Spring 2011

Quick Tips for a Better Lawn

Do a soil test. After a time, your lawn can become depleted of important nutrients, or the pH can be too high or too low to support healthy grass.  The only way to determine with accuracy what your lawn's pH is, and what nutrient levels are, is to do a laboratory analysis every three to five years. This can be done with a Penn State Soil Test kit, available for $9 at the Penn State Extension office.  Or you can get the kit online at http://www.aasl.psu.edu/HOWTO.htm

The university analytical labs will provide not only an analysis, but a detailed recipe of what to add, how much and when, to bring your soil into ideal condition for turfgrass.

Sharpen your blades.  A dull mower shreds the grass blades, resulting in a tan "haze" over the top of the lawn.  These shredded tips take longer to heal and are openings for disease organisms to invade the plants.  Dull blades decrease your mower's efficiency so it uses more fuel.  A sharp blade shears cleanly, leaving the cuts healthier and more attractive.  Sharpen monthly, or more often if the cut is ragged.

Cut high.  Scalping your lawn stresses your grass plants and provides the perfect conditions for weeds to take over.  Set your mower as high as it will go (3-4 inches), and whenever practical mow often enough so that you are removing no more than one third of the grass blades at each mowing.  That may mean mowing more frequently in the spring when grass is growing rapidly.  During the summer, slower growing grass doesn't need to be mowed as often.

Leave the clippings on the lawn.  Grass clippings are full of nitrogen, and when they are left on the lawn after mowing the clippings recycle nutrients and organic matter back into the soil.  That rich organic material does not belong in our trash trucks and landfills!  Use a mulching mower, or even a regular mower, and leave the grass clippings on the lawn.  Don't worry--the clippings decompose rapidly and do not add to thatch build-up.

Water deeply, if at all.  Newly seeded areas will need to be kept constantly moist until grass seed has sprouted and is growing well.  But an established lawn should be able to go between rainfalls without supplemental water.  Remember that our turf grasses are genetically disposed to go dormant in the worst heat of the summer.  If you allow the grass to brown slightly and "rest" for a few weeks in mid- to late-summer, it will rebound with vigor when the nights cool and the days shorten.  If watering is necessary, water deeply and infrequently.  Frequent, shallow watering increases the potential for disease development and promotes shallow roots, which will burn out quickly.

Aerating and dethatching.  Some lawns may gradually build up a thatch layer that can interfere with water and nutrient penetration and healthy rooting.  Regular aeration or dethatching can keep the thatch in check.  Aeration can also reduce the effects of traffic and soil compaction.  These two processes require special equipment which may be rented by the hour.  For more information about when and how to dethatch or aerate, contact the Penn State Extension office.

Written by Beth Finlay, Master Gardener Coordinator; and Nancy Bosold, Extension Educator, Penn State Extension in Berks County

Vegetable Families and Why They're Important

 Did you know that vegetables have families, with close relatives and distant cousins, just as people do?  Why should we bother understanding vegetable families?

Vegetables within a particular family have characteristics that dictate how we need to grow them to be most successful.  Most gardeners know that crop rotation is smart because it brings new plants with different needs into an area of the garden.

But did you know that in rotating, you need to move outside a family?  For instance, if you grew tomatoes in one corner of your garden in 2010, you'll want to move them to another location in 2011.  This will put them into soil that is not depleted of those nutrients that tomatoes most need.  It will also minimize chances of infection from overwintering organisms that might have affected your tomatoes last year.  But if you plant eggplant, peppers, okra, or potatoes in last year's tomato bed, or if you move tomatoes to a bed that contained those plants last year, you are facing the same problems because these are all in the Solanaceae family.  They have the same needs, and they share some of the same pests.

Below are the major families of vegetables and their family members.  Remember, when you rotate crops, replace each vegetable with one from a different family, and put each vegetable into a bed that held members of a different family last season.

