Master Gardener Activities Late Winter/Early Spring 2014

Iowa State University Extension and Outreach

March/April 2014

Bi-monthly edition

The Potting Shed Official Jones County Master Gardeners Newsletter

S H O W

Coordinators

Column

I’m reading the column

from January/February

and still looking forward

to spring—green grass,

trees leafing out or

maybe just warmer

weather that will melt

all this white stuff!!!

Well most of the white

stuff has melted.

I got spring fever on

March 10th and planted

lettuce in a container

here at work by Friday.

The lettuce had popped

up so by our next

meeting I should be

enjoying a fresh salad.

At the Anamosa Home

and Garden show I

promised people that

spring will be here

according to the

calendar that would be

March 20th. I did see

about 30 robins this

morning looking for

food driving to work

this morning.

Kim

Tuesday, February 11th, Joe Yedlik , Iowa State Fair 4-H Horticul-ture superintendent, presented a program on Horticulture Judging. Joe gave great tips on judging (selection) of horticulture exhibits. He shared his story about his children growing vegetables to exhibit at the State Fair also.

Saturday, March 1st was the Anamosa Home and Garden Show at the Lawrence Community Center from 9 am to 3 pm. It was a snowy day and attendance was low for the presentations scheduled that day. Betty Paschall brought the forced bulbs for the display table and 2 decorated pots - a leprechaun and clown. Our new intern, Judy Tuetken came to assist at the display table also. Thanks to Jim Christianson for setting up tables and chairs for the show also.

Earth Day Celebration April 12th, 2014 Lawrence Community Center—Anamosa 10 am—3 pm display table

Even the rabbits

follow the sidewalk at

Fountain Park—

Anamosa early March

2014 Photo submitted by Jim Christianson

Jim Christianson provided this photo from

Trees Forever newsletter. Chuck West, Mary

Kelchen, Jim Christianson and Kim Miller

helped with this activity last fall. Hopefully, all

the trees survived this harsh winter.

Article from Trees Forever

Surprising Uses for Coffee and Coffee Grounds (article from Reader’s Digest)

You can speed up your composting! Pour on coffee (or tea, or non-diet cola) to increase the bacterium population and help both soil and compost break down faster. You can fertilize your plants! It isn't the caffeine in coffee grounds that plants like

azaleas and rosebushes and evergreens love but

rather the acidity and aeration the grounds pro-

vide—not to mention nitrogen, phosphorous, and

trace minerals. Just be sure to dig the grounds into

the soil to keep them from becoming moldy.

But don't overdo it: Dig about 3/4 cup of grounds

into the soil near the roots, repeating once a

month. Fertilizing even acid-loving plants with

coffee grounds too frequently could increase soil

acidity to undesirable levels.

About 100 million Americans drink coffee every day. The average coffee drinker will spend about $165 each year on the beverage. This means a lot of leftover coffee grounds. Students at Arizona State University in Tempe found a use for the used grounds. "[The] Grounds for Grounds program is a recycling program that we started to recycle Star-bucks coffee grounds on campus and use them in our flower beds and our lawns, and even sometimes in pest control," said Vicente Solis, a civil engineering student at Arizona State. Solis and fellow student Rigoberto Polanco collect more than 500 pounds of used coffee grounds each week to use as a natural fertilizer. "We usually just throw straight coffee grounds on the lawns. For our flower beds, we mix [the grounds] with a little bit of compost, like a 50-50 mixture," said Solis. The results they've seen are healthier flowers and plants, and greener grass. When spread over flower beds and lawns, coffee grounds slowly release nitrogen – a key nutrient that helps plants grow – into the soil. The used grounds also attract earthworms. As the earthworms dig in the soil, the amount of water and air allowed to flow through the

soil increases. Earthworms also break down organic matter in the soil like leaves. Using coffee grounds as natural fertilizer can also save money on lawn and garden care. "You can use coffee grounds on your flower beds and on your lawns instead of going out and buying synthetic fertilizer," explained Solis. Used coffee grounds are easy to come by even for those who don't brew coffee at home. "They can go up to any Starbucks they want and ask for coffee grounds," said Solis Article from

Inside Science

More Tidbits

A lot of people already know coffee grounds are great for enriching soil with nitrogen, but if your

gardens just can't keep up with your coffee habit there are a ton of other great ways to put those

grounds to use.

