TABLE OF CONTENTS

January 2020 thru November 2020

The article titles are linked directly to the page in the table of contents. Also the article titles are directed back to the table of contents. Navigate through by clicking the bolded headings.

MASTER GARDENERS ...... 2 FEBRUARY’S GARDEN BASKET ...... 3 GARDENING PROJECTS ...... 5 MASTER GARDENER UPDATE AND THE PANICLE HYDRANGEA ...... 7 GARDEN BITS ...... 9 NORTHERN ...... 10 CHIVES ...... 11 PUTTING “EARTH”IN EARTH DAY ...... 12 WARM SEASON VEGETABLES ...... 13 FORAGING ...... 15 WOODLAND PHLOX ...... 16 RHUBARB ...... 17 TREE GALLS ...... 18 TREE GALLS-PART2 ...... 19 STAW FOXGLOVE ...... 20 MOLES AND GRUBS ...... 21 RAIN BARRELS ...... 22 SPRUCE TREES ...... 23 CEDAR APPLE RUST ...... 25 YELLOW NUTSEDGE ...... 26 CUCUMBER BITTERNESS...... 27 THE TWIG GIRDLER ...... 28 FALL WEATHER PATTERNS ...... 29 POISON IVY OR POISON OAK? ...... 31 FALL CARE OF PERENNIALS ...... 32 FALL CARE OF PERENNIALS-PART 2 ...... 34 FALL’S RED ...... 35 LANDSCAPE FABRIC ...... 36 WHEN ICE DAMAGES TREES ...... 37

Master Gardeners By Kathleen Cue, Nebraska Extension Horticulture Educator

What bug is this on my oak tree? Why are my dying? How do I manage this weed in my vegetable garden?

What do these questions have in common? All are questions that are phoned in or dropped off at county Extension offices. Nebraska Extension Master Gardeners and Extension Horticulture Educator Kathleen Cue answer these types of questions daily. Being a walking encyclopedia of horticultural knowledge is not a requirement to be a Nebraska Extension Master Gardener Volunteer. It does take a willingness to learn about research-based gardening practices and gives would-be Master Gardeners a chance to rub elbows with fellow gardening enthusiasts. Master Gardener interns learn about botany, tree planting, landscape design, invasive pests, weed management, soils, , and and vegetable management. In return, Master Gardeners make their communities better places to live by sharing their knowledge with others at education gardens, “Ask the Master Gardener” tables, and the Extension horticulture helpline. Daylong classes are on Tuesdays and Fridays and begin on February 11. People from Dodge and surrounding counties can find out more about the Nebraska Extension Master Gardener Volunteer program and receive an application by attending an informational meeting on Tuesday, January 28th at 9:30 am at the Dodge County Extension Office, 1206 West 23rd Street in Fremont. “I hope people attend this informational meeting. This is a really terrific program. Not only are Master Gardeners great resources in their communities, they share a unique fellowship and get to stay current with the newest garden research.” For questions and to reserve a seat at the informational meeting, contact Extension Horticulture Educator Kathleen Cue at 402.727.2775 or [email protected] February’s Garden Basket

By Kathleen Cue, Nebraska Extension Horticulture Educator in Dodge County

February, March and April are busy months for the Nebraska Extension Master Gardener program. Master Gardener Interns are participating in classes, on their way to becoming certified Master Gardeners. The classes are intensive, covering botany, diseases, landscape design, bug boot camp, and plant management. Once coursework is complete, Master Gardener volunteers hit the ground running, providing expertise to community and child care gardens, answering questions via the horticulture helpline and “Ask the Master Gardener” tables, and caring for at educational gardens.

February is also a busy seed starting month. Gardeners striving to have greater variety in their vegetable and choices than ready-grown 4-packs offer are prepping soil, cleaning seed flats and reading seed packets. Peppers are one of those plants that really benefit from starting seeds early. As seedlings, plant growth is slow to develop, so to have blooming-sized plants to set out in May, starting early is essential.

February is a good month to think about landscaping tasks during the coming year. February falls under the planning phase of “plan, plan, plant”, which prevents overplanting, overspending, and overextending labor resources for hastily made plans. Most homeowners can execute wonderful landscapes in their own yard, after all, they know their site best. While they may lack a plantswoman’s knowledge of the array of plants suitable for their zone, a call to the local Extension office or garden center can remedy that. There, the question can be asked “I’m looking for a small tree (or ornamental grass, or large tree) for this spot in my landscape, can you provide some recommendations?”

February can be an exciting opportunity to look at new plant introductions:

▪All America Selection (all-americaselections.org) winners are chosen from trials across the country. For 2020, check out ‘Snak Hero’ pea, ‘Galahad’ tomato, ‘Holi Pink’ zinnia, and a host of other AAS flower and vegetable winners. ▪“Great Plants for the Great Plains” (plantnebraska.org) is a cooperative program between the Nebraska Statewide Arboretum and Nebraska growers with introductions and plant releases of trees, shrubs and perennials well suited to Nebraska conditions. ▪The Perennial Plant Association has named ‘Sun King’ Japanese spikenard ( cordata ‘Sun King’) as the 2020 Perennial Plant of the Year. This bold (4 feet high and wide) shade-loving perennial boasts golden yellow foliage, brightening shady and part-shade areas of the yard.

No matter the skill level, February’s array of garden basket possibilities can whet gardeners’ appetites for the season ahead!

Gardening Projects By Kathleen Cue, Nebraska Extension Horticulture Educator in Dodge County Week of February 17, 2020

What really sets Nebraska Extension Master Gardeners apart from garden clubs is their dedication to learning Best Management Practices, the cornerstone of what the land grant university has to offer, whether it is an invasive , a tough weed to manage, or a proven plant variety to try. This dedication to learning shows in the enthusiasm Master Gardeners share with Nebraskans through direct education (the helpline and tabling events), growing food for the food insecure, and managing education gardens.

Plant a Row for the Hungry began in 1995 by the Garden Writers Association. This program and other programs like it encourage gardeners to grow an extra row of vegetables and donate them to local soup kitchens and food pantries. While nonperishables are the backbone of donations to food pantries, fresh vegetables and can be in short supply. It doesn’t take much extra effort and Individual gardeners or groups can participate. For possible locations of fruit and vegetable donations, contact your local Extension Office. A really heartwarming story involves a community garden that collected all the leftover seedlings and seed packets from their gardeners, planting them in the neglected place between the sidewalk and street. The abundance of produce that came from this out-of-the-way spot were donated next door, to the low-income seniors. It was a boon to both the gardeners and the seniors because the senior citizens got fresh vegetables and the gardeners had the careful eye of the retirees keeping watch over their garden!

The Nebraska Certified Pollinator Habitat program sets criteria for residential gardens, municipal landscapes, school gardens, and businesses to have their spaces certified as pollinator friendly. The plight of honey bees and monarch butterflies is well-known but the unsung heroes, native bees, are virtually unknown. This is sad because they are real workhorses—just 250 native bees do the pollination work of 30,000 honey bees. A diversity of flowering plants, a water source, and places of shelter are what’s needed to help native bees and other pollinators. More information and an application may be found at: http://go.unl.edu/pollinatorhabitat.

“Prune when the saw is sharp” is an old adage whose time has passed. New research indicates trees and shrubs are best pruned in April, May or June, months that show the best turnaround time for wound closure. Why is it important for wounds to close on a timely basis you ask? The longer it takes for trees and shrubs to form callus tissue over wounds means the likelihood from fungal and bacterial infections increases. Oak and are the exception to pruning in April, May or June because certain insect-vectored diseases are prevalent then. Oak and elm are pruned during the dormant season, November through February, when freezing weather means insects are not active.

