Gardening Tips from the Noble County Extension Office

Successful gardening tips

Rain Gardens Go With The Flow
We have already started receiving seed and plant catalogs at the Extension Office. This is a good time of the year to consider what might work well in your landscape. One fairly new development in landscaping has been rain gardens. Rosie Lerner, Extension Horticulturalist with Purdue University, offers the following considerations for rain gardens.
Rain gardens are areas of the landscape designed to catch rainwater long enough to allow it to percolate slowly back into the groundwater rather than run off the soil. Rain gardens help recharge groundwater, improve the water quality of streams and rivers, reduce flooding, and provide cover for wildlife and butterflies.
Rain gardens can be just shallow depressions of a few inches or elaborately constructed sites, depending on available space and needs of the site. The garden's topography should be designed to encourage water flow into the garden. The site must drain well enough to allow slow and steady percolation into the groundwater. Soil drainage can be greatly enhanced by additions of finished compost in preparing the area.
Ideally, the rain garden should be located away from (10-foot minimum) and a bit below the grade of structures, such as the house, toolshed and garage. Rain barrels can be used to collect runoff water from house drainpipes and redirect to the rain garden. Reasonably level land will be much easier to work with.
Avoid placing the rain garden over a septic drain field or tank; a buffer of at least 50 feet is recommended. Be aware of shallow utilities in the area, and always call to locate and mark these utilities before you dig. Also avoid the edges of steep slopes where erosion is a risk.
As you consider the overall landscape design and appearance, like other gardens, you'll need to consider the mature size, growth habit, flowering, fruiting and other characteristics of your plant selections. Most rain gardens feature moisture-tolerant perennial flowers, native wetland or wet prairie wildflowers, and grasses, but shrubs and trees can be used in larger gardens. Keep in mind that plants will also need to be tolerant of periodic dry spells as well as heavy rains.
The following are a few species to consider for your rain garden planting, but it's by no means an exhaustive list.
Grasses
Big Bluestem, Indiangrass, Little Bluestem, Various Sedges
Flowers
Aster, Black-Eyed Susan, False Indigo, Flag Iris, Goldenrod, Great Blue Lobelia, Ironweed, Joe Pye Weed, Liatris, Penstemon, Swamp Milkweed
Shrubs
American Beautyberry, Arrowwood Viburnum, Bottlebrush Buckeye, Buttonbush, Oakleaf Hydrangea, Summersweet Clethra, Sweetspire
Trees
Bald Cypress, Fringetree, Ginkgo, Red Maple, River Birch, Sycamore.

VEGETABLES
How to Pick a Ripe Melon - Telling when a melon is ready to be harvested can be a challenge, or it may be quite easy. It all depends on the type of melon. Let's start with the easy one.
Muskmelons are one of those crops that tell you when they are ready to be picked. This can help you not only harvest melons at the correct time but also choose good melons when shopping. As a melon ripens, a layer of cells around the stem softens so the melon detaches easily from the vine. This is called "slipping" and will leave a dish-shaped scar at the point of stem attachment. When harvesting melons, put a little pressure where the vine attaches to the fruit. If ripe, it will release or "slip." When choosing a melon from those that have already been harvested, look for a clean, dish-shaped scar. Also, ripe melons have a pleasant, musky aroma if the melons are at room temperature (not refrigerated).
Watermelons can be more difficult and growers often use several techniques to tell when to harvest.
1. Look for the tendril that attaches at the same point as the melon to dry and turn brown. On some varieties this will need to be completely dried before the watermelon is ripe. On others it will only need to be in the process of turning brown.
2. The surface of a ripening melon develops a surface roughness (sometimes called "sugar bumps") near the base of the fruit.
3. Ripe watermelons normally develop a yellow color on the "ground spot" when ripe. This is the area of the melon that contacts the ground.
Honeydew melons are the most difficult to tell when they are ripe because they do not "slip" like muskmelons. Actually, there is one variety that does slip called Earlidew, but it is the exception to the rule. Ripe honeydew melons become soft on the flower end of the fruit.
The "flower end" is the end opposite where the stem attaches. Also, honeydews should change to a light or yellowish color when ripe, but this varies with variety.

FLOWERS
Dividing Iris - Bearded irises are well adapted and multiply quickly. After several years, the centers of the clumps tend to lose vigor, and flowering occurs toward the outside. Dividing iris every three to five years will help rejuvenate them and increase flowering. Iris may be divided from late July through August, but late July through early August is ideal.
Because iris clumps are fairly shallow, it is easy to dig up the entire clump. The root system of the plant consists of thick rhizomes and smaller feeder roots. Use a sharp knife to cut the rhizomes apart so each division consists of a fan of leaves and a section of rhizome. The best divisions are made from a double fan that consists of two small rhizomes attached to a larger one, which forms a Y-shaped division. Each of these small rhizomes has a fan of leaves. The rhizomes that do not split produce single fans. The double fans are preferred because they produce more flowers the first year after planting. Single fans take a year to build up strength.
Rhizomes that show signs of damage due to iris borers or soft rot may be discarded, but you may want to physically remove borers from rhizomes and replant if the damage is not severe. It is possible to treat mild cases of soft rot by scraping out the affected tissue, allowing it to dry in the sun and dipping it in a 10 percent solution of household bleach. Make the bleach solution by mixing one-part bleach with nine parts water. Rinse the treated rhizomes with water and allow them to dry before replanting.

