Plant now for a successful fall garden

Roger Meissen/MU Cooperative Media Group

I know it's not spring, but now is the time to prepare your garden. Fall gardens offer a healthy outlet for the body and mind without the grueling heat that gardeners endure during the summer months. The right type of plants need to be selected to endure the colder fall temperatures and possible early frost.

MU Extension Horticulturalist David Trinklein explains how to prepare a fall garden that will put produce on your table well into fall.

Story by Roger Meissen.

New herbicide suspect as evergreen deaths pile up

Roger Meissen/MU Cooperative Media Group

COLUMBIA, Mo. – A new herbicide may be taking the green out of many evergreens.
Thousands of eastern white pines and Norway spruces across the country began dying and showing damage this year, and a key suspect in the mystery is Imprelis, a weed killer many lawn companies and landscapers started using this spring.

Chris Starbuck, a University of Missouri Extension state woody ornamentals specialist, said this problem will leave holes in many landscapes.

“Every tip on this tree is affected, and to produce new growth it would have to produce new shoots from the two-year growth, so it’s not likely this tree will recover,” Starbuck said as he surveyed damage to white pines in a Columbia lawn. “It’s been a surprise to everyone involved how extensive the damage appears to be. I think there will be lots of trees that have to be replaced in landscapes and it’s going to cost somebody some money.”

Read more in a recent article by Roger Meissen.

Try Some New Varieties When Starting Tomatoes This Year

Yellow, green and black, oh my!

While most people envision beautiful red, juicy tomatoes as seed planting time rolls around this year might be time to consider alternative varieties offered in a spectrum of colors and flavors guaranteed to tantalize your tongue.

The end of March and beginning of April is the perfect time to plant seeds inside to start your garden, whether it be in containers on your porch or a plot in your backyard. Tim Reinbott, superintendent for the University of Missouri Bradford Research and Extension Center near Columbia, offers suggestions to get your garden started.

Read more at: University of Missouri Extension News

Tips for starting tomatoes: