Lawn and Garden Leaflet

Transcription

1 Lawn and Garden Leaflet Kevin Lawson CEA Staff Chair February 2018 Soil Testing If your garden or lawn isn't looking so great, maybe it's time to see how your soil is doing. Inside this Issue: Soil Testing 1 Soil Test Day 2 Spurweed 2 Spurweed 3 Pruning 3 Irish Potatoes 4 Irish Potato 5 Soil testing can be done in the fall or in the spring before the lawn greens up. The University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service offers homeowners free soil testing. Soil testing isn't complicated and the soil samples you dig up can be brought to the office and sent off for testing. Use the following procedure in collecting your soil sample: 1. Rake aside mulch or surface litter like leaves. 2. Take soil with a soil probe or shovel from at least 12 spots in each area to obtain a representative sample. A zigzag sampling pattern is preferred. Fertilizer and lime recommendations are no better than the sample taken. 3. Take samples in gardens, lawns, and around shrubs to a depth of about 4 inches and for mature fruit trees at a depth of 12 inches. 4. Mix soil thoroughly from a sample area. Keep different areas separate. Discard rocks, gravels and roots. 5. Allow the soil sample to air dry. Spread the sample on newspapers or large paper bags for a couple of days. Do not heat the sample in an oven to speed drying. 6. Remove one pint for the laboratory sample and place in a clean container or zip top bag. Label each sample with a name that you would recognize. P.O. Box 300 Perryville, AR Phone: (501) Fax: (501) Bring sample(s) to the office. Office hours are 8:00 am to 4:30 pm Monday through Friday. The University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture offers all its Extension and Research programs and services without regard to race, color, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, religion, age, disability, marital or veteran status, genetic information, or any other legally protected status.

2 Lawn and Garden Leaflet Page 2 Tips include: Sample areas around shrubs separately from turf. If you have a large lawn or garden, sample areas separately that have been managed differently or will be managed differently. Soil Test Day I know a lot of our homeowners that want to do soil samples are working during our office hours and have a difficult time getting samples dropped off at our office. I have put together a Soil Test Day which will give people an opportunity to drop of soil samples on a Saturday morning. I will do this on Saturday March 3, at the Agri Co-op in Perryville from 9:30 to 11:30 am. You can bring your soil sample in a quart sized plastic bag and I will get your information and transfer it over to a soil box. Please try to get your sample a few days before and let it air dry a little before you bring it. I will also have plenty of publications on different vegetables and gardening tips. Spurweed One common question I will start getting around April is what can I do about stickers in my yard? Sadly I always have to say, nothing now it is too late. The sticker part that gets in your feet is the seed of the plant spurweed. That means like any plant that is setting a mature seed, you can t control it anymore because it is at the end of its life cycle. So if you want to control spurweed, NOW is a great time to do that. You want to try and get something out before March 1, but you also want a nice warm spell to spray. Now a warm spell for a winter annual plant doesn t mean up in the 80 s. Just a few warm days in a row when you notice green stuff popping up in your yard like henbit and dandelions is the perfect time to get it. Something else to remember about spurweed, it will come back. The purpose of the sticker is to stick to animal fur and birds, and as they run across your lawn they repopulate the weeds. So once you start spraying for them, don t be surprised if you have to spray again next year. It doesn t mean you didn t do a good job, it is just the nature of the beast.

3 Lawn and Garden Leaflet Page 3 Spurweed Continued Description: A small, low-growing, mat-forming winter annual with lacy leaves. Spurweed produces a spiny fruit (inset) from April to June. It is more common in the southern half of the state. Chemical Control: Readily controlled by preemergence or early postemergence applications of atrazine or simazine in tolerant grasses. Timing is key to satisfactory control. Apply herbicides in December to prevent development of seeds. If that timing is missed, make the application before March 1. Metsulfuron (Manor, Mansion, Blade or MSM OD25 ) or three-ways (MCPP + dicamba + 2,4-D) provide postemergence control of spurweed. Metsulfuron or a threeway may be tank mixed with either simazine or atrazine to improve control. Glyphosate can also be used as long as the grass is dormant. Pruning There will be a Pruning Workshop on February 15, 2018 at the Fruit Research Station in Clarksville. It will run from 1 to 4 pm with 45 minutes in the classroom and 2.5 hours in the field watching pruning on blackberries, blueberries, peaches, apple and grape. There is a $10 fee. Fruit trees should be pruned every year to maintain their health, encourage balanced growth and productivity and control their size and shape. When you plant a fruit tree, you should be dedicated to giving the tree proper care and pruning to maximize both fruit quality and quantity throughout the life of the tree. Understanding the principles of pruning and practicing them are important. Pruning is both an art and a science. Artists understand what they are doing and scientists understand why. The objectives of tree pruning are: Develop strong tree structure. This should begin when trees are planted and continue each year thereafter. Provide for light penetration. Good light quality throughout the tree increases fruit bud development for following years and increases the quality of the current crop. Control tree size. Most fruit trees require pruning to control branch spread as well as tree height. This also serves to encourage new growth that will result in new fruit-bearing areas. Remove damaged wood. Some wood damage occurs almost every year from such things as wind damage, fruit weight, winter injury and disease and insects. Pruning is a dwarfing process and may result in a slight reduction in yield compared to an unpruned tree, but the size, color and quality of remaining fruit will be improved. The best time to prune is during late winter or early spring just before the beginning of active growth. If large blocks of trees are to be pruned, time it so that you finish just before bud break. It will not harm trees if sap is beginning to flow at the time you prune.

