?  Don't let me fool you.  I am always running around last minute trying to finish the unfinished things.  I would like to say that I am a highly organized person but during the holiday season that is not always the case.  However I will write about it in order to remind myself that maybe this is my year to plan ahead and be organized.  It never hurts to encourage yourself and others to help those people in need and to thank the ones you love.

Christmas arrives at The Sweet Onion on Friday.  Hurry in now for the best selection of fresh trees and greenery!  Visit their web page for more information and a special $10 coupon.

If you're in town over the long weekend it looks like the weather may warm up a bit.  Hopefully enough to encourage a final flurry of gardening work to end the outdoor growing season.

~ Shelly  

All Coiled Up And No Place To Go...
If you are putting your hoses away for the season take care of how you store them.  Be very careful not to kink the hose.  Any kink becomes a weak point and hoses often crack in these locations.  Do not hang your hose on nails as this promotes kinking and weak spot formation.  Instead store them on reels, hose supports or simply coil them loosely on the floor.  Before storing make sure all the water has been drained out.  Find a dry place for it and your hose will be ready to go when spring returns.

Here's What's Up, Doc...
During the winter months, rabbits often gnaw on the bark of many woody plants.  Heavy browsing can result in the complete girdling of small trees and small branches clipped off at snow level.  Apple, pear, crabapple and serviceberry are frequent targets of rabbits.  Small trees with smooth, thin bark are the most vulnerable.  Other frequently damaged plants include the winged euonymus or burning bush, Japanese barberry, dogwood, roses and raspberries.

The best way to prevent rabbit damage to young trees is to place a cylinder of hardware cloth (1/4 inch mesh wire fencing) around the tree trunk. The hardware cloth cylinder should stand about 1 to 2 inches from the tree trunk and 20 inches above the ground. The bottom 2 to 3 inches should be buried beneath the soil. Small shrubs, roses and raspberries can be protected with chicken wire fencing.

Time To Pine For Pines?
Area gardeners may be concerned to find they have pines and spruces with needles changing to a yellow or brown color.  If these needles are just on the inside of the tree with the needles furthest out on the branches remaining green, it is natural needle drop.  Natural needle drop does not harm the health of the trees and is a normal process as 2- and 3-year old needles are shed.  However, in some cases all the needles on a branch turn color.  On pines, this may be due to pine wilt, a fatal disease that is found primarily on Scots pine.  The heat and drought of this last summer may have stressed some of our trees to the point that they may die.  

How can you tell if the tree will survive?  First, check to see if the branch with the browning needles is alive.  Scrape off a small area of the "bark" of the branch with a sharp knife.  There should be green tissue immediately under the bark.  This green cambium layer is quite thin with the underlying woody tissue being white.  If there is no green at all, the branch is dead and should be removed.  Major branch removal may destroy the aesthetics of the tree resulting in tree removal as the only viable option.

Source

Winter Diet For Houseplants...
The growth of your houseplants will slow as the days get shorter and light intensity is reduced.  This means that they will need less frequent watering and fertilizing through the winter.  Too much of either in the coming months can cause weak growth leading to undue stress next spring.

Bundle Up For Winter...
Young thin-barked trees, such as maples and many fruit trees, are especially susceptible to frost cracking or sunscald.  Prevent damage by wrapping their trunks with commercial tree wrap or painting the south and southwest-facing sides of the trunk with white latex outdoor paint.  

What's Hot On the Hotline...
We gave the Hotline staff a break for Thanksgiving.  They really earned it.  If you want to know more about the resources available from the Johnson County Extension Office we have posted them as this week's topic on the Hotline...

Protect Those Pots...
We're finding ourselves worrying about freeze related items a bit earlier than usual this year.  Often overlooked items include your outdoor plant pots.  Any pots that contain moist soil are subject to cracking and breaking as we cycle through freezing and thawing weather.  Use this long (and warmer) weekend to empty all soil from your pots and store them in a sheltered area for the winter.

Finally...
"Our harvest being gotten in, our governor sent four men on fowling, that so we might after a special manner rejoice together after we had gathered the fruit of our labors...And although it be not always so plentiful as it was at this time with us, yet by the goodness of God, we are so far from want that we often wish you partakers of our plenty."

~ Edward Winslow, At the "First Thanksgiving", 1621

 

 

 

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