It’s March!

By Kathleen Cue, Nebraska Extension Horticulture Educator in Dodge County

Master Gardener Program Update Nebraska Extension Master Gardener volunteers are awesome. Not only are they the boots on the ground to provide gardening information to others but they engage with members of their communities to make their towns and counties better places to live. They provide gardening expertise and advice to community, school and child-care gardens and they maintain a sharp look-out for problems that can be solved with plants, like fostering insect pollinator health, remediating soil erosion, providing best tree management practices and instilling vegetable gardening skills for the food insecure. Master Gardeners do this through “Ask the Master Gardener” tables, at educational gardens, programs to civic groups and schools and via the horticulture helpline through Nebraska Extension county offices.

The Panicle Hydrangea The panicle hydrangea (Hydrangea paniculata) gets its name from the huge pyramidal-shaped white flowers it produces. This shrub, introduced to this continent in 1862, originates from China and Japan and easily withstands the winters that the Midwest can throw its way. Unlike the finicky blue-flowered types (Hydrangea macrophylla), the panicle hydrangeas produce show-stopping flowers reliably, even after the worst winter. It is hardy to USDA zones 3 through 8.

Panicle hydrangea does best in sun to part-shade locations although it appreciates some protection from afternoon sun. Soil pH is not a concern, as long as it has a good amount of organic matter and drains well. Water during dry spells with one inch of water, applied all in one application, per week. Older varieties like ‘Grandiflora’ (the PeeGee hydrangea) and ‘Tardiva’ have been around for quite some time, but development of new varieties by plant breeders Pieter Zwijnenburg Jr., Tim Wood, Johan Van Huylenbroeck, and Jean Renault has brought fresh enthusiasm for the panicle hydrangea: ▪Limelight™ boasts white flowers with lime-green sepals. At 8 feet tall and wide, this is a big shrub. ▪For smaller yards, Little Lime® is just 5 feet high and wide and flowers develop tones of pink as they age. ▪BoBo® is almost completely covered in large rounded panicles of white flowers when in bloom. At just 3 feet tall and 4 feet wide, the strong stems are up to the task of keeping the flowers out of the dirt. ▪Pinky Winky® develops 12 inch long panicles of white flowers that mature to pink. It is 6 feet tall and wide. ▪Quick Fire® is the earliest to bloom of the panicle hydrangeas. This 6 foot tall by 8 foot wide shrub has white flowers that gradually change to pink and then dark pink. ▪Little Quick Fire® has similar flower traits as Quick Fire® but with a smaller stature at 5 feet tall and wide. ▪What sets Firelight® apart from other panicle hydrangea varieties is the white flowers that age to vivid red. At 8 feet tall and wide, this is another large shrub. ▪Zinfin Doll® develops white flowers that change to pink and then dark pink at maturity. It is 6 feet tall and wide.

Garden Bits By Kathleen Cue, Nebraska Extension Horticulture Educator in Dodge County

If you’re at home and practicing social distancing, the one bit of good news in all of this is that we can be outside to tinker with plants. Spring is an exciting time, full of promise and possibilities. If you’re not a gardener, no worries, learning how to garden is a trial and error process. The definition of a gardener, after all, is “one who kills many plants.” Heaven knows I’ve killed my share and I’ve learned far more from my failures than my successes. Even now, umpteen years of gardening and two horticulture degrees later, I still relish the challenge of growing a vegetable I haven’t grown before, planting a tree I’ve only seen in catalogs, and searching for that elusive new cultivar I’ve heard about.

Now is a great time to plant the seeds of cool season crops like radishes, lettuce, and snap peas into the garden. Broccoli, cauliflower, and cabbage transplants can be set out too. Tomato and eggplant seeds can be started indoors for moving plants outside after danger of frost is past. If fresh herbs are your thing, start basil, dill, parsley and cilantro inside, planting them outside after frost. Whatever kind of edible gardening you like, new as well as veteran gardeners can add something different each year. What new favorites are just waiting for you to try them?

‘Montmorency’ and ‘North Star’ are two sour cherry cultivars that have been around for a long time. Now, new releases of shrub-form cherries offer cold tolerance, shorter stature, AND high sugar content. From the University of Saskatchewan comes the Romance Series of cherries, with cultivar names like ‘Romeo’, ‘Juliet’, ‘Cupid’, ‘Crimson Passion’ and ‘Valentine’. These tough cherry shrubs are new enough to the green industry that finding them can be problematic. This doesn’t mean they are impossible to find but ordering early is important.

Extension Master Gardeners are gearing up for Growing Together Nebraska, a joint service program between Nebraska Extension’s Nutrition Education Program and Master Gardeners to grow vegetables for the food insecure. Even if you don’t have a Growing Together Nebraska program in your county, be sure to donate excess produce from your garden to local food pantries. The Northern Pecan

By Kathleen Cue, Nebraska Extension Horticulture Educator in Dodge County

In preparation for April 14’s National Pecan Day, what better way to celebrate the day than planting your very own northern pecan tree, Carya illinoinensis. Native to southern Wisconsin and the northern parts of Illinois and Iowa and extending south to Texas, the northern pecan can handle winter temperatures as low as -35 degrees F. It has pinnately compound leaves that turn a beautiful yellow color in the fall. This tree gets large, upwards of 70 feet, with a crown extending 40 feet or more, so give it plenty of room at planting time.

The northern pecan tree is monoecious, meaning it has both female and male flowers on the same tree. The best nut production, however, is ensured when more than one pecan variety is planted. The nuts mature around mid-October and are highly nutritious. From planting, northern pecan trees can start producing in as little as 6 years.

The northern pecan is not fussy as to soil pH, being tolerant of alkaline as well as acidic soils. They do, however, need to be in a well-draining soil to prevent crown and root problems. The extensive tap root that the northern pecan develops makes it highly drought tolerant but it also limits recommendations for a starter-sized tree. People seeking the best results for nut production from their northern should start with small trees, those started in 4-inch pots are ideal. Starting with such a small size isn’t an impediment—the idea is to get a small tree planted before a deep tap root has developed. Since the northern pecan has such a wide native range, purchasing a tree from a nursery that collects seeds from the northern parts of its range will be important to assure winter hardiness. Once happily planted, the northern pecan doesn’t waste any time when it comes to growing, increasing in height more than 12 inches each growing season.

If you’re interested in knowing more about growing the northern pecan, or any type of nut tree suitable for this area, check out the Nebraska Nut Growers Association at nebraskanutgrowers.org and the Northern Nut Growers Association at nutgrowing.org.

Chives

By Kathleen Cue, Nebraska Extension Horticulture Educator in Dodge County

Of all the herbs in my herb garden, chives are the earliest to send out their slender stems in spring. So even when the vegetable garden isn’t producing yet, I can add something fresh to the food I’m preparing by heading outside to snip some chives. They add a nice mildly onion-y taste to salads and they look great on baked potatoes. This perennial plant is not only easy to grow but its frost resistance makes it a colorful contribution to the table from early spring until late in the fall.

Chives are easy to grow from seed in the spring. Prepare a seed bed and gently press seeds into the soil. Cover seeds lightly with soil and moisten them with a gentle sprinkle of water. Mark the spot and in about 14-28 days, you’ll see tiny slender stalks emerging from the soil. Keep the seedlings evenly moist as they grow. If started indoors, plants should be hardened off (acclimated) before planting them in their permanent place. If started outdoors, be sure to choose a location that gets more than 6 hours of direct uninterrupted sunlight daily.