Kitty Be Gone Keep the neighborhood felines out of your garden by sprinkling a mixture of coffee

grounds and orange peels around the edges of plant beds. It's not only beneficial for you and your

garden—there are lots of plants that are harmful to cats.

Ant Control It's that time of year: Ant season. If you have an ant problem, sprinkle coffee grounds

near doorways. How does it work? The nitrogen burns the ants' legs so they won't walk cross it.

Some people cover ant holes with grounds, but I'm a little too softhearted for that.

Sow Seeds If you want to grow lots of carrots or radishes, you can make your seeds go further by

adding in coffee grounds. Let the grounds dry and then mix them with seeds. Plant the grounds with

the seeds and your plants will actually grow in thicker.

Get Shiny Hair Coffee grounds can add shine to your hair and condition it naturally. Work the

grounds into clean, wet hair and massage for a few minutes, then rinse. You may want to do this out-

doors in warm weather to keep your drains from becoming clogged. (And brunettes—you'll get the

added benefit of lovely highlights.)

Eliminate Odors Coffee absorbs scents from its environment, which makes it a fantastic natural deo-

dorizer. Let the grounds dry, then pour them into a cup you can sit in your fridge or freezer. If you've

been cooking with onion, garlic or other pungent foods, rub your hands in dry coffee grounds to re-

move smells. Cara Smusiak writes on behalf of Naturally Savvy.com about how to live a more natural,

organic and green lifestyle from Green Living TLC

Coffee grounds make excellent odor removers for small spaced like vehicles, refrigerators and freez-

ers. Dry your used grounds completely and pour in a clean sock tie the end and place at offending

odor’s source.

Chamber Chatter - Anamosa newsletter

2014 Home & Garden Show

Despite the cold and snow, March 1 brought out plenty of folks who were looking forward to new spring projects for their homes and yards! A very special thank you to the Master Garden-ers and our wonderful vendors; without you there would be no show.

Yard and Garden: Plants Affected by Frigid Temperatures

AMES, Iowa -- Winter can be tough on Iowa’s trees and shrubs. Low temperatures, rapid temperature changes, winter

desiccation and the weight of ice and snow can damage vulnerable trees and shrubs. Horticulturists with Iowa State

University Extension and Outreach answer questions about the effect this winter’s frigid temperatures will have on land-

scape plants. To have additional questions answered, contact Hortline at 515-294-3108 or hortline@iastate.edu.

This winter temperatures have dropped to -20 degrees Fahrenheit. What effects will the cold temperatures have on my fruit trees?

The cold temperatures may have damaged peach and sweet cherry trees. Peach trees are not reliably cold hardy in

much of Iowa. Temperatures below -18 F will destroy the flower buds on peach trees. Temperatures of -25 F or below

may damage or destroy the peach trees themselves. The flower buds on sweet cherries are slightly more cold-hardy

than those on peaches. The flower buds on some sweet cherry cultivars can survive temperatures of -20 F. Iowa gar-

deners should expect poor crops on peaches and sweet cherries this summer. It also is possible that the trees them-

selves may have been damaged. Damage may vary from dieback of twigs and branches to complete death. On a

brighter note, the cold winter temperatures should not have damaged apples, pears and sour (tart) cherries.

What effects will this winter’s cold temperatures have on my trees and shrubs?

Trees and shrubs that are native to Iowa (or similar regions of the world) are well adapted to our climate and should

have suffered little or no damage. However, marginally hardy plants, such as Japanese maple (Acer palmatum), flower-

ing dogwood (Cornus florida) and Japanese flowering cherry (Prunus serrulata) may have sustained damage. (The

maximum cold hardiness of most Japanese maple, flowering dogwood and Japanese flowering cherry cultivars is -20

F.) Damage may vary from the dieback of twigs and branches to complete death of the tree.

