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2. Greenscapes
By Kelly Feehan, UNL Extension Educator
GreenScaping encompasses a set of landscaping practices that can improve the health and appearance of your lawn and landscape while protecting and preserving natural resources.
For more information on GreenScapes, visit the Environmental Protection Agencies website and read the information on Greenscapes for Homeowners. http://www.epa.gov/GreenScapes/
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3. Winter Protection For Plants
By Kelly Feehan, UNL Extension Educator
Mulching is one of the best lines of defense for perennial plants against cold temperatures, especially extremes in temperatures. Mulching also prevents repeated freezing and thawing of soil which can damage plant roots.
The trick to mulching is not to mulch too soon. Mulching needs to be done after the ground begins to freeze or when temperatures are consistently dropping into the 20s at night. If you mulch too soon, mice and other rodents may nest in the mulch and plants may not go fully dormant.
Depending on how soon cold temperatures and snow fall arrives, mid-November is generally a good time to apply mulch in Nebraska. Tender plants, those hardy to Zone 5 or Zone 6, and recently planted perennials will benefit from winter mulch.
Straw, leaves, shredded bark or wood chips work well for winter mulch. Straw is an excellent mulch because it is hollow and that provides good insulation. Shredded bark or wood chips work well since they do not mat down and hold too much moisture against plant crowns and stems which tree leaves and grass clippings tend to do.
Apply a layer of mulch at least six inches deep over herbaceous perennials after cutting their tops off. Deeper mulch may be needed in especially cold or windy sites or for plants hardy to zone 5 that are being grown in northern Nebraska; or if you are attempting to grow zone 6 plants in southern Nebraska.
To protect evergreens from winter drying and needle browning, provide adequate moisture into November. The soil needs to remain moist, not saturated, to allow roots to take up and store as much moisture as possible for winter.
Tender bush varieties of roses require winter protection. After a hard freeze has occurred, mound 8 to 10 inches of soil around the base of tender roses to protect the plant graft.
After the soil has frozen, place a foot or more of mulching material, such as straw, hay, or pine needles over the soil mound. Placing this material inside a ring of chicken wire will help hold in place over winter. Hardy shrub roses should not require winter protection.
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4. Landscapes Don't Have to be Instant
By Paul Hay, UNL Extension Educator
A common dream for many people in the United States is to own a place of their own in the country. There is no question that it is a pleasure to have a place away from the hassles of work and worry. A place where you can lay in the yard and stare at the stars without looking into the neighbors eyes instead.
What comes as a surprise to new acreage owners is the responsibility for planning and success on their acreage takes time, interest in learning about many new things (like wells, septic tanks, lagoon, mud roads, exposed landscapes, and varmints), and that two horses on ten acres still requires purchase of half the feed.
This article is not meant to discourage people, it is meant to create an awareness of the need for careful planning and prudent investment in the development of acreages. I have worked with numerous clients in solving specific problems on their acreage and helping them plan what they want the acreage to be.
The first key to having a successful acreage that you truly enjoy is careful planning. Take your time and think hard about what it is you and your family enjoy. I answered a question the other day for an acreage owner who after ten years was tired of mowing the four acre lawn. They had developed all the acreage into lawn because they thought that is what they were supposed to do.
There are many alternatives like truck gardening, small livestock units, wildlife areas, leased land for farming, tree plantation, or a baseball field.
I have worked with several acreage owners who have developed or are developing wildlife areas. These can include a mowed walking path so you can enjoy the diversity of nature that can be on even a small track of land. One acreage owner had a rather random plan. Her goal was to identify, make a space for and grow plants which showed up as seedlings on her property. The path we followed around had serviceberry, raspberry, blackberry, apple, pear, peach, plums, asparagus, currants, gooseberries, black and white mulberries, wahoo tree, walnuts, hickories, 4 kinds of oaks, 3 kinds of maples, hackberry, and thirty other species of shrubs and trees.
A windbreak is a must for every acreage in my opinion. A well planned windbreak will reduce winter heating costs by $380-$600 per winter at current prices and make it more pleasant to work outside in the winter. Red Cedar or Rocky Mountain Junipers are a must for the outside row. Second and third rows of the windbreak can be pines, shrubs, broadleaves, etc. You can create some nice focal points with flowering tress and shrubs or wildlife feed areas with plants which supply a food source. The county Farm Service Agency or Natural Resource District office will help in the proper design of a well placed and fully functional windbreak.
I was on an acreage the other day which a landscaper developed for the owner. Over $28,000 was invested and it was just dawning on the owner the time, water, and effort which was going to be required to keep these planting's going this first year. The point I want to make is to take your time and fit your plan to the dollars you can afford to invest. Taking 5-10 years to develop your acreage not only spreads the cost, but often results in a better plan to fit the needs of the family.
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5. Evaluate Landscapes for Water Conservation
By Kelly Feehan, UNL Extension Educator
In Nebraska, conserving water and protecting water quality is essential. Now is a good time to evaluate our landscapes and plant care methods to identify ways to reduce water use.