Chive plants can also be readily found in nurseries and garden centers. When planted, they’ll appreciate a location with lots of sunlight and a soil high in organic matter. Keep plants watered during dry spells to keep them producing. More plants can be obtained by dividing existing plants. Once clumps get larger than 10 inches across, division is a good idea to keep plants healthy and producing lots of tender stems.

A quick word about chives and garlic chives. Both require similar growing conditions and are quite tasty, but, left to their own devices, garlic chives are thugs and can be RAMPANT in the garden. Both regular chives and garlic chives have flowers, but where the two types differ is that while regular chives may have a few seedling volunteers around the parent plant, garlic chives will have a massive number of seedlings. Herbicides do little in the way of controlling the unwanted progeny, so clipping and removing flowers is the easiest way to keep garlic chives from dominating the herb garden. Thankfully, the flowers of both chives and garlic chives are a wonderful edible garnish for salads and sandwiches.

More information about growing herbs can be found here: https://grobigred.com/2017/05/19/growing-requirements-for-selected-culinary-herbs/ .

Putting “Earth” in Earth Day

By Kathleen Cue, Nebraska Extension Horticulture Educator in Dodge County

The first Earth Day was celebrated in 1970 to celebrate all things plant, water, and air. What’s not celebrated is that unsung hero—earth—not in reference to our planet, but earth, the stuff we plant in. Otherwise known as soil, dirt, land, and loam, earth supports most plant life on planet Earth. Yet earth is little appreciated and vastly underrated. David R. Montgomery, author of Dirt: The Erosion of Civilization, tells us “Societies that don’t take care of their land don’t last.” In his book, Montgomery documents time and again civilizations no longer able to feed themselves because of loss of soil fertility and erosion.

Gardeners the world over know when they’ve got challenging soil conditions. Words like “muck,” “hardpan,” and “gumbo” are some things said about less-than-ideal soils. Removing topsoil during construction; soil erosion from grade changes and loss of protective vegetation; cultivating soil to a powder-like consistency; bagging grass clippings instead of mulching them in; and adding things that don’t belong there (like landscaping fabric, excess fertilizer, and petroleum products) are just some of the ways our current practices destroy the recuperative potential of soil.

Additions of organic matter, whether its grass clippings, composted kitchen scraps or well-aged manure, add to the carbon content of soils, making them darker in appearance and providing a necessary component of plant photosynthesis. Organic matter loosens dense clay soils and increases water- holding capacity of sandy soils. Water droplets—from irrigation and rainfall—damage unprotected soils by loosening soil structure, leading to erosion. Mulches and plants protect soils from the damaging effects of water droplets.

Think destructive practices only hurt soils and nothing else? Not so. Soil is a substrate, supporting plant roots and thus stabilizing plants. Soil is one of the most diverse biomes on earth, with beneficial macroorganisms like sowbugs and millipedes and beneficial microorganisms like bacteria and fungi, breaking down organic matter and thus making nutrients readily available to plants. Just one teaspoon of soil contains thousands of living creatures and the more diversity in our soils, the greater the diversity of life supported above it.

The earth under our feet isn’t glamorous and doesn’t grab headlines. It is, however, essential to life and worthy of our time and attention to take care of it, not just on Earth Day, but all days.

Warm Season Vegetables Kathleen Cue Nebraska Extension in Dodge County

Cool season vegetables are those that grow best during the cooler growing conditions of spring. Warm season vegetables are those that do not survive frost and should be planted after May 10, around Mother’s Day, to ensure no late frost damage. If planted earlier, plants should be covered if frost is forecasted. Since warm season vegetables thrive in the heat of summer, there is no advantage to planting early outside when soils are cold as this slows plant vigor. Is it better to direct seed into the garden or do warm season vegetables do better started indoors? For some, like tomatoes and peppers, plants planted in the garden give a head start, producing earlier, while others it’s easier to direct sow.

Warm Season Direct Sow Set Out Comments Vegetable Seeds Plants Green Bean √ Pole and bush types. Corn: Sweet and √ Bi-color sweet corn is one of the Popping most popular types. Cucumber √ √ Slicing, pickling, burpless types; use caution when setting out plants as roots break easily. Eggplant √ Traditional egg-shaped as well as slender Asian types. Greens: Malabar √ √ These greens are heat tolerant. spinach, New Zealand Malabar and New Zealand spinach spinach, Swiss chard are not a true spinach but have a flavor similar to spinach. Melon: Honeydew, √ √ Check the number of days until Muskmelon, harvest; use caution when setting out Watermelon plants as roots break easily. Okra √ Harvest when small for tender pods. Onion √ Start seeds indoors in January; sets will produce scallion-type early and bulbs later on. Pepper √ From sweet to mildly hot to scorching, check the Scoville Index for degree of hotness. Squash, Summer √ Numerous types, including zucchini, patty pan, yellow crookneck. Squash, Winter √ Butternut, acorn, blue Hubbard, pumpkin. Sweet Potato √ Purchase cuttings or start your own. Tomato √ Tremendous variety including heirloom, hybrid, cherry, Roma, beefsteak.

Foraging

By Kathleen Cue, Nebraska Extension Horticulture Educator in Dodge County

“Foraging” refers to the gathering of wild edibles for food to grace our table. Historically, the human race began as hunter-gatherers, gleaning food from what was found, not raised. With the growing interest in fresh and local, there has been a resurgence of interest in foraging for wild food.

Morel mushrooms have always had an avid fan base, with hunters jealously guarding the locations of their most lucrative hunting spots. There is a reason for this, with sales of morels netting $20 per pound and more. Similarly, the locations of wild are closely guarded secrets. My brother keeps a list of spots where he finds wild asparagus so he can be sure to harvest the delectable spears in spring. Dandelion leaves, while never hard to find, make a nutritious early season salad.

Along with enthusiasm for gathering wild edibles must come the knowledge of what is edible and what is not. Upon learning berries gathered were from pokeweed (poisonous) and not chokecherry (edible), a client rushed out the door saying she needed to retrieve all the jars of jelly she had given away to friends and family. Another client complained the rhubarb jam she made from “wild” rhubarb just didn’t taste right and was surprised to learn the stalks she was using for her jam came from the weed burdock. While burdock isn’t poisonous, doing the research or seeking confirmation from a knowledgeable person helps to avoid these kind of mistakes.

Foraging is generational, when hard-earned knowledge gleaned by a past generation is passed on to the next. This knowledge isn’t just about recognizing plants but also how to correctly prepare them for eating. Think about cashews, which aren’t native here but are closely related to the native plant poison ivy, and how the knowledge of preparing cashews changes them from something poisonous into an edible.

I grew up in a family that gathered wild plum, wild grape, chokecherry, wild raspberry, walnuts, morel mushrooms, and dandelion greens. The experience was a good teacher, underscoring an appreciation for what nature provides but also a healthy respect for what should be avoided. Especially with mushrooms, never guess or come to the conclusion “this is close enough” because the web site or book you’re referencing appears to confirm your thoughts. Antidotes for some toxins, such as poisonous mushrooms and other fungi, don’t exist. If a plant has been misidentified, emergency room staff have little to go on when treating symptoms. When foraging, it’s important to learn from someone knowledgeable about such things.

Woodland Phlox By Kathleen Cue, Nebraska Extension Horticulture Educator in Dodge County

Woodland phlox, Phlox divaricata, also known as wild sweet William, is a shade-loving perennial that produces lavender blue five-petalled flowers in spring. It has a wonderfully long bloom season. In my garden, it has been sending out flowers for a solid month now.

Woodland phlox does best under trees in soils rich in humus. The plant naturalizes, gradually spreading into empty spaces when stems touching the ground root. At just 12 inches in height, the spread is not aggressive, knitting in around other shade lovers like hosta and Solomon’s seal. Mulch plants with a 2-4 inch layer of wood chips to keep soil evenly moist and water during extended periods of dryness.