Crucifer (Mustard) - Broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, Chinese cabbage, collards, kale, kohlrabi, mustard greens, nasturtiums, radish, rutabagas, turnips.

Fabaceae (Legumes) - Beans (all kinds), garden peas (English), edible pod peas (sugar snap or snow), peanuts.

Chenopodiaceae (Beet) - Beets, Swiss chard, spinach.

Solanaceae (Nightshade) - Tomatoes, peppers, potatoes, eggplant, okra.

Cucurbitaceae (Cucumbers) - Melons, cucumbers, summer squash, winter squash, watermelons, pumpkins, cantaloupes.

Compositae (Sunflower) - Lettuce (leaf, head, soft), mescluns

Umbelliferae (Carrot) - Carrot, fennel (herb), fennel (bulb), celery, celeriac, parsley, parsley root, dill, coriander, caraway.

Liliaceae (Lily) - Onions, chives, leeks, shallots, scallions, garlic.

Convolvulaceae (Morning Glory) - Sweet potato

Poaceae (Grain) - Corn

Written by Beth Finlay, Master Gardener Coordinator, Penn State Extension in Berks County

What's the Fuss About Native Plants?

Gardening has its fads, like any other hobby or interest.  In the past few years, the new topic has been Native Plants.  But this is not just a "fad."  the move back to natives is solid science, common sense, and an important step in restoring health to our landscapes and ecology.

Native plants are those which have survived here for hundreds or even thousands of years.  They have coexisted with native insects, in native soil, under native climatic conditions, and survived predation by native diseases and creatures.  They have shown themselves to be perfectly suited to this place.

By contrast, imported plants often struggle in soils or in climatic conditions that don't suit them.  They are vulnerable to attack by insects or fungi against which they have no defenses.  They often require special care to keep them alive and thriving.

From the ecological viewpoint, our native plants provide huge benefits.  They are food and shelter for dozens of insects, microorganisms, birds, butterflies, and other creatures.  These creatures in turn are food for still other members of the food chain.  Without native plants, pieces of the interconnnected web are missing, and eventually we will lose more and more pieces that depend on them.

What can you do?  It's not necessary to redo your garden or landscape.  Simply plant one native plnat--a tree, a shrub, a perennial, a meadow grass--and next year introduce another.  And know that when you plant a native plant, you are helping to restore the wonders of our Pennsylvania natural habitat.

For a searchable database of native plants, see http://iconservepa.org/nativeplants/nativeplantssearch.aspx or contact the Penn State Extension office.

Written by Beth Finlay, Master Gardener Coordinator, Penn State Extension in Berks County

Beyond Honeybees:  Protecting Our Native Pollinators

You've probably heard about Colony Collapse Disorder, the mysterious and disastrous syndrome affecting honey bees, but things are at least as dire for our native bees, most notably the bumblebee.

Bumblebees are part of childhood memories for most of us, who can remember walking through meadows and seeing fuzzy, funny bumblebees drifting from flower to flower.  These pollinators were plentiful years ago but now, like many plants and animals, bumblebees are suffering from loss of habitat, pesticide poisoning, changing climates, and diseases that were introduced along with non-native bees.

There are almost 50 bumblebee species native to North America and many of them are threatened not with just a serious decline in numbers, but with extinction.  This is a big problem because bumblebees are an important pollinator for high-value crops such as cranberries, blueberries and clover.  They are also important elements in many ecosystems, pollinating wildflowers and plants that produce seeds and fruits that feed everything from songbirds to bears.

Bumblebees are unique in that they are able to fly in colder weather than other bee species and this makes them key pollinators for native plants in the tundra, prairie, and higher elevation climates.  In fact bumblebees are the most effective pollinators for certain plants and seem to have evolved along with particular species of plants--the length of their tongues is exactly what is required to polinate them.  So if that particular pollinator is in decline, you can reasonably expect that the plant that depends on it will decline as well.  And that's exactly what appears to have happened in parts of Britain and the Netherlands where native insect-pollinated plants have declined along with bee populations.