One method of conserving water in landscapes and gardens is to amend soils with organic matter. Fall is an ideal time to do this. Compost, peat moss, well-aged manure, or shredded bark or leaves are organic materials that will improve soils.
Organic matter makes clay soils more friable, or loose, which encourages root growth. Plants with extensive root systems tend to be more drought tolerant than shallow rooted plants. Clay soils also tend to become hard and compacted, which can reduce root growth and lead to run-off of water, fertilizers and pesticides.
In sandy soils, organic matter improves the nutrient and water-holding capacities of soil. This will improve root growth, reduce water loss, and reduce leaching of nitrogen and pesticides through the soil.
Before adding organic matter, loosen the soil to a depth of 8 to 12" with tillage or a good, sharp spade. Follow the 2:1 ratio for the amount of organic matter to add. For instance, if you are improving the top 6" of soil, which would be adequate for shallow rooted annuals, spread a 3" layer of organic matter over the area to be amended. For most plants, including trees and shrubs, it is best to amend the soil to a depth of 18" and to amend an area as wide as the plants potential root system.
Water can be conserved in landscapes by grouping plants according to their water needs, and then watering each group individually instead of as part of one irrigation system. Do not plant high water users, such as bush roses, with drought tolerant plants like native ornamental grasses. Do not irrigate ornamental beds with Kentucky bluegrass lawn irrigation.
Using mulch in the landscape will conserve water. Place a two to four inch layer of coarse organic mulch over the roots of trees and shrubs and in garden beds. Mulch conserves water by maintaining cooler soil temperatures, reducing evaporative water loss from the soil, and encouraging root growth.
Select drought tolerant plants and provide them with adequate care to become well established. If you planted drought tolerant plants this past season, and they did not do well with reduced irrigation, it may be they did not have an established root system.
It is the depth, width, and overall health of a plant's root system that determines how drought tolerant it is. Drought tolerant plants are not drought tolerant until they establish their root systems. After planting, and through the first growing season, drought tolerant plants will require regular irrigation to develop the extensive roots that allows them be drought tolerant.
Continue to select drought tolerant plants; but encourage root growth by amending soils and keeping the soil moist during the first growing season. After the root systems of drought tolerant plants are established, supplementary water will be needed only during periods of extended drought.
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6. Protect Young Plants from Hungry Rabbits
By Stephen Vantassel, UNL Wildlife Project Coordinator
Protect young tree saplings now before winter sets in and hungry rabbits decide to nibble on trees. Exclusion is relatively simple and can save plants from death and/or stunted growth. Details on protecting plants from rabbits has been excerpted below from the Internet Center for Wildlife Damage.
The full article is available at: http://icwdm.org/handbook/mammals/CottontailRabbits.asp
Exclusion
One of the best ways to protect a backyard garden or berry patch is to put up a fence. It does not have to be tall or especially sturdy. A fence of 2-foot (60cm) chicken wire with the bottom tight to the ground or buried a few inches is sufficient. Be sure the mesh is 1 inch (2.5 cm) or smaller so that young rabbits will not be able to go through it.
A more substantial fence of welded wire, chain link, or hog wire will keep rabbits, pets, and children out of the garden and can be used to trellis vine crops. The lower 1 1/2 to 2 feet (45 to 60 cm) should be covered with small mesh wire. A fence may seem costly, but with proper care it will last many years and provide relief from the constant aggravation of rabbit damage. Inexpensive chicken wire can be replaced every few years.
Cylinders of 1/4-inch (0.6-cm) wire hardware cloth will protect valuable young orchard trees or landscape plants (Fig. 5). The cylinders should extend higher than a rabbit’s reach while standing on the expected snow depth, and stand 1 to 2 inches (2.5 to 5 cm) out from the tree trunk. Larger mesh sizes, 1/2- to 3/4-inch (1.2-to 1.8-cm), can be used to reduce cost, but be sure the cylinder stands far enough away from the tree trunk that rabbits cannot eat through the holes.
Commercial tree guards or tree wrap are another alternative. But when using solid walled tree guards, be sure to remove them in the Spring or cover them to prevent cavity nesting birds from being entrapped. Several types of paper wrap are available, but they are designed for protection from sun or other damage.
Check with your local garden center for advice. When rabbits are abundant and food is in short supply, only hardware cloth will guarantee protection. Small mesh (1/4-inch [0.6-cm]) hardware cloth also protects against mouse damage.
A dome or cage of chicken wire secured over a small flower bed will allow vulnerable plants such as tulips to get a good start before they are left unprotected.
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7. Plants For Winter Interest
By Kelly Feehan, UNL Extension Educator
Winter interest has been a buzz word in landscape design for a few years now. Plants with winter interest add color or architecture to the landscape during the somewhat drab winter season.
If you’d like to perk up your off season landscape, winter is a good time to decide what and where to plant. Areas prime for winter interest plants are near your homes entrance or where plants can be viewed from a window.