Woodland phlox is an outstanding plant for pollinators, providing pollen and nectar early in the season when food sources can be scarce. While deer don’t read the list of plants they won’t eat, woodland phlox is not a preferred food source for them.

Woodland phlox is readily found at garden centers and through catalog companies. This lovely wildflower is included on the list of pollinator plants found here: http://go.unl.edu/pollinatorhabitat .

Rhubarb By Kathleen Cue, Nebraska Extension Horticulture Educator

Rhubarb, Rheum rhabarbarum, is an easy-to-grow perennial that lends a delightfully tart taste to pies, crisps and jams. The fact it is a perennial means there’s no extra labor to grow plants annually from seed like you do for the vegetable garden. The edible part of rhubarb, the petiole (also called a stalk), is technically not a fruit, but its size relative to fruit trees makes rhubarb a nice fit for a smaller space. The robust leaves, though poisonous, are eye-pleasing and make an unexpected addition into landscape plantings.

Depending on the variety, the stalks of rhubarb range in color from light green to hints of red to strongly red. Varieties like ‘Canada Red’ and ‘Crimson Red’ have bright red stalks while ‘Victoria’ has green stalks. Rhubarb performs robustly in a location where it gets sun all day but will still do OK in a location where it gets a minimum of 6 hours of direct sunlight each day. Crown rot can be a big problem in dense soils, so amend the site liberally with well-rotted manure or compost. Spring is a good time to add rhubarb plants to the garden as well as dividing clumps that have been in place for four or more years.

During its first growing season, none of the stalks of rhubarb should be harvested, allowing time for the crown and roots to establish. In the second year, a few stalks can be harvested. From the third growing season on, stalks can be harvested starting in May and continue through mid-June. Stalks should never be cut from plants because the stubs left behind are entrance points for pathogens. Instead, firmly grasp each stalk and give a slight twist while pulling. The stalk will disengage from the crown.

The toxins produced in rhubarb leaves do not transfer into the stalks if leaves wilt. It’s still best, however, to prepare only firm, fresh stalks for baking. As the growing season progresses, rhubarb stalks get progressively tougher and stringier. If a special occasion calls for rhubarb later in the season, a few of the newer stalks can be pulled with no detrimental effects to the health of the plant.

Because rhubarb is a heavy user of soil nutrients, dig and divide plants every fourth year or so, moving plants to new locations and amending the soil with well-rotted manure. Divide plants with a sharp spade to ensure clean, not jagged, edges. Plant the crown even with the surface of the soil. Water plants thoroughly and maintain about an inch of water per week, precipitation and irrigation combined, to foster good growth. Healthy plants growing in a well-prepared location have few insect and disease problems. Occasionally, rhubarb sends out flower stalks. These should be clipped away so the plant does not expend energy to develop seed.

Kathleen Cue Nebraska Extension Horticulture Educator

Trees and Galls Galls are structures made up of plant tissue, forming in response to the saliva of mites or small insects as they feed. The number and variety of galls found on trees in our landscapes are closely associated with the weather and how conducive it is to gall-producing populations. Galls happen every year, it’s just some years the number may be higher because that insect population is higher. For the most part, gall formation on leaves is of little concern, while those affecting the twigs, branches and stems merit closer monitoring.

Maple Bladder Gall

Bright green nubs, just 1/8” across, form on the upper surface of silver and red maple trees. The galls turn from green to red, eventually darkening to black. In some years, the galls are so numerous on a that the extra weight causes leaf drop. While the galls look weird, they are actually made up of leaf tissue, with one mite for each gall. The gall serves as the mite’s home and food source. Once tree owners notice galls, spraying a miticide is ineffective because of the protection the leaf tissue provides to the mite. Maple trees exhibit no stress from the presence of mites. In fact, galls photosynthesize, providing needed sugars for the tree.

Linden Spindle Gall

Of all the potential problems lindens can have, their tubular-shaped leaf gall is the least of them. Spindle galls are caused by the eriophyid mite. Like the maple bladder gall, the mite’s saliva initiates a response in plants where they increase the size and number of leaf cells, which then grow over and encapsulate the mite. Since no real harm comes to linden trees from the spindle gall mite, treatment is not necessary.

Willow Pine Cone Gall

The pine cone gall is more of a curiosity than a problem. Cone-like growths form on the ends of willow twigs. Formation stems from the activity of the gall gnat midge. Masquerading as a pine cone on a willow, the galls are green and scaly, developing fuzziness as they age. Treatment for the gall gnat midge is not necessary. Galls may be removed if tree owners find them offensive or they can be left on the tree to show off their quirkiness. Kathleen Cue Nebraska Extension Horticulture Educator

Trees Galls, Part 2 As mentioned in the previous garden update, galls that form on tree leaves rarely cause much in the way of tree stress. But there are also galls that form on other parts of trees. In most cases, gall formation on leaves and flowers are of little concern, while those affecting the twigs, branches and stems merit closer monitoring.

Ash Flower Gall

The male flowers of white ash are prone to invasion by the ash flower gall mite. Flowers will develop into bright green broccoli-like growths. These growths eventually age to dry brown clusters that remain in trees until they break away. The formation of galls prevents the male flowers from producing pollen, which is a good thing if you’re an allergy sufferer or don’t want the female ash flowers being pollinated and producing lots of seed. Even though tree owners find ash flower galls offensive, trees remain healthy and treatment is not necessary to control the ash flower gall mite.

Hackberry Nipple Gall

That hackberry is one tough native tree is undisputed. Every year, the undersides of leaves display miniature barrel-shaped galls. These galls are formed of plant tissue in response to feeding by psyllids, otherwise known as jumping plant lice. While the number of galls on leaves can be alarming, no harm is caused and treatment is not necessary.

Oak Bullet Gall

Any time galls form on twigs and branches, the potential for long term damage increases. In the case of oak bullet gall, the formation of galls is on the perennial parts of the tree, in this case the twigs and small branches. Bullet galls, the result of feeding by the cynipid wasp, grow primarily on bur and swamp white oak. Initially galls are green, gradually darkening to brown and remaining on the tree long after the adult has emerged. Older, well-established trees really aren’t harmed by oak bullet galls, but young and newly-planted trees can have branch dieback if there are a large number of galls. Trees that are thriving will have fewer detrimental effects from oak bullet galls. Hanging feeders near young trees will attract birds ready to eat the non-stinging cynipid wasps. Pruning out heavily infested branches and then burning, burying or chipping them will decrease cynipid wasp numbers.

Weather is a huge factor impacting the number and variety of galls found in our landscapes, mainly because weather affects insect populations. Arborists and horticulturists see galls every year but the number of galls vary from one year to the next. Quite simply, galls and the insects that cause them are a thing of the past with autumn leaf drop. Garden Update

By Kathleen Cue, Nebraska Extension Horticulture Educator in Dodge County

Straw Foxglove

Unlike foxglove that are biennial, straw foxglove (Digitalis lutea) is a true perennial. The light yellow bell- shaped downward-facing flowers are smaller than their biennial relatives, but what is lost in flower size, straw foxglove makes up for in reliability and ease of growth.

Straw foxglove does best in average garden soil in a site that receives about 2-5 hours of direct sunlight daily. Planted at the edge of tree lines, in woodlands, or where the neighbor’s garage shades your yard, this foxglove excels in challenging sunlight conditions. Its short stature, at 18-24 inches in height, makes it a good choice for the front of a shady border. Water during dry spells and mulch with a 2-4 inch layer of woodchips to keep soil evenly moist. Spent flowers may be deadheaded or left in place to allow seeds to fall around the parent plant.