There are many ways you can help bumblebees survive and thrive.  the most important is to avoid pesticides in your gardens as much as possible.  For most homeowners, insecticidal soaps and horticultural oils will provide any insect control needed.  These materials are non-toxic.  they suffocate insects rather than poisoning them.  They affect only those insects they actually touch, and do not leave behind anything that can later affect visitors to the garden.  Even with non-toxic materials like oils and soaps, proper identification of pests and proper timing are critical to avoid destruction of bees and other beneficial insects.  Other ways to help the bumblebees:

• Plant natives in your garden and plan for a succession of pollen- and nectar-bearing blooms throughout the season.
• Plant bumblebee favorites like asters, bee balm, blueberries, borage, clovers, lupines, mints, and rhododendrons to name a few.
• Provide bumblebee nesting places like logs, trees, old mouse burrows and grass tussocks.  Leave a bit of your land wild if you can.
• Co-exist peacefully with bumblebees.  They are very gentle and won't act in a threatening manner.  If you find a nest, move away slowly and walk softly and they'll leave you alone.
• Learn to identify the different types of bumblebees.  Free ID guides can be downloaded at http://www.xerces.org/identification-guides/

Recommended reading:  Attracting Native Pollinators:  Protecting North America's Bees and Butterflies, by Eric Mader, Matthew Shepherd, Mace Vaughan, and Scott Black in collaboration with Gretchen LeBuhn.  This book provides dramatically expanded breadth and detail, reflecting the latest understanding about creating and managing pollinator habitat.  Illustrated with hundreds of color photographs and dozens of specially created illustration.

Information adapted from the Xerces Society Website:  http://www.xerces.org

IPM and How to Practice It

What is Integrated Pest Management (IPM)?  IPM is nothing more than a commonsense approach to working with our plants.  It is not anti-chemical; it regards pesticide treatments as one of many useful tools, but it ranks pesticides far down the list after a number of kinder, gentler solutions.

At least 80% of all plant problems do not involve insects or diseases at all.  They are the result of physical conditions like poor soil, difficult weather, incorrect planting or pruning, or neglect.  It's obvious that chemical sprays cannot correct such issues.

At least 98% of all insects are beneficial or neutral so far as plant damage is concerned.  When we spray insecticides, we are likely to destroy many helpful insects along with the very few harmful ones.  The effect of our over-use of sprays is being seen in the decline of butterflies, honeybees, and other valuable insects.

The following IPM steps will help you manage your garden responsibly and still protect your plants:

Choose plants wisely.  A plant in the wrong place is a stressed plant that will not thrive and one that will likely be susceptible to disease and insects.  Match each plant to the recommended conditions to make it thrive--sun/shade, proper climatic zone, wet/dry site, sandy or heavy soils, and so on.  "Right plant, right place" is the first rule of successful gardening.

Plant with care.  Common planting mistakes include planting too deeply, digging a hole too narrow for a developing plant, over-mulching, failing to remove burlap or wire from a new plant, and failing to water adequately until the plant is established.  Plant well--this is an investment in the future!

Promote plant health.  Provide the correct location forr a plant, adequate water, nutrients, and proper drainage, and it will reward you with vigor that not only makes it an attractive plant but which helps it resist disease and insect predation.

Keep plants well groomed.  Remove dead or damaged branches or stems.  Clean up fallen leaves, especially if they are diseased.  Keep mulch from contacting stems or trunks, and aply mulch no deeper than three inches.

Monitor pests.  Inspect plants regularly for any unusual signs or symptoms that indicate problems.  Remember that most insects are harmless or even beneficial, so do not assume that an insect on your plant is harming your plants.  If you do find a problem, let your extension service hlep you diagnose what's happening and what the best management practice will be.

Written by Beth Finlay, Master Gardener Coordinator, Penn State Extension in Berks County