What’s there to do in late September in the lawn? Plenty. First, keep mowing. There’s a natural human tendency to slack off or give up being a tender of the landscape in mid fall; fight it. Continuing to mow will encourage expansion of turf grass plants, fill in voids and chew up falling tree leaves. …
Month: September 2018
Fixing your Fruit Fly Problem
As harvest picks up, so to do fruit flies! How do you get rid of them from your home?
Pollution – Who Wants It?
This seems like an easy question to answer – No one, right? Well, this is probably true, but really, it’s more like some are anti-pollution and some are well…apathetic about it. Right here, smack dab in the middle of Pollution Prevention Week aka P2 Week, my goal is to try to convince the folks who…
Growing Food Indoors? Sure!
As we celebrate National Indoor Plant Week, my question turns to can we grow food indoors? The answer is emphatically, yes! Perhaps the simplest option for indoor food production would be to grow some container plants that would work well. Crops like lettuce, arugula, and some of the other leafy greens have lower light requirements…
Moving Houseplants Indoors
September is the best month for transitioning our houseplants from the outdoors to inside. At this time of year, we don’t have the impending crunch of time when frost is imminent and our only choice is to hastily move plants indoors. By planning ahead, we have the time to pay attention to our houseplants by…
Plant Societies
This week we kick off National Indoor Plant Week. As an avid houseplant enthusiast I belong to a few different national plant societies. The two national societies I belong to are the African Violet Society of America and the Gesneriad Society. Sadly, with today’s capabilities to connect to with people around the globe membership has…
Lake Friendly Lawn Care
Preamble: “Lake Friendly” lawn care is very similar to “regular” common sense lawn care. The difference is two-fold – 1. The presence of an obvious target, and 2. Heightened sensitivity of the owners of the site. That said, the practices that will prevent pollution are: Encourage infiltration, not runoff. Seven ways: -soil modification -core aeration…
September Flower Power
September doesn’t have to be about chrysanthemums and asters alone. There is a plethora of other, lesser-known, counterparts that can add flower power to the late season garden. Turtlehead, Chelone lyonii, has light pink to dark pink flowers that resemble, you guessed it, a turtle’s head. Serrate leaves are pointed, shiny and dark green. People…
Spiny Solanums
Over the last few weeks I’ve talked about perennials and how common names can inherently hurt them. However, this week the plant that has caught my eye and has recently become a new obsession is the porcupine tomato Solanum pyracanthos. Unlike other plants with a misleading common name, this one delivers. Yes this is a…
Ash Tree Bolete
We’ve been receiving multiple samples and questions about the Ash Tree Bolete. We are proud to have Professor Emeritus Tom Weber from University of Nebraska – Omaha as an Extension Master Gardener share his insights with this particular fungi. The first organism on the list of ash tree associates, good or evil, that pops up…