Ask a Master Gardener
Fall Mums
It looks like we have freezing temperatures, or near freezing temperature in the not too distant future. So, if you, like many of us gardeners, have been lulled into a state of endless summer, there is a rude awakening on the horizon. This means that if we want to save some of our plants that are not rated for our growing zone, now is the time to bring them in.
We’ve talked about growing zones recently, but we are in growing zone 7b. Plants with growing zone numbers higher than 7 are likely...
Pruning Plants
Now that we are starting to lose leaves, the question always comes up - is now a good time to prune? The answer is yes on some plants and no on other plants. But then there’s the greater question - why do we prune at all?
If anything, we probably over prune some of our plants. Why? Because we bought a plant that wants to be bigger than the space we planted it in. So, if you want to minimize your pruning time, be sure to read the plant tag before planting. If you have a space that will allow...
Growing Pecans
Fresh pecans sure taste good. The fact that they do taste so good probably has some of you all thinking you would like to plant pecan trees so you can grow your own. That’s not a terrible idea, but before you dive in to growing your own pecans, there are a few things you should know.
Pecans are considered native to Oklahoma and are members of the hickory family. Native pecans can be found in most parts of the state with the exception of the panhandle. In the United States, there are over 200...
Pine Tree Needle Drop
We’ve talked about how to approach the falling leaves in your landscape, but what about the falling needles from evergreens, such as pines. As some evergreens are dropping their needles, when is it typical needle drop and when is it cause for concern? Let’s talk about that.
During the growing season, pines grow outward from the tips of their branches, producing new needles as they grow. As this growth continues, the older needles toward the center of the tree get shaded. In the shade, these...
Managing Leaves in the Yard
With cooler temperatures and shorter daylight hours the leaves should start dropping from our trees pretty soon. Some have already started although I think those already dropping are falling from exhaustion due to our hot and dry summer, but enough about me… So, assuming the leaves will eventually drop, let’s talk about the importance of those leaves in our ecosystem and some alternate approaches you might consider taking with your leaves. Yes, we talked about leaves in the garden last week, but...
Fireplace Ashes
We write about this topic every year because, quite frankly, there’s a lot of misinformation out there on the internet about the benefits of using fireplace ashes in your garden. And since, we are entering fireplace season, this seems like a good time to review how the potential negative side effects outweigh any potential benefits associated with placing fireplace ashes in your garden.
If you poke around the internet, you’ll find articles suggesting that fireplace ashes are a great source of...
Winter Garden Maintenance
Cooler temperatures are finally here and with those cooler temperatures we have some decisions on the horizon to make. Historically, gardeners of both flowers and vegetables have cleaned up their gardens at the end of the season, removing all the dead plants, stalks, and leaves etc. But we are learning that, while this strategy may make our garden spaces look nice, we may unintentionally be doing damage to our local insect population. And with declining pollinator populations, we need to help them...
Bringing Plants Indoors
At some point summer temperatures are going to end…at least we think so. At that point we’ll need to bring our summer tropicals indoors, or at least those plants we want to save until next year. Hibiscus is one I think of. There are both tropical and hardy versions of hibiscus. The hardy ones are usually good outdoors over the winter, but if you want to save those tropical ones, they will need to spend the winter in your garage or someplace appropriate.
To understand which plants need to come...
Crop Rotation and Cover Crops
Right now, it seems like vegetable garden season will go on forever. But we know eventually, the cold weather will show up and put an end to our garden. Since we know it’s going to happen, let’s talk about a couple of things that often get overlooked that could help us out next year, crop rotation and cover crops.
If you are like me, you have your favorite garden layout. The tomatoes go here, and the cucumbers go over there, and green beans back there, and then the peppers are right here etc....
Acorns
Finally, we’ve got that chill in the air that lets us know fall is here. With the cooling temperatures, there will be a lot of changes in our landscapes. One of those changes is our oaks are going to begin dropping acorns soon. So, let’s talk a little bit about our nut producing oaks.
The story of the acorn begins in the spring when the oak trees begin to flower. Yes, oak trees flower. Also, oak trees are what we call monoecious which means that a single oak tree contains both male and female...