~ August 13, 2008 ~

Baffling the Bugs...
Am I dreaming? What month is this? The cooler mornings and warm afternoons remind me of September. Could it be that the dog days of summer are past? All I know is that the last few days have been spectacular. I have spent many hours outside piddling around. Being away on vacation is great but things on the home garden front are a bit out of control.

Best Fescues...
Over the years K-State Extension has rated tall fescue varieties for color, green-up, quality and texture. They have 160 different cultivars of tall fescue in their Tall Fescue Cultivar Trial near Wichita. (The old standby K-31 consistently rates at the bottom by the way.)

Each of these varieties averaged a rating of at least 5.1 on a scale of 0 to 9, with 9 being optimum quality. There were no statistically different ratings for any of these cultivars. Keep in mind that mixes of several varieties may allow you to take advantage of differing strengths. It is not necessary for mixes to contain only the varieties mentioned above.

They're Not Locusts...
It's that time of year when the din of the singing cicadas makes it nearly impossible to hold a conversation outdoors. It's also that time of year that people invariably refer to these noisy insects as "locusts". Trust us, they are not locusts. Locusts are actually a type of grasshopper and have some significant traits that, fortunately, we do not experience with cicadas:

• Locusts tend to travel in swarms. Fifteen to thirty million adult locusts inhabit each square mile of a swarm.
• Each locust weighs less than one tenth of an ounce, but eats its weight in food each day. In a single day, one ton of locusts, a very small part of a swarm, consumes enough food for 2,500 people. 

Cicadas by contrast feed only during the underground portion of their life cycle. They feed on tree roots and do not consume enough to harm the host plant.

Still Time To Divide Iris...
Late summer is ideal for dividing, moving and planting iris. The old foliage wilting from the summer’s heat can be trimmed back at least halfway. Trimming also helps when dividing iris to prevent moisture loss while the plants get established. Follow these simple steps to divide your iris plants:

• Dig Iris with a potato fork, being careful not to damage the rhizome.
• With a sterile knife, cut the rhizome vertically. Each division should be approximately 2 inches long with 2-3 fans.
• Dig a shallow hole mounded in the middle and spread the roots around the mound.
• Set the plant with fans facing to the outside of the garden to make room for expanded growth.
• Fill the hole with soil, being careful to leave rhizomes partially exposed, and water well.
• Water the newly planted iris regularly if the weather is hot and dry being careful to avoid overwatering.

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Battling Bagworms...
Bagworms, caterpillars that weave a small silky bag with leaf and stick pieces attached, have been actively feeding for some time now. By August, the bags can be over an inch long and can do considerable damage in a short time. They can strip a shrub or small tree completely of foliage in what seems like a couple of days. A simple solution is to simply pick the bags off as soon as you notice them. Those inclined toward pesticides can treat them with a spray containing spinosad.

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Hard Core Tomatoes...
During stressful weather (and usually aggravated by excessive fertilization) the central core of a tomato may become tough and turn greenish white. The walls also may become pale and corky. This is usually a temporary condition known as “hard core.” Fruit that develops later is often free of this condition.

Older varieties of tomatoes normally have five distinct cavities that are filled with seeds and jelly-like material called locular jelly. However, many newer tomato varieties possess genetic traits to make the fruit meatier and firmer with the seeds being produced all over the inside of the fruit rather than in the five distinct cavities. These types of tomatoes do not seem to produce a hard central core nearly as readily as ones that are not as meaty.

The older variety, Jet Star, which has been widely grown for many years by Kansas gardeners, has a tendency to produce a hard core when stressed. Newer varieties such as Mountain Spring, Mountain Fresh, Daybreak, Sun Leaper, Sunmaster, Celebrity, Carnival, and other ‘semi-determinate' varieties are less likely to suffer from this condition.

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Garden Toppers...
If you have a vegetable or annual garden that is normally empty in the fall and through winter you should consider planting a green manure crop there at the end of this growing season. The name green manure is given to any crop which is grown only to be tilled back into the soil. As it rots, the nutrients in the crop foliage and roots will be taken up by the next crop planted in the same place. Green manures from the legume family, such as peas, beans, and clovers, have an added bonus - nitrogen-fixing bacteria living around their roots can draw nitrogen from the air and convert it to a form the plant can absorb.  This nitrogen will then be available to subsequent crops.

Green manures also act as "cover crops" protecting the soil from compaction and erosion caused by wind and rain, as well as reducing the extent that weeds take over bare soil.

Oh Say Can You Seed?
Yes you can! The best time to start new cool-season grass seed is late summer/early fall. As long as it doesn't get crazy hot in the next 7-10 days you'll be able to get started. Seeding this time of year takes advantage of warm weather for proper seed germination while allowing the new turf to thrive as the temperatures cool into fall.

Finally...
"In August, the large masses of berries, which, when in flower, had attracted many wild bees, gradually assumed their bright velvety crimson hue, and by their weight again bent down and broke their tender limbs."

~ Henry David Thoreau