Sources list straw foxglove as a short-lived plant and winter hardy to 5° F. My clump of straw foxglove is 10 years old now, with no attention given to providing protection from winter winds. Maybe this plant hasn’t read the literature because it’s survived a house move, has, at times, competed against taller weeds, and withstands the winters Mother Nature sends its way. After all that, it blooms its head off, producing 18 inch stalks of delightful flowers in late spring and early summer.

Straw foxglove is pollinated by long tongued bees, like the carder bee. Both the nectar and pollen are food for pollinators and their offspring. The plant is toxic to mammals, so both deer and rabbits stay away.

Straw foxglove plants can be hard to find. Ask your local nursery or garden center if they can order them in. The seeds of straw foxglove, which is how I started my plants, can be ordered online and through catalogs.

Garden Update Kathleen Cue, Nebraska Extension Horticulture Educator

Moles and Grubs

It’s been a good year for moles. A nice amount of rain keeps soils moist and workable—the perfect environment to enable mole movement as they “swim” through the soil. Many people approach the problem of moles by focusing on grubs—that if the grubs are gone, then moles won’t be in the lawn. Though not accurate, it leads to grub control measures that do little to minimize mole activity.

In studies that examined the contents of mole stomachs, earthworms dominated as the preferred food choice, with ants being a distant second. Those involved with wildlife damage management are aware of this, utilizing toxic baits that replicate earthworms’ odor and taste. Because moles are insectivores, they won’t eat poison peanuts or chewing gum.

Moles create two different types of runs—a daily use tunnel that gets re-used and then the forage tunnel that is used once and abandoned. The only way to know the difference between the two is to first step down all tunnels. The ones that are bumped up the next morning are the daily use tunnels. This is where earthworm mole-killer baits or harpoon traps should be placed. A repellant utilizing unrefined castor oil is another option to move moles out of the area.

The immature stage, the grubs, of masked chafer, May/June and Japanese are the main culprits behind insect damage to lawns. As adults, masked chafer and May/June beetles do little in the way of damage to plants. Not true with Japanese beetles, who especially enjoy feeding on roses, linden, birch and grape. Control measures for Japanese grubs as a strategy to minimize damage to landscape plants from adult beetles later simply doesn’t work because beetles fly in from other areas.

For lawns, it’s good practice to focus management tactics when grubs are actively feeding. While we see grubs during spring planting projects, grubs are causing little in the way of feeding damage, instead devoting energy to pupation to then emerge as adult beetles. It is the next generation of grubs where damage to lawns can be extensive because the younger instars (the stages of development) are actively feeding, severing turfgrass roots. Products containing the active ingredient chlorantraniliprole can be put down on lawns in early July to target grubs while they are small and do not harm pollinators. Garden Update Kathleen Cue, Nebraska Extension Horticulture Educator in Dodge County

Rain Barrels

A recent brief rain burst, depositing just .2 of an inch in my rain gauge, put 12 gallons of water in my rain barrel. That’s the beauty of collecting rainwater from a roof—a small amount adds up quickly.

If you’ve been considering installing a rain barrel, here is a push to get you started. While rainwater doesn't carry a lot of dissolved stone like hard water does, using rainwater benefits plants in ways that hard water never can and without the detrimental residual salts associated with water-softened water. Rainwater has trace elements good for plants, has a pH that is slightly acidic (also good for plants), and since it is the same temperature as the outdoors, won’t shock plant roots when watered in.

Capturing rainwater is not a new concept. Our foremothers and forefathers certainly knew of the benefits of catching rainwater. Utilizing roof gutters and downspouts, rainwater was collected in underground cisterns and provided quality water to use in gardens. Today, rain barrels are utilized by many as a way to have access to water where a well and a water line don't exist. One community garden in just this type of situation collects water from a neighbor's roof for the community garden members to use. One happy side benefit of catching rainwater is that it doesn't add to the volume and speed of water that causes erosion.

Kits can be purchased, providing all the components necessary to set up a rain barrel. If you're pulling together the materials yourself, a used food-grade barrel is an economical start. Set the barrel up on concrete blocks to make access to the spigot easier. A downspout diverter mounted on the downspout will divert water to the regular downspout when the barrel is full. Choose a spigot that readily fits your garden hose and mount the spigot near the bottom of the barrel. Place screen over any openings at the top of the barrel to exclude egg-laying mosquitoes.

A precautionary note, if raccoons are regular visitors on the roof, rainwater should not be collected as their fecal material can readily transmit diseases to humans. More information about rain barrels may be found at Backyard Farmer at https://byf.unl.edu/rainbarrels . Garden Update By Kathleen Cue, Nebraska Extension Horticulture Educator in Dodge County

Spruce Trees Many spruce trees in the area are looking rough. Beyond the usual injury from spruce spider mites and Rhizosphaera needle cast, spruce trees have serious dieback, not only individual branches but in some cases, the top has died. Drooping clusters of brown needles and streaks of white sap on branches and trunk indicate freeze injury.

While late April is our last average frost date, early May saw a deep drop in temperatures, bringing frost. Much of the new growth in spruce trees was damaged by this cold spell. Spruce trees are well-suited to cold temperatures, but new growth is not. New twigs and needles develop thickened cell walls (called lignification) as they mature, needing the bulk of the growing season to complete this process. Spring’s new growth simply didn’t have enough time for lignification to take place before the cold set in, resulting in collapsed tissues and death to ends of branches. While these dead areas will eventually fall away, pruning out dead twigs can also be done.

The same weather conditions brought about the white streaks of sap on tree trunks and branches. As spring weather warms the atmosphere, sap flow rises from tree roots, bringing much needed water, nutrients, and stored sugars, distributing throughout the tree. Freezing cold will cause the water in sap to freeze, bursting cell walls and causing cracks in bark. Sap leaks from these wounds, eventually turning white as it drips down the trunk and branches. Often, secondary infections take place, with Cytospora fungal pathogens entering wounds and expanding damage in water-conducting tissues. In some cases, the top of the tree dies completely.

When the top of a spruce or other conifer dies, the form of the tree can be salvaged by re-establishing a central leader. The dead leader is cut away and a side branch is gently curved upward and secured to a stake placed along the trunk. Staking materials must be removed in one year to keep materials from causing further damage to the tree.

There isn’t anything to counter freeze damage and the resulting Cytospora infection. While tree owners want to help, fertilizing these trees should not be done as this results in deepening tree stress. Practicing good tree care is an excellent step: water deeply during dry spells, mulch with 2-4 inches of wood chips, and refrain from using any herbicides containing dicamba anywhere near trees. By practicing good tree care, the tree’s own defenses are enabled to weather setbacks.

Cedar Apple Rust of Ornamental Pear By Kathleen Cue, Nebraska Extension Horticulture Educator

Cedar apple rust is a fungal pathogen that gets its name from a life cycle infecting cedar trees, then plants in the Rose family and back again. This year, spring weather conditions promoted the development of cedar apple rust on ornamental pears, such as ‘Bradford’ and ‘Cleveland Select.’ As rust has developed, symptoms are more easily recognized with yellow- haloed orange spots on leaves and early leaf drop. Tree owners’ questions center on “What is this and how do I treat it?”

It’s important to note that fungicides applied now to ornamental pear will not control rust. Instead, fungicides work best when applications are targeted for early spring, as a preventative. While rust is not attractive, it doesn’t kill ornamental pear. More about timing of fungicide applications may be found on the Back Yard Farmer website: https://byf.unl.edu/cedar-apple-rust .

