Crabgrass is a common weed in many lawns. Crabgrass is an annual, warm-season grass that begins to germinate when soil temperatures reach 60 F. Germination usually begins about mid-April in southern Iowa, early May in northern parts of the state.
How many times have you jumped into a gardening project that requires a large amount of digging only to wear yourself out before the project is completed?
If you've attended meetings or field days sponsored by the IFVGA over the last two years, you probably know that Iowa State University and the IFVGA are cooperating in on-farm trials of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) methods with Iowa fruit and veg
The National Garden Bureau has designated 1994 as the year of the snapdragon. Snaps, like many garden flowers, have a long history of enjoyment. Children love opening the jaw of the flower and watching it snap shut.
The Iowa Community Tree Steward program (formerly know as the Master Community Tree Manager program) will be offered to residents of central and eastern Iowa in 1994.
It can be frustrating driving around to various garden centers or leafing through mailorder catalogs searching for a specific perennial, shrub, or fruit tree.
Many plants contain chemicals that are toxic to insects. Some of these have been known about for a long time and a few have been commercially developed and processed into an insecticide product used for pest control.
A number of Austrian pine samples have been submitted to thePlant Disease Clinic recently showing Dothistroma needle blight,Diplodia tip blight, or both diseases.
At this time of year many of our landscapes lack interest, especially when it comes to color. Conifers fill a great void in this area because they aren't restricted to just green.
I always feel better in the summerwhen I'm outside working in the yard and flower beds, but I alwaysthought it was because I thoroughly enjoy gardening and it'stherapeutic to me. Gardening is also a good form of exercise.
For reasons that are not yet clear tome, this has been a good year for bumble bees. In my own yard,bumble bees have been more noticeable as they forage for nectar from flowers of bee balm, St. Johnswort and other plants.
The few calls and samples alreadyreceived at the ISU Insect Diagnostic Clinic indicate our typicallate summer flea season has already started, though it is still too early to tell how bad the fleas will be this year.
The cool, wet weather in July and so far inAugust has been a curse for the warm-season garden crops and ablessing for anyone with a cool-season lawn. The lush green lawnsare obvious everywhere.
Everlasting flowers are not the perennial flowers or weeds in your garden that you just can't seem to get rid of. They are flowers that retain their color and form when dried.
Gardeners have realized the limitations of fungicides and insecticides this growing season. Continuous rainfall has made it almost impossible to apply protective products for preventive control.
Numerous plant seed choices are available to choose from each year at garden centers and from mail order sources. Of these selections, many are hybrids others are standard (open pollinated) varieties.
You probably know that Benlate has been the subject of many claims from greenhouse growers about phytotoxicity on various crops. The fallout from this controversy included DuPont's virtually eliminating ornamental uses from the Benlate label.
