You have finally decided to plant a tree in the front yard. Congratulations! The big question now: Which tree?
First, there is no perfect tree. All trees have both good and bad characteristics. Most trees are more or less adaptable to your specific site. Some are more susceptible to disease and insect damage than others. The best advice is to plant a diversity of species. Choose trees for shade, some that bloom and a few just to be ornamental.
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Fall is a beautiful time in Kentucky gardens, but it can also be a messy time. Tree leaves turn from green to vibrant fall colors and then drop, creating big piles. Then there are the leaf and spent shoots from our flower beds. The way we address our yard waste can have a significant impact on our gardens and on the environment. Gardeners commonly rake up and bag leaves to haul away to yard waste dumps. Continue reading
Common chickweed, henbit, and purple deadnettle are cool-season weeds we usually see in crop fields during the fall and winter.
However, other weeds, such as dandelions, have become more prevalent in recent years. Dandelions are generally considered a major lawn or pasture weed but are increasingly found in grain crop fields.
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Summer’s heat and dry weather can take a toll on your flower garden, but with a little extra care, it is possible to bring it back to life for a few more weeks of vibrant color and texture. Continue reading
You may have noticed your home being invaded by an assortment of pests this fall, including Asian lady beetles, boxelder bugs, crickets, spiders and black soldier beetle larvae. These creatures typically visit homes that provide easy entry this time of year, often seeking refuge from changing weather. Continue reading
If you are craving some color in your fall garden this year, try swapping out those mums for some beautiful Asters! These brilliant little flowers can brighten up your flower beds when little else is blooming. Aster, the Latin word for “star” is the perfect description for this Kentucky native, that blooms starting in late summer and can continue until heavy frost. In the past, asters have not been heavily used due to a weedy appearance, but with new cultivars now available, all gardeners will be happy with the smaller, mounding growth habits of these new varieties. Continue reading
I know some of you out there are having squash and zucchini problems this year and you aren’t alone. A week ago, I noticed my first and most prolific zucchini plant starting to yellow and wilt. I checked the stem to see if there were any squash borers and sure enough there were a couple a cracks in the stem and some saw dust like stem bits hanging out beside the cracks. Hoping to save the plant I stuck a sharp wire into the holes hoping to kill the borers and covered it with soil (like the U.K. entomologists say). Saturday the plant was just about gone, so I pulled it up, dissected the stem and found 7 one-inch long borers about as big around as a pencil munching away! I have to admit I took great pleasure avenging my beloved zucchini plants death. Continue reading
Tall Fescue is the most predominant species selected for home lawns in Kentucky and has many great characteristics such as drought tolerance, good color most of the year, and low input requirements. When compared to other species, tall fescue is the best choice for most home lawns. Continue reading
Be sure to keep trees and shrubs mulched and watered through the summer months. Organic mulches are better than gravel or rubber mulches, since the organic types encourage beneficial micro-organisms in the root zone, and they don’t heat up as much. If you’ve had problems with shotgun/artillery fungus, try using pine bark mulch (i.e., nuggets) or cypress mulch, rather than finely-ground hardwood mulches. Mulch should be 2-3” deep (more would cut off oxygen to the roots), applied out as far as possible, since the lawn grass is an enemy to the tree, competing for the same water and nutrients. Never let the mulch touch the trunk of the tree, or it can cause trunk decay and vole damage to the bark. Continue reading
A fresh cut bouquet of flowers can brighten any room and elicit happiness for any who see it. But as wonderful as these arrangements are, they are even more rewarding when you grow your own! While this may seem like a daunting task to those without much of a green thumb, there are plenty of flowers which grow well in our climate and can be very forgiving to new growers. Some of my personal favorites are zinnias, cosmos, and celosia (also known as cock’s comb). These three varieties are available in endless amounts of colors and zinnias and cosmos are known to bloom all summer long. Continue reading
Kentucky Hort News 
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