Cut the leaves back by two-thirds before replanting. Prepare the soil by removing weeds and fertilizing. Fertilize according to soil test recommendations or by applying a complete fertilizer, such as a 10-10-10, at the rate of 1 pound per 100 square feet. Mix the fertilizer into the soil to a depth of 6 inches. Be wary of using a complete fertilizer in areas that have been fertilized heavily in the past. A growing number of soil tests show phosphorus levels that are high enough to interfere with the uptake of other nutrients. In such cases, use a fertilizer that has a much higher first number (nitrogen) than second (phosphorus).

Contributors: Bob Bauernfeind, Entomologist; Ward Upham, Extension Associate, Division of Horticulture, KSU

Home Vegetable Gardens
Weed control requires taking the treated portion of the garden out of production for a time.
Solarization - Solarization uses the energy from the sun to produce heat that pasteurizes the soil. Follow these steps to solarize a garden area:
1. Select the hottest time of year to solarize, usually mid-June to mid-August.
2. Work the soil deeply, and smooth the surface so the clear plastic will make uniform contact with the soil.
3. Water well. Moisture encourages seed to germinate and existing bindweed to grow so plants can be killed by the heat. The water also helps conduct the heat deeper into the soil.
4. Spread clear polyethylene film over the area. Seal the edges and seams with soil to prevent air from circulating under the plastic. One mil film is most effective at creating heat, but is likely to be torn apart by Kansas winds. Film that is 4 mil thick is more likely to last.
5. Leave the plastic in place for 4 to 6 weeks. The longer time is more effective.
6. Remove the plastic after 6 weeks. If you leave it in place longer, it may become brittle from exposure to ultraviolet radiation and be difficult to remove. You can plant the next day.
Glyphosate - Glyphosate is sold under a wide variety of names, the most common being Roundup. Take the garden out of production when treating.
1. Roundup is a nonselective herbicide that will kill whatever it hits. But it is inactivated when it contacts the soil.
2. Roundup is most effective when applied to bindweed that is at or beyond full bloom. You can treat earlier but don't skip the late summer to fall application.
3. Do not apply to bindweed that is under moisture stress or not growing well.

Turf
Selective herbicides are available. An herbicide with the trade name of Drive (quinclorac) has, until recently, only been available to commercial applicators. However, there is now Drive packaged for homeowners and is available from Monterey Lawn and Garden. There are also homeowner combination herbicides that contain Drive such as Ortho Weed-B-Gon Max + Crabgrass Control and Bayer All-in-One Lawn Weed and Crabgrass Killer.
Commercial applicators can also use Drive (quinclorac) as well as Q4 (contains quinclorac). Products with Drive work about as well as glyphosate but are selective.
Note that lawns treated with Drive should not use clippings in compost or as mulch as Drive is very stable on grass clippings. We recommend clippings be returned to the lawn anyway but if they are bagged, they should be discarded. Do not apply products with Drive over exposed roots of trees and ornamentals. It would be best to avoid spraying beneath the canopy of any trees to avoid possible damage. If there are plans to convert a section of lawn to a vegetable garden, do not use Drive on that area. Eggplants can be damaged if planted within 12 months of areas treated with Drive, and tomatoes can be damaged if planted within 24 months.

Shrub Beds
Use a spray of glyphosate between plants. Use a shield if spraying near plants to keep spray from contacting green plant material. Remember, glyphosate will hurt your shrubs if it contacts green tissue.
It is possible to control field bindweed by pulling, but you must be extremely persistent. I remember reading a study from the 1940s that found that bindweed produces enough energy to start strengthening the roots when it reached the six-leaf stage. So, if pulling, never allow plants to produce more than six leaves.

Contributors: Ward Upham, Ext. Assoc.; Ray Cloyd, Ent., Div. of Hort.

Web site provides resources for home gardeners
Home vegetable gardeners can find advice from experts on planting vegetables, protecting gardens against pests and more on the Purdue University Cooperative Extension Service's vegetable gardening Web site, "Vegetable Tips: Resources for Easy Gardening." Rosie Lerner, Purdue Extension horticulture specialist, said the site was launched last year to pool resources that home vegetable gardeners would find useful. "With tough economic times, we anticipated there would be an increased interest in beginning a garden," Lerner said. "That was true last year, and it seems like it will continue this year."
The site is organized chronologically and walks visitors through the steps in growing vegetables. The site includes sections on "Getting Started," "Planning," "Planting" and "Growing." New gardeners can find information on tools to use, crops to grow and budgets for a vegetable garden. Lerner said the site combines resources from several College of Agriculture departments, including Horticulture and Landscape Architecture, Entomology, Agronomy, and Botany and Plant Pathology, as well as Purdue's Plant and Pest Diagnostic Laboratory. Lerner said that even if a gardener has been growing vegetables for a while, the site provides links to resources for problems such as pests, diseases and weeds.
The vegetable gardening Web site can be accessed at http://www.extension.purdue.edu/gardentips/vegetables.  Rosie Lerner; Hort. Specialist; Purdue University. This is a very informative web site and should prove helpful for any gardener from the novice to the experienced.