4 Lawn and Garden Leaflet Page 4 The main reasons you should prune during the late dormant period are: Wounds heal quickly when growth starts. Undesirable branches and other wood to be pruned can be easily seen since there are no leaves on the tree. The bark is less likely to tear when cuts are made. Trees pruned in early winter may be damaged by low winter temperatures that occur after pruning. Summer pruning may also be used to control growth of young trees, improve light quality in the fruiting zone, thin heavy fruit loads or remove water sprouts and other undesirable wood. For more information you can check out our Pruning fact sheet at: Irish Potatoes - Solanum tuberosum The potato is a cool-season vegetable that ranks with wheat and rice as one of the most important staples in the human diet. Potatoes are native to America and were cultivated from Chile to New Grenada at the time the Spanish explorers reached South America. The Spaniards introduced the species to Europe soon after 1580, and the popularity of potatoes spread all over Europe and the British Isles by the end of the 17th century. In 1719 Irish immigrants introduced white potatoes to New England, and now white potatoes are often called Irish potatoes. Potatoes are not roots but specialized underground storage stems called tubers. Maximum tuber formation occurs at soil temperatures between 60 and 70 degrees F. The tubers fail to form when the soil temperature reaches 80 degrees F. Potatoes will withstand light frost in spring and can be grown throughout Arkansas. Potatoes are among the earliest vegetables planted in the garden. Early, midseason and late varieties may be planted in early to mid-february through early March in southern Arkansas and early March to early April in northern Arkansas. Midseason and late varieties may be planted as late as July 15 to August 1 for fall production. Late potatoes are best for winter storage. Start potatoes from a seed piece rather than from true seed. However, there is a particular potato variety called Homestead Hybrid that is grown from true potato seed. Plant seed pieces in a window box or greenhouse for transplants, or plant directly in the garden. Seed pieces are small whole potatoes or larger ones that are cut into 1 1/2- to 2-ounce pieces. Plant the pieces soon after cutting. Be sure there are at least two to three good eyes in each seed piece. Some garden centers and seed suppliers sell potato eyes that weigh less than an ounce; these are not the desired size. Small, whole, certified seed potatoes are the best choice for home gardeners.

5 Lawn and Garden Leaflet Page 5 Irish Potato Continued Plant seed pieces 10 to 12 inches apart and cover them in a furrow 2 to 3 inches deep. Space the rows 24 to 36 inches apart. The 24-inch spacing is often beneficial because plants will shade the soil and prevent high soil temperatures that inhibit tuber development. The soil should be fertile and well drained. Clay soils should be improved with organic matter and plowed in the fall. Use raised beds to improve soil drainage. Band fertilizer 6 inches on both sides of the row at the rate of 6 pounds of fertilizer per 100 feet of row. When the plants are 8 to 12 inches tall, side-dress another 3 pounds of fertilizer per 100 feet of row about 6 inches from the center of the row. Mulching is usually helpful in growing potatoes. Apply organic mulch after the potato plants have emerged to conserve moisture, help keep down weeds and cool the soil. Some gardeners cover rows of early potatoes with clear plastic film at planting to warm the soil and promote early growth. After the plants emerge, remove the film to allow the plants to grow. Hill the potatoes after they break the surface of the ground, gradually build up a low ridge of loose soil by cultivation and hoeing. This ridge, which may become 4 to 6 inches high in summer, reduces the number of sunburned (greened) tubers. The object of potato cultivation is to eliminate competition from weeds, to loosen and aerate the soil and to build up the row. Misshaped potatoes result when the tubers develop in hard, compacted soil. Irrigate to ensure uniform moisture while the tubers are developing. A uniform moisture supply also helps cool the ground and helps eliminate knobs caused by secondary growth. Harvest potatoes after most of the vines have died. Handle as gently as possible during harvest. Leave the tubers exposed to the sun just long enough for the soil to dry and fall off. Too much direct sunlight blisters the tubers and causes them to turn green and rot in storage. Since the tubers develop 4 to 6 inches beneath the soil surface, a spade fork is useful for digging potatoes. Potatoes for use in early summer ( new potatoes) may be dug before the vines die (usually in June or July). When the potatoes reach 1 to 2 inches in size, dig a few hills to use for soups or to cook with peas, cream or butter. Late potatoes are usually dug in October. They will keep in the garage or basement for several weeks in their natural dormancy. Store over the winter in a dark room or in a cooler at a temperature between 38 and 40 degrees F with high humidity. Check periodically for spoilage.