When we talk about winter interest, plants that come to mind are evergreen conifers like Japanese yew and juniper, ornamental grasses such as feather reedgrass and bluestem, sedum, and cone flowered plants like Rudbeckia.
There are other plants whose foliage, stems, or fruits also enhance the winter landscape. Consider one of the following plants to add winter interest and biodiversity to your green space.
Plants with evergreen or semi evergreen foliage include coral bells (Heucheras), wood spurge (Euphorbias) and sages (Salvia).
Coral bells have many leaf colors ranging from white variegation to purple. Some Proven Winners varieties are purple leaved ‘Amethyst Mist’ and ‘Licorce’, golden leaved ‘Amber Waves’, ‘Key Lime Pie’ with chartreuse leaves, and the orange leaved ‘Peach Melba’.
Coral bells grow in full sun to part shade. Their hardiness ranges from zone 4 to zone 5 and most bloom from spring into June with rose colored or white flowers. The foliage of coral bells remains ornamental well into winter. If these low growing plants are covered by snow, they add colorful contrasts as snow melts around them.
Of the Euphorbias, ‘Despina’ and ‘Efanthia’ are improved varieties. They are hardy to zone 4 and grow up to ten inches tall in full or partial sun. ‘Despina’ has blue green foliage and ‘Efanthia’s’ leaves turn burgundy in fall. Both can be planted in containers near a front door as well as in landscape beds.
‘Golden leaf sage’ (Salvia offincinalis) has green leaves with uneven gold margins. These plants keep their shapes well during fall and winter. Hardy to zone 5, the one foot tall plants perform best in full or part sun.
Plants with colorful or unique shaped stems include red or yellow twigged dogwoods, flame willow, curly willow, scarlet curls willows, and Harry Lauders walking stick. Some of these are large shrubs that require correct placement in the landscape and regular pruning to best maintain their winter interest characteristics.
If you want a bit of a challenge, you can grow plants with clinging fruit. These include American bittersweet and hardy holly’s. Both require a male and a female plant to produce fruit. Easier to grow landscape plants with colorful fruit that cling into winter are crabapples and roses known to produce rose hips.
Source: ProvenWinners.com
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8. Heating With Wood
By Kelly Feehan, UNL Extension Educator
As an Extension Horticulturist, I get questions about firewood. I’m much better at answering questions about growing trees than burning trees, but the University of Nebraska Extension does have a useful Nebguide titled Heating With Wood: Producing, Harvesting and Processing Firewood.
When asked questions about firewood, I admit my lack of knowledge and then share this free Nebguide with the person asking. Almost always, I get a positive response about the useful information in the guide.
If you heat with wood or harvest firewood, I encourage you to obtain the Nebguide from the UNL website. The link for the Nebguide is http://www.ianrpubs.unl.edu/sendIt/g1554.pdf.
This Nebguide provides information on firewood characteristics of different trees such as heat per cord, ease of splitting, smoke, sparks, coals, fragrance and more. It provides this information for 37 different types of trees, or tree species.
For example, green ash produces 20 million BTU’s of heat per cord, is easy to split, produces low smoke and few sparks, makes good coals and has a slight fragrance. In comparison, Linden (Basswood) produces 13.8 million BTU’s of heat per cord, is easy to split, produces medium smoke and few sparks, makes poor coals, and has good fragrance.
The comparison of firewood characteristics is useful in determining what type of firewood you need and how to get the best buy for your money. When selling firewood, it assists in setting a price for different tree species.
The Nebguide provides information on measuring firewood and determining how much firewood you will need. For example, it states a full sized pick-up with an eight foot bed holds about one-third to one-half cord of firewood, depending on how the firewood is loaded.
Firewood is usually sold as a full cord or a face cord. A full cord is a stack of wood four feet tall, eight feet wide and four feet deep. A face cord is a stack of wood four feet high, eight feet long and approximately 12 to 18 inches deep.
The weight of a cord of wood varies by tree species. For example, the green weight of a cord of Linden is 4404 pounds and the dry weight is 1984 pounds. For green ash, the green weight is 4184 pounds and the dry weight is 2880 pounds.
Since green wood does not burn efficiently and causes a build-up of creosote in chimneys which can lead to fires, the Nebguide explains how long it takes to season wood, the best way to do it, and how to determine if the firewood you are purchasing is seasoned.
There is good information on felling (cutting), limbing (removing branches), bucking (cutting the trunk and branches into firewood size pieces) and splitting firewood. Safety points are also a major focus of the Nebguide.
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9. 4-H in Nebraska
By Kelly Feehan, UNL Extension Educator
4-H reaches 1 in 3 Nebraska youth! 4-H is the youth education program of Land Grant Universities. In Nebraska, the University of Nebraska – Lincoln is our Land Grant University.
Check out the Nebraska State 4-H Webpage to learn more about 4-H. http://4h.unl.edu/
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