Rust damage to cedar (otherwise known as juniper) is negligible to nonresistant. Rust causes brown, lumpy galls to form on twigs and branches. In the spring, these galls develop gelatinous orange projections (called telial horns) that release spores to be carried on wind currents, depositing on susceptible species of the Rose family. Treatment of cedar apple rust on cedar is not only unnecessary but treating them proactively to forestall infection on susceptible pear and apple trees isn’t effective, since juniper isn’t just in yards, but also grows in pastures, fence rows and creek banks.

For the alternate host--plants in the Rose family—the species of rust will manifest as spots on leaves or lesions on the fruit and sometimes twigs. There are more than one species of rust and what Rose family member is affected determines which rust it is: ▪Hawthorn (cedar hawthorn rust); ▪Apple, crabapple and pear (cedar apple rust); and ▪Quince (cedar quince rust).

Unlike cedars, rust on plants of the Rose family can have its downside. While rust usually doesn’t kill pear and apple, it does affect the plant’s ability to fruit well. Dealing with rust needn’t be a yearly thing—there are plant varieties less susceptible to rust, such as ‘Liberty’ and ‘Enterprise’ apples. While reduced susceptibility never means these selections are always 100% rust free, disease-resistant cultivars are healthier, have a better plant appearance, and fruit more productively than their susceptible counterparts.

Yellow Nutsedge By Kathleen Cue, Nebraska Extension Horticulture Educator

“What is this grass growing in my flower bed?” is a question I hear quite often now. Rolling the stem between my fingers quickly determines this isn’t grass at all but the infamous yellow nutsedge. Sedges are grass-like perennials that have triangular shaped stems. If they grew at the same rate as turfgrass, many lawn owners would be OK with nutsedge growing there. Unfortunately, high heat and abundant moisture foster fast growth that easily outpaces the height of Kentucky bluegrass and fescue. Yellow nutsedge is a particular problem in new flower beds and shrub borders if the previous space was occupied by turfgrass. Dense lawns suppress the growth of yellow nutsedge and, once the turf is removed and landscape plants installed, yellow nutsedge can show up throughout.

The use of “nut” in yellow nutsedge’s name comes from the small tubers, called nutlets, found at the end of roots. The presence of these nutlets helps to explain why the plant is so hard to manage at this time of the year. Removing yellow nutsedge by hand-pulling ensures nutlets will be left behind. Once each nutlet begins to grow, where once there was one plant, now there are many. Herbicides used now will also be effective at eliminating the parent plant, but bear in mind herbicides do not translocate to the nutlets, so again, where once there was one plant, now there are many. This isn’t to say we can’t hand-pull or use a herbicide, it just means diligence will have to be exercised to stay after new plants by repeating previous steps.

June 21 (the summer solstice) is the dividing point from when yellow nutsedge is relatively easy to manage to when it becomes a chore. Prior to June 21, plants have not reached the maturity necessary to form nutlets. Lawn herbicides containing the active ingredient Halosulfuron (Sedge Ender™, Sedge Hammer™, and Halosulfuron Pro™) applied before this date will be the most successful at managing yellow nutsedge in lawns. In gardens and borders, yellow nutsedge can be hand-pulled or spot sprayed with herbicides containing glyphosate, being mindful to shield desired plants.

From June 21 onward, the nutlets of yellow nutsedge are a tenacious survival mechanism that requires diligence (or acceptance) on our part to manage yellow nutsedge in our landscapes. Cucumber Bitterness By Kathleen Cue, Nebraska Extension in Dodge County

The compound that imparts the bitter taste in cucumbers is cucurbitacin. Wild cucumbers have a large amount of cucurbitacin, which discourages feeding by wild and insects. Today’s hybrids have been bred to have lower amounts of cucurbitacin in the fruit and what cucurbitacin is in the plant is concentrated in the roots, leaves, and stems. In instances where the bitter compound is in cucumbers, it is more prevalent in the stem end than the blossom end. This has to do with coloration, since the compound tends to be in the darker green areas of the skin. This is also why cucumbers are sometimes peeled—to rid the cukes of the bitter taste. Misshapen fruit will also have more cucurbitacin than normal-shaped ones.

The cucumber variety as well as the growing environment will contribute to the development of cucurbitacin in cucumbers. Cool, wet conditions as well as hot, dry weather are major factors. While weather is beyond our control, providing water during dry conditions and mulching plants are the simplest ways to promote less bitterness. Deep, infrequent soakings will hydrate the deepest roots, encouraging growth where the soil is cooler.

The social media chatter about pollination by bees leading to the development of bitter compounds in cucumbers (by moving pollen from wild cucumbers to garden cucumbers) promotes a false understanding of how pollination works. If pollen is moved from a wild cucumber flower to a garden cucumber flower, the genetics for the trait of cucurbitacin production will be within the new seeds formed, not the fruit. The new cucumbers will remain true to the variety planted in taste and texture. It is when seeds are saved from this wild-to-domestic cross that there may be a problem, especially to seed savers and seed companies. The plants grown from these crosses will reflect traits of both parents and, if one parent is a wild cucumber, the cucumbers produced could be extremely bitter. Seed companies are well aware of the potential for crossing with wild types and will take necessary steps to remove wild plants from the surrounding area and isolate crops to ensure seeds are true to type.

More information about cucumber bitterness may be found here: https://extension.oregonstate.edu/news/cucumber-bitterness-explained https://www.purdue.edu/hla/sites/yardandgarden/cucumbers-bitter-during-hot-dry-weather/ . The Oak Twig Girdler By Kathleen Cue, Nebraska Extension Horticulture Educator in Dodge County

The appearance of dead foliage clusters scattered throughout the canopy of oak trees is very noticeable right now. Some of these twig-and-foliage shoots, called “flags”, are breaking away, littering the ground below. This is symptomatic of the oak twig girdler, cingulata. are the most common trees to be afflicted with the oak twig girdler, but other hardwood trees can be affected too.

What is the oak twig girdler (OTG)? This is a long-horned beetle, ¾ of inch long, with antennae that are as long as its body. The OTG typically emerges in mid-August, with adult females chewing a shallow V- shaped channel that completely encircles the twig, laying one egg in the bark beyond the channel. Hatched larvae bore into the wood to feed, then overwinter in this protected environment even when twigs break from trees. There is one generation of the OTG each year.

What can be done about the oak twig girdler? First, the presence of flags within the canopy and on the ground does little in the way of damage to otherwise healthy trees. Often the full extent of the flagging has reached its peak by the time it is apparent, so insecticides will not be helpful. Clean up of fallen twigs and removing them from the yard will decrease the number of OTG larvae from emerging as adults next year.

Note that most of our trees within the region are living in drought conditions right now. Watering trees, from the newly planted to the well-established, is of utmost importance. Placing the end of a garden hose, set to trickle, beneath the tree canopy ensures a deep soaking with little water loss due to run-off or evaporation. Fall Weather Patterns Predict Early Freeze, Deepening Drought By Kathleen Cue, Nebraska Extension Horticulture Educator

The National Weather Service’s Climate Prediction Center has some startling news for September 12 through the 15th—a cold front moving through the central Great Plains region will bring falling temperatures, with a moderate risk of these temperatures being below freezing. How far temperatures fall is dependent on just how cold the cold front is and how much water is in the air (the dew point.) Dry air fluctuates more readily from hot to cold temperatures than moist air does. This follows through with soils too, with cold temperatures extending deeper into drought stressed soils than wet ones.

