Selecting and Preparing Autumn Produce

Fall is in the air!  Ahhh and yes, it is my favorite time of year. Cool crisp mornings combined with mild afternoons means its time to think about harvesting those fall fruit and vegetable crops.  

This morning I ran across this helpful publication titled Autumn Produce  which focuses on how to select or harvest garden vegetables, how to pick the perfect apple while enjoying one of Central Indiana's many orchards, and finally a few tips for preparing your bounty.  

Click here for a list of the local orchards offering agri-tourism opportunities this time of year. For more information contact your local Extension office.    

Get Ready: Fall is the Time for Lawn Improvements

Lawn Seeding

Indiana lawns contain primarily cool-season grasses, which grow best in the cooler temperatures of spring and fall. During the hottest times of year, they may grow very slowly or even go dormant. Kentucky bluegrass, perennial ryegrass, tall fescue, and fineleaf fescue are common cool-season grasses.

Whether your lawn is thin from the rigors of summer or from neglect, fall is the best time of the year to improve your lawn. Some lawns can be dramatically improved with proper fertilization and weed control in fall; whereas others may need reseeding in some areas or even complete renovation.

Adequate soil moisture, warm soil, and limited weed pressure allow for excellent seedling growth. Between August 15 and September 15 is optimum seeding time in the northern half of Indiana and Illinois, and September 1 to September 30 is optimum in the southern half of Indiana and Illinois.

Consider aerating the lawn area, punching 20 to 40 holes per square ft with the largest tines available. This will increase the seed-soil contact and improve germination and establishment rate. Apply a starter fertilizer (high in phosphorus) over the entire lawn at 1.0 to 1.25 pounds of phosphate per 1000 square ft of lawn.

Next, apply the seed to the lawn with either a drop-seeder or a power over-seeder.  Be sure to seed in both directions to adequately cover the lawn area with seed.   Mulching the area will prevent erosion and conserve water. Therefore, mulching is most important when it is impossible to adequately irrigate newly-seeded areas.

Water the newly-seeded area three to four times daily in order to keep the soil surface moist. Light, frequent irrigation is the rule during the first few weeks.  Frequent mowing will limit the competition from the established turf.

Four weeks after germination, apply 1.0 pound of nitrogen per 1000 square ft of lawn using a fertilizer containing N, P, and K.

Fertilization
Properly fertilized lawns better tolerate stresses such as heat, drought, and cold. Applying the right fertilizer at the correct time helps turf plants accumulate and store the essential plant foods that are used for growth and development.

You should only apply the nutrients your lawn needs. The nutrients plants need in the greatest quantity are nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K). Of these, N has the most impact on established lawns. N promotes green color and overall growth, especially leaf growth. Plants need P and K for strong root and stem growth, which is most crucial when establishing a new lawn

Established lawns will benefit most when you apply the majority of N fertilizer from late summer through autumn. This promotes summer recovery, enhances shoot density, maximizes green color, and prepares the turf for winter, all without a growth surge.  To promote maximum density during late summer and early fall (late August through early November), you should apply up to 1 pound of N per 1,000 square feet each month.

For more information on soil testing to help you choose the correct fertilizer, look here.

Other tips to consider to help lower fertilization costs is to return grass clippings during mowing to the lawn.  These clippings contain valuable nutrients that can be recycled into the soil. If you must regularly remove clippings when you mow, you may need to increase the amount of N you apply each year by 25 to 50 percent to maintain growth and color.

Fall needle drop... should you be concerned?

Fall is here and Hamilton County landscapes are colorfully painted with a variety of fall colors as the plants naturally begin shedding their leaves as winter rushes in. This time of the year, my phone rings frequently with calls from concerned homeowners worried about evergreens yellowing and dropping an abundance of needles. I always ask one very important question to help the caller determine the cause of the needle drop.

Where are the affected needles located? If normal fall needle drop is the cause for concern, then needles will be turning yellow on the inside of the tree, and the needles farthest out on the branches remain green. Natural needle drop is a normal process and does not harm the health of the tree.

All trees species will drop leaves or needles at one time or another. Evergreen needles have varying life spans, depending on the species. White pine needles live for 2 years while other pines have needles that persist 2-6 years, depending on species. Spruce needles live 3-10 years. Some species of evergreens have a more noticeable leaf drop than others, shedding many needles all at once, while others shed a little at a time such that it is hardly noticed. White pine and arborvitae have very dramatic annual shed which can be quite alarming if you don't realize that it's perfectly normal.

I would like to mention that the last few months have been very dry in our county, drought may increase needle drop but this, in itself, does not harm the tree. On years where we experience high stress and temperature extremes, evergreens can decline and reach an eventual death.  For more information see this publication about drought stressed plants.

Excerpts taken from the following online publication:
Normal Needle Drop: Even Healthy Evergreens are NOT Evergreen
Gail Ruhl, Sr. Plant Disease Diagnostician and Rosie Lerner, Consumer Horticulture Extension Specialist

Purdue Univeristy

Start Composting This Fall!

Now that we are winding down the garden season, consider starting a compost bin in a corner of your property and produce your own compost with those trimmings from fall garden clean-up.  Compost is rich soil that you can make from yard and kitchen wastes in a matter of weeks or months. It’s fun and it makes use of wastes that would otherwise go into our landfill needlessly.

Compost bins can be small, you don't need a huge area to produce nice rich soil. The minimum size for a composting unit is 4 feet high, wide and long.  It is easy to make your own unit from inexpensive materials such as wooden pallets, stakes and chicken wire or you can purchase a contained unit from multiple sources locally or online.

Compost is made up of a mixture of ‘green’ or nitrogen containing material and ‘brown’ or carbon containing material. Examples of nitrogen products include kitchen waste, grass clippings, and coffee grounds.  Preferred carbon additions include dried leaves, small twigs, and newspaper.  The key to a healthy compost pile is to keep a balanced mixture of the two; it is best to start with a 30-1 carbon to nitrogen ratio, but watch your pile closely and make any needed adjustments to this ratio.  A carbon ratio that is too high will cause the compost to break down slowly and a high nitrogen ratio can cause odors.

Much of your kitchen waste such as fruit peels, vegetable waste, and egg shells can be composted,. Although all food waste can technically be composted, it is recommended that some kitchen waste not be added to your pile because it breaks down very slowly and attracts unwanted pests. Stay away from adding meat and dairy products as well as foods high in oils like peanut butter.  Pet feces and kitty litter should not be added because it may transmit disease.

Less experienced composters should avoid materials heavily infested with weed seeds, insects, and disease organisms. Although a properly managed compost pile can generate enough heat in the center to kill most of these pests, producing uniform heat may be difficult, particularly in a small compost pile.

Start with a base of brown material, and alternate layers of green and brown as you add to the pile. The smaller the particles in the compost heap, the faster the process will go. Chopping or shredding the wastes you put into the compost heap will also help speed the process. Water is also needed for uniform heating of the compost pile. Apply water as needed if rainfall is lacking. Compost with appropriate moisture content should resemble that of a moistened sponge that has the excess water squeezed out.

When added to the garden, compost conditions existing soils with needed nutrients so that plants grow healthier. Mix finished compost into soil next spring when preparing for planting. For more information on home composting click here.

Purdue Yard and Garden - October 2015

Each Month Purdue Consumer Horticulture Specialist Rosie Lerner shares a to-do calendar to remind home gardeners of important tasks to complete for the upcoming month.  This information is focused for both beginning and advanced gardeners.  Check out the new calendar for October by clicking this link below.

Purdue Yard and Garden