This winter’s cold temperatures also may have destroyed the flower buds on flowering quince (Chaenomeles spp.) and

some forsythia cultivars. Temperatures of -20 F or below likely destroyed the flower buds on flowering quince and

‘Lynwood Gold’ and ‘Spring Glory’ (two popular forsythia cultivars). As a result, these shrubs likely will produce few, if

any, flowers in spring. Fortunately, the cold temperatures should not have any long term effects on the shrubs. The leaf

buds on flowering quince and forsythia are hardier than their flower buds. The shrubs should leaf out normally in

spring.

This winter’s cold temperatures should have little impact on the flowering of forsythia cultivars ‘Meadowlark’ and

‘Northern Sun.’ The flower buds of ‘Meadowlark and ‘Northern Sun’ can tolerate temperatures to -30 F.

Deer have eaten all the foliage on the bottom portions of several arborvitae. Will the bare areas green back up in spring?

This winter’s prolonged period of snow cover has deprived deer of food on the ground. As a result, deer have been

feeding on trees and shrubs in woodlands, windbreaks and home landscapes. Among evergreens, arborvitae and yews

are most susceptible to browsing by deer in winter.

The extent of damage to the lower portions of the arborvitae will be determined by the presence or absence of buds

(growing points). If buds are present, the lower branches will produce new growth in spring. The new growth should be

apparent by early summer. The lower portions of the arborvitae will remain bare and likely never develop new growth if

no buds are present.

ARTICLE | WED, 02/12/2014 - 17:08 | BY RICHARD JAURON, WILLY KLEIN

Garden Tips Early Spring (late March/April)

Lawn •Rake the lawn to remove twigs, leaves, and trash. •Apply preemergent herbicide in April to prevent crabgrass. •Mow regularly at a height of 21⁄2 to 3 inches for Kentucky bluegrass. Never remove more than

1⁄3 of the leaf blade at one time. Fruits

•To control scale on fruit trees, apply a dormant oil spray when temperatures are above 40°F. •Remove mulch from strawberries in April as new growth begins. Trees and shrubs •Purchase and plant bare root nursery stock before buds break. Flowers

•Start seeds of annual flowers for transplanting outdoors after danger of frost. •Divide hosta and other summer and fall-blooming perennials as new growth appears (RG 319). •Pot up stored bulbs and roots for a head start on blooms (RG 311, RG 315). Herbs

•Start seeds of herbs, such as basil, for transplanting outdoors after danger of frost (RG 801). Houseplants

•Repot houseplants, if needed, into a larger container. •Begin fertilizing houseplants lightly. Vegetables

•Plant broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, kohlrabi, and certified potato pieces outdoors in April. •Acclimate seedlings grown indoors to outdoor temperatures and light levels prior to planting in

garden. •Do not work soil when it is saturated.

Garden Tips Guidelines to Seasonal Chores—RG 105 publication is very resourceful.

Here is the website to download a copy https://store.extension.iastate.edu/ in the search box (upper right hand corner) enter RG105

Jones County

800 North Maple Street, Ste # 2

P O Box 28

Monticello IA 52310

Phone: 319-465-3224

Fax: 319-465-3312

E-mail: kmiller5@iastate.edu

Learn it Grow it Teach it

Website www.extension.iastate.edu/jones/

click on Agriculture & Environment then select Yard & Garden/Horticulture

Calendar of Events 2014

Delaware County Mondays in March series • 7 pm—9 pm March 24—Fairy Gardens March 31—Emerald Ash Borer Creative Gardening Series Small Space Food Gardens March 27; 6:30-8:30 pm @ CR Public Library

Historic Seed Saving in Iowa

March 30;1:30—3:30 pm @ Marion Heritage Center

Monthly Meeting/Program April 8th; 6:30 pm @ Youth Development Ctr Scenic ByWays by Mallory Marlatt

Earth Day Celebration April 12th; 10 am—3 pm @ LCC—Anamosa

Soil Fertility Analysis April 12th; 1-3 pm @ Linn Co Extension office