Typically this region doesn’t see a damaging frost until around October 10. Fruits and warm season vegetables like tomatoes will be hit hard by freezing temperatures. Covering un-harvested crops traps warmth around plants and acts as a physical barrier to freezing temperatures. Several layers of plastic or bed sheets do better at trapping warmth than a single layer. Buckets can be inverted over tall plants with a brick or rock on top to keep the bucket from toppling. More information about the predicted freeze may be found here: https://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/predictions/threats/threats.php .

With drought conditions deepening, getting out the garden hose and the watering can are crucial. Plants native to the Midwest won’t necessarily need water now, unless they were newly- planted this year. (Well-established native trees, shrubs and wildflowers weather periods of wet and periods of dry.)

Watering Priorities

▪Anything newly planted this season requires attention now. New plants do not have the extensive root system as their well-established counterparts. Drip irrigation does dual duty by watering deeply while losing less water to evaporation. Innovative ways for your own DIY drip system include placing water- filled gallon milk jugs next to plants, with each jug having up to 3 tiny holes on the bottom to provide drip irrigation. For new trees and shrubs, a 5 gallon bucket, drilled with (3) 1/8-inch holes, can be placed over the rootball, then the buckets filled with water.

▪Established plants, like fruit trees, shrubs, trees, roses and perennials need about an inch of water per week. With August being one of the driest on record, deep watering is necessary to reach all of the plants’ roots. Set the garden hose to trickle and leave it on for extended periods, moving the end of the hose multiple times beneath tree and shrub canopies to reach as many roots as possible. Another option, an idea provided by Burt County’s John Wilson, is to duct tape a double layer of old socks over the end of the garden hose and turn the faucet on. Water won’t come out in a gush and cause erosion but instead bubbles out with enough aeration to soak in.

▪Lawns comprised of Kentucky bluegrass can be allowed to go dormant during dry periods, provided lawns are given ½ inch of water every third week to keep turf crowns hydrated. Turf type tall fescue avoids drought by developing an extensive root system to tap lower sources of soil water. Once fescue has utilized all of the water within its root zone, however, plants die, so providing 1 inch of water every month during drought is important to keep fescue alive.

For more on wise watering practices, check out this link: https://water.unl.edu/category/lawns- gardens-landscapes/lawn-landscape-irrigation?mobile=no&page=1 .

Poison Ivy or Poison Oak?

By Kathleen Cue, Nebraska Extension Horticulture Educator

Identifying poison ivy can be perplexing, mostly because the leaves can look different from one plant to another. There is some variation in how the plant grows, too, with it sometimes looking like a groundcover, other times a shrub, and still others a vine. Those not familiar with the variations in the plant can have irritating results when hiking through thickets and stands of trees. The only thing consistent about the appearance of poison ivy is referenced in the adage “leaflets of three, leave them be”. From there, the appearance varies greatly from plant to plant. The term “ivy” indicates the plant is a vine, but a clump of poison ivy growing on the edge of my gravel road has the look of a groundcover, reaching just 6 inches in height. The vining characteristics of poison ivy do not become apparent unless there is something for the plant to climb, like a nearby tree, shrub or fence. Small hair-like structures on the stem, known as aerial roots, are the mechanism for poison ivy to gain a toehold in the smallest of cracks and begin climbing. Leaflet edges can have large serrations with the two outside leaflets resembling a pointed mitten and the central leaflet looking like a mitten with two thumbs. Occasionally, poison ivy will have no serrations on leaflets, a confusing thing indeed, but a quick check of the leaf arrangement and poison ivy will have leaves arranged alternately along the stem. Boxelder seedlings can look amazingly like poison ivy but the leaf arrangement will be opposite instead.

Poison oak resembles poison ivy, with the leaflets arranged in threes but it differs in that the leaflets are lobed, not pointed, and will resemble oak leaves. The real question of poison oak is does it grow here? It’s not likely, since the furthest north it grows in the Midwest is Kansas and Missouri. There may be pocket microclimates where poison oak overwinters in sheltered locations, but the plant doesn’t naturally occur this far north, so any stands of poison oak that might exist will be small in comparison to the robust winter-hardy stands of poison ivy found around here.

The misery-causing component of poison ivy, called urushiol, is persistent and exists in all parts of the plant. A brush killer is best for controlling poison ivy, utilizing a paint brush to apply the herbicide when desirable plants are nearby. Personal protective equipment keeps the applicator safe from the herbicide and the urushiol.

Fall Care of Perennials By Kathleen Cue, Nebraska Extension Horticulture Educator in Dodge County

Once gardeners and gardens have survived the heat of summer, cooler weather offers an opportunity to complete some simple tasks to ensure perennial plants emerge in good health next spring.

Cutting Back If the foliage of perennials has been disease-free, wait to cut them back until spring. This benefits our native bees because 1/3 of native bees overwinter in cavities, which includes the hollow stems of plants. By waiting to cut back perennials until spring, these pollinators are given a fighting chance to survive. In addition, many perennials are beautiful in the winter landscape, showing off the petal-less cones of purple coneflower and the gracefully waving seed heads of prairie dropseed. Stems left in place serve as reminders where the slow-to-emerge balloon flowers and hibiscus will be in spring. Stems catch leaves and other bits of plant debris, making them self-mulching.

Deadheading and Clean-Up Perennials that are aggressive self-seeders should be deadheaded in the fall to cut down on the number of volunteer seedlings in the spring. Perennials like garlic chives have charming flowers but the number of seedlings one plant produces is alarming. On the other hand, coneflowers provide seeds to overwintering songbirds and should be left in place. Daylilies present a ragged appearance after blooming, so gently tug out dead leaves and spent flower stalks. The brown tips of the long leaves can be trimmed away. Fungal spores of powdery mildew and botrytis overwinter on standing stems of peonies, so clean up to reduce inoculum for next years' plants is helpful.

Watering Perennials need an inch of water per week. This year's drought conditions have not abated, even in locations where rainfall was 4 inches or more. Before ground freeze, water plants so the entire area receives an inch of moisture. Use straight sided cans, like tuna fish or cat food cans, when irrigating to provide guidance when this one inch of water is achieved.

Mulching One of the many benefits of mulch is to serve as a barrier from quick air temperature fluctuations. Most perennials nicely withstand deep drops in temperature--as long as changes occur gradually. In the Midwest, this can be a challenge even for the toughest perennials. Mulches trap protective air pockets around roots, buffering the effects of quick temperature changes. Wood chips, shredded bark, straw, pine straw and grass clippings are good mulching materials. Rock is not a good mulching material because it readily transfers the air temperature to roots, making roots susceptible to cold injury when temperature change is swift. Layers of wood chips should be no deeper than 3 inches and placed about 2 inches away from plant crowns to ensure good air circulation. Add mulch to maintain this 3-inch depth as it decomposes.

Watch for a continuation of Fall Care of Perennials, when the topics of Fertilization, Digging and Dividing, and Fall Planting are covered.

Fall Perennial Plant Care, Part Two By Kathleen Cue, Nebraska Extension Horticulture Educator in Dodge County

It may seem like perennials demand lots of our attention, but they are really quite forgiving, with many plants living despite, not because of, our gardening efforts. For their hardiness and beauty, we can ensure they stick around by adhering to a few guidelines.

Digging and Dividing If your perennial plants didn’t bloom well or they’re crowding their neighbors, fall is an excellent time to divide plants. Some perennials, like ‘Karl Foerester’ feather reed grass, develop woody centers at the crown over time. These areas have lost their vigor and no longer send out growth, despite being dense with plant tissue. Using a sharp spade, dig the entire clump and divide the root system, being sure each division has a crown and roots, discarding the center of the plant to the compost pile. Make sure clumps are at least 6 inches across to ensure good vigor once the division has been planted. Set the divisions in their new location, making sure plants are at the same depth as they were previous to digging. For plants like peonies, this step is critical because plants too deep or too shallow will not bloom again. Cut back foliage by half so the reduced root system's water uptake matches leaf needs. Water the transplants in their new location and mulch to delay ground freeze which allows more time for new roots to develop.

