Spring flowering bulbs such as crocus, daffodils, and tulips require a cold period during the winter in order to flower. These bulbs are planted and develop their root system in the fall and bloom during the spring. The variety of bloom color, plant height, shape, and timing of flowering provides seasonal interest in the spring for many Kentucky gardens and landscapes. Continue reading
You Can Control Corn Earworm in Sweet Corn
One of the most potentially damaging problems facing sweet corn producers is controlling insects that feed on the ear. During the summer months, if you grow sweet corn, you need to watch for corn earworm. Continue reading
Disease Management in the Home Lawn
Numerous infectious diseases can occur on lawns in Kentucky. Unless diagnosed and managed, these diseases can sometimes cause extensive damage. A sound lawn management program provides benefits in two ways: it reduces the severity of lawn
diseases; and improves the lawn’s recovery should a disease outbreak occur. You can control diseases of turfgrasses most effectively by using as many of the following lawn management practices as feasible. Continue reading
Trees & Iron Chlorosis
If the leaves of your trees or shrubs are turning pale green, yellow, or white, but have much darker green veins, they may be experiencing iron chlorosis. Iron is a necessary element for the development of chlorophyll. Chlorophyll is what gives leaves their green color and is the source for the plant’s food and energy. When iron is insufficient for normal growth, yellowing leaves may occur. These symptoms may appear over the entire tree, on one side only, or be limited to an individual branch. Iron chlorosis is common in pin oak, white oak, silver maple, crabapple, white pine, magnolia, holly, sweet gum, dogwood, azalea and rhododendron. Continue reading
Good Perennials for Beginning Gardeners
When starting a new hobby, there are tools to acquire, techniques to learn and materials to purchase. This is so true for flower gardening. The tools can be as simple as a trowel and a watering hose and as complex as irrigation systems and robotic lawn mowers. But for the beginning gardener, the vast variety of flowers, trees and shrubs can be overwhelming. (It still is for me, and I’ve been gardening for almost 40 years!) Continue reading
Planting Fall Vegetables in Kentucky
It’s not too late to continue to enjoy your garden and to add new plantings. You can grow a variety of produce in Kentucky gardens in the coming weeks and have several fresh items available well into the fall.
Cooler nights later in the year can increase the sugar content of many crops and thus increase their quality. Cooler nights also slow growth, so your crops can take longer to mature than in the summer. Keep this slower pace in mind when you check seeds for days to maturity. Continue reading
Tomato Support
Without doubt, tomatoes are home gardeners favorite vegetable to grow. After preparing your soil, selecting the best variety and planting, comes providing support.
There are many ways to grow tomatoes, but in a small garden, upright supports are often used to save space. This method provides other benefits as well as saving space. When
tomatoes are grown off the ground, they will not be damaged by ground rots and will be out of reach of some insects. They will be easier to harvest and easier to treat for insect or diseases and will produce fruits that are cleaner and larger. Continue reading
Give your Trees the Best Start!
As I looked out at my yard this past week and saw the grass grow at lightning speeds, I decided that I need a few more trees in the space. With Earth Day and Arbor Day just past, I doubt I’m the only one thinking about planting a few more of those beautiful wood sculptures in my yard. While we are looking for the just the right tree, we should be thinking down the road a bit and consider if the tree is going to fit the space. Continue reading
Spruce Dieback Needle Cast Disease May be To Blame
Blue spruce and Norway spruce are popular landscape plants in Kentucky. However, many factors can cause spruce trees to cast (shed) needles. Casting may be the result of environmental stresses (heavy soil, poor drainage) or fungal diseases. In Kentucky, Rhizosphaera needle cast is the most common disease of spruce. This disease causes needle drop on lower branches, resulting in a distinct thinned appearance. Stigmina needle cast is a less common disease of spruce, but also causes symptoms similar to Rhizosphaera needle cast. Management options for both diseases include reduction of plant stress, good sanitation practices, and timely use of fungicides. Continue reading
Planting Native Flowers for Pollinators
Need a reason to plant more flowers? How does supporting local agriculture, ensuring the availability of healthy fruits and vegetables, and protecting thousands of plant and animal species sound? By planting flowers that sustain pollinators, you are accomplishing all of this, as well as making your yard more attractive. Pollinators, which include bees, butterflies, moths, wasps, hummingbirds, and bats, make reproduction
possible for more than three-fourths of the flowering plants on earth, including many of the fruits and vegetables we eat every day. Continue reading
Kentucky Hort News 
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