Washington County Cooperative Extension Service

March 2015

Volume 11, Issue 3

Cool Season Vegetables 2

March Lawn Care 2

March Lawn Care 3

Ag Tag 4

Beekeepers News 4

March To Do’s 5

A Note From Dennis 5

Master Gardener Associa-

tion News/Events

6

Plant of The Month 6

Wheelbarrow Series

Schedule

7

Recipe Of The Month 8

Inside this issue:

HORTICULTURE

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Washington County

Horticulture

Time To Plant Cool Season Vegetables Mid to late March is an ideal time to plant

your cool season or spring garden. Pota-

toes, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, on-

ions, peas, and many other crops can be

planted this month. Lettuce can also be

planted, however you will want to cover it

with remay fabric (tobacco canvas). If

you haven’t start-

ed cole crop

(broccoli, cabbage,

cauliflower etc.)

seedlings yet you

should just buy

the plants in a few

weeks from a

trustworthy nurse-

ry. This will save

you time and

trouble unless you

are growing a

great deal of it.

If you haven’t

had your soil tested you still have time to

get it back before it is too late for your

spring garden. It generally takes only a

couple of weeks to return.

Vegetables for a spring garden grow best

at relatively cool temperatures (55-65 de-

grees). These plants produce their vege-

tative growth during springs short cool

days. If they are planted too late, summer

heat will reduce the quantity and quality

of your produce. Cool season crops

planted too late may bolt, become bitter,

and have a poor texture.

Spring vegetables should be planted as

soon as the soil can be worked in the

spring. A light frost

will not harm most

cool season plants

after they have be-

come acclimated to

the garden.

When working the

soil in the spring

make sure it is dry

enough. If the soil is

too wet will become

cloddy and hard.

This could change

the soil structure and

cause you problems

for several years. If

you squeeze a hand full of soil and it

crumbles easily when you let go the soil is

dry enough to work.

Generally organic mulch is a very good

idea in a garden, however not in a spring

garden. Mulch will shade the soil and

keep it cool; in the spring however it is

better to let the sun reach the soil. The

soil will warm faster and your crops

will do better. A black plastic mulch

will help warm the soil, however it

will have to be removed later in the

spring because it will become too hot

for cool weather plants.

You should plant cool season

plants together so you use the same

place later. This will make working

the soil in the summer for your fall

garden much easier. Most spring

garden crops can be “double

cropped” in Kentucky, credit our

long growing season and the fact that

we have relatively mild spring and

fall seasons. If you are going to plant

a spring and fall garden and are going

to “double crop” be sure not to plant

closely related crops in the same ar-

ea. This will increase the chances of

disease and insect carryover prob-

lems.

For more information on growing

vegetables in Kentucky stop by the

Washington County Extension Of-

fice and pick up booklet ID-128

Home Vegetable Gardening in Ken-

tucky at:

http://www2.ca.uky.edu/agc/pubs/i

d/id128/id128.pdf

Time To Plant Cool Season Vegetables

There are several grasses adapted to

central Kentucky. Kentucky blue-

grass and fescue are the two best va-

rieties for us, however. Many lawn

problems can be avoided by planting

the right cultivars for our area. The

best cultivars of Kentucky bluegrass

are Keeneland,

Blue Note, Skye,

Nu Chicago,

Legend, Mid-

night, Rush,

Empire, Ameri-

ca, Avid, Arrow-

head, Shamrock,

and Baron.

Kentucky blue-

grass prefers a

well-drained sight in light shade to

full sun. Kentucky bluegrass is well

adapted to central Kentucky. It is

fine textured and has good resiliency

and it has a good low spreading hab-

it.

Like any other grass Kentucky

Bluegrass isn’t without its problems

it has poor traffic tolerance, its not

adapted to heavy shade, has suscepti-

bility to insect and disease problems,

will have excessive thatch buildup if

heavy doses of ni-

trogen are applied,

and it needs irriga-

tion in dry periods

and if nitrogen has

been applied. Ken-

tucky bluegrass will

go dormant in hot

dry weather if not

irrigated, which

means you will have

a brown turf in July and August.

When sowing Kentucky bluegrass

plant a mixture of more than one

cultivar; it can also be mixed with

perennial ryegrass and fine fescues to

alleviate some of the problems with

each type of grass. They will mask

each others weaknesses so to speak.

Tall fescue is probably the most

planted grass in the country consid-

ering it is planted beside most road-

ways. It is used throughout Ken-

tucky for lawns, hay, and pasture. A

properly managed lawn of tall fescue

has little resemblance to a pasture

field however. Clumping can be a

problem in tall fescue if a thick stand

is not obtained. The best cultivars

of tall fescue are Regenerate, Grade

3, Hemi, Bizem, Fesnova, Catalyst,

Bullseye, Falcon IV, Falcon V, Terra-

no, and Firebird 2. These cultivars

have a finer texture than Kentucky

31 tall fescue and aren’t quite as

tough. The tall fescues are the “multi

-purpose” turf grasses. They grow

March Lawn Care

well in full sun to medium shade and

perform well in heavy clay to sandy

soil. They have good traffic toler-

ance, no serious insect problems,

competes well with weeds, not much

thatch buildup, only small amounts

of irrigation needed in drought situ-

ations, and germinate quickly.

Problems include an inability to

spread laterally, requires

more frequent mowing than

other turf, and can have

brown patch problems in hot

dry summers. Mixing with

other species is not a good

idea because of mowing and

texture differences.

There are several species of

grass defined as fine fescues.

These should not be con-

fused with the fine leaved tall

fescue mentioned earlier.

The grass blades of fine fes-

cue have much finer leaf

blades than even bluegrass.

Chewing fescue has been the

best fine fescue performer in Ken-

tucky. Cultivars include Banner III,

Brittany III, Creeping Red Fescue,

Shademaster II, and Victory II.

These varieties are well adapted to

heavy shade and is generally the are

where they are most used. They are

tolerant of low fertility, drought, and

acidic soils.

Fine fescue problems include poor

traffic tolerance, goes semi dormant

in full sun in the summer, has slow

lateral spread, and will not survive

heavy nitrogen applications.

If you plan on planting fine fescue

in an area that has sun and shade mix

50-80% Kentucky bluegrass to insure

a complete stand in sun and shade.

The best times to sow grass seed in

Central Kentucky is September and

the next best time is March. Below

is a few steps in turf renovation:

Have a soil test done.

If over thirty percent of your

lawn is weeds or bare it is best to

redo the entire area.

To renovate your lawn kill the

existing lawn and weeds with

roundup or some other nonselec-

tive herbicide.

After a couple of weeks till the

lawn area and remove any debris

including rocks and dead grass

clumps.

Apply any fertilize or lime that is

suggested by the soil test and in-

corporate it into the soil.

Rake the area down smooth and

remove any large clods.

Broadcast your turf seed.

Roll the area with a roller or

heavy object to make sure the

seed is in good contact with the

soil.

Grass seed needs light to germi-

nate so do not cover it with soil.

Spread a thin layer of clean straw

on the