Fertilization If your soil is clay, then adding fertilizer to your soil is not necessary for the health of your perennials. Clay soils have a high cation exchange capacity (CEC), meaning each clay particle has lots of locations to hold nutrients for good plant nutrition. Sandy soils are a different story because sand does not hold onto nutrients (low CEC) like clay soils, with nutrients leaching away with rainfall. Both sandy and clay soils benefit from mulches as they decompose, adding nutrients and organic matter to the soil.

Fall is For Planting Fall is a great time to take stock of landscaping "holes". These are areas that had plant loss or could use sprucing up. Perennials planted in fall establish well, when warm soils foster good root growth. Increasingly, gardeners are planting perennials that serve purposes beyond their simple beauty- -supplying nectar, pollen and seeds for pollinators and birds, fostering drainage in rain gardens, and serving as traps for blowing snow. Spring flowering bulbs are by their very nature perennials, deriving their survival not from a root system as perennials do, but from underground stems. Tulips and daffodils are classics, but consider adding some of the lesser bulbs like grape hyacinths, glory of the snow, Siberian squill, dogtooth violet, crocus, and summer snowflake, providing food for pollinators when few things are in bloom.

With a few steps, perennial plants will continue to add beauty and joy to our landscapes. Happy Fall!

Fall’s Red Leaves By Kathleen Cue, Nebraska Extension Horticulture Educator

Glorious golds are fall’s main colors in our region, helping to foster appreciation for autumn reds, which tend to be rarer. Instead of adding the over-utilized ‘Red Sunset’ and ‘Autumn Blaze’ maples to your landscape, diversify the neighborhood and community by choosing from fall’s red leafed trees that are not maples. When a variety or species is overplanted, it makes way for certain insects and/or diseases to run rampant, much like emerald ash borer is for ash trees and pine wilt in pine trees. Some ideas for fall red-leafed trees include:

Pagoda Dogwood, Cornus alternifolia This small tree is great for urban landscapes, reaching just 20 feet in height with a similar spread. Fall color is reddish, mixed with some purple.

Sweetgum, Liquidambar styraciflua Fall color in the sweetgum is gorgeous shades of red, gold, and purple. This tree can reach a height of 45 feet and a width of 30 feet. The fruit of the sweetgum is not for the faint-hearted, producing spiny 1-inch balls that are not fun to step on in bare feet when getting the Sunday paper from the front stoop. Trees should be planted well away from paved surfaces to get around this issue.

Black Tupelo, Nyssa sylvatica Black Tupelo, also known as black gum, should be transplanted as a small tree, due to its reputation for being difficult to establish when planted as a large tree. Trees can reach 40 feet in height at maturity and fall color is a mix of yellow, orange and red.

Shumard Oak, Quercus shumardii While closely related to the pin oak, this lovely upright oak does not have issues with high pH soils as pin oak does. Shumard oak grows to 40 feet, with a similar spread. Fall color is russet-red to red.

Sassafras, Sassafras albidum One of the best native trees for fall color, the sassafras has mitten-shaped leaves in fall colors of yellow to orange and red to purple. Tree height ranges from 30-50 feet. Like the black tupelo, the sassafras should be transplanted as a small tree to establish successfully.

Shrubs Don’t forget red colors can be added to landscapes in the form of shrubs. The burning bush (Euonymus alatus), black chokeberry (Aronia melanocarpa), Firedance™ dogwood (Cornus sericea ‘Bailadeline’), Autumn Inferno™ cotoneaster (Cotoneaster ‘Bronfire’), dwarf fothergilla (Fothergilla gardenii), Jetstream™ oakleaf hydrangea (Hydrangea quercifolia), and many varieties of viburnum are excellent additions for fall’s red colors.

Landscape Fabric By Kathleen Cue, UNL Extension Horticulture Educator

Whether you use landscape fabric beneath mulch in outdoor spaces depends on what you know about it. The two main reasons landscape fabric is used are A) a desire to keep weeds down and B) employing any means necessary to keep rock mulches from sinking into the soil after a rain. Unfortunately, neither of these reasons assures landscape fabric will function as planned.

Here is why.

Landscape fabric is a temporary weed barrier, suppressing weeds for a few years. Ultimately soil and seeds blow in, settling over the fabric and creating the perfect environment for seed germination. Emerging weed seedlings send roots through perforations in the landscape fabric, growing their merry way downward. When these weeds are pulled, roots pushing through the landscape fabric will cling to the fabric as well. Then weed removal entails disentangling roots from the landscape fabric, which has been pulled up too. Once weed development becomes an issue, weed problems are ongoing because of continuing accumulation of soil and weed seeds above the fabric.

The second reason not to use landscape fabric, and a more compelling one, has to do with creating a healthy growing environment for desired plants to thrive. All plant roots respire as part of their natural growth and development, taking in oxygen and giving off carbon dioxide. This exchange of gases, as it is called, is interrupted by the presence of landscape fabric and rock mulch. The results are less plant vigor, more plant stress, and less natural defenses to ward off insect and disease problems. If you have ever removed landscape fabric, it was likely the soil beneath was slimy, a sure indication of a poor growing environment for plant roots.

Are there instances where landscape fabric has an application? Yes. In windswept environments, landscape fabric and rock mulch may be the only thing protecting plant roots. Master Gardener Lynn had just such a situation, with the wind rounding the corner of his house with the fury of a wind tunnel. Everything planted near this corner died, with wood chips and soil blowing away, exposing plant roots. He found landscape fabric and rock mulch were the only things immune to the wind and protective of plant roots. Lynn eventually converted the space over from landscape fabric and rock mulch to solely wood chips, once a nearby windbreak grew enough to provide protection.

When planning your landscaping projects, consider landscape fabric as one expense to do without. Not only will this save you some money and effort, but your plants will thank you with increased health too.

When Ice Damages Trees

Ice by itself doesn’t damage trees, but the accumulation of ice on branches creates loads that can and do result in branch breakage and complete tree failure. Case in point is the recent ice storm, creating ice coatings of ¼ to ½ inch over most tree branches. This is a tremendous amount of weight to add to trees and while structurally trees develop to handle wind and snow loads, extreme events like ice accumulation and derechos really throw a wrench into tree structural stability.

When it comes to clean-up after a storm event, “hangers”, those limbs that are broken but remain partially connected to the tree, should be removed first, especially if the hangers threaten roofs or people who may be passing below. The ideal time to prune is in April, May or June, when small reaction zones within trees makes for timely wound closure. If a storm damaged tree has sentimental value or is an important part of the landscape, hangers can be removed now but ask your arborist about completing the finished cuts and final pruning in April, May or June to promote the tree’s timely wound closure from pruning cuts. Skip any products that tout wound protection when applied to pruning cuts. These aren’t effective and actually benefit decay microorganisms.

Much of the ice damage was particularly hard on branches and trunks with included bark. Included bark is the condition where bark gets pinched between two competing limbs or stems that are close together, creating an environment ideal for decay to develop and weakening branch attachment.

Be aware that the pruning practice of lions tailing contributes to tree failure. Lion’s tail pruning concentrates the tree canopy to the ends of branches. Snow and ice loads accumulated at the ends of branches will have greater leverage to surpass the tree’s structural capabilities and branches will break.

To ask questions about your trees, you can contact me, Kathleen Cue, at the Dodge County Extension Office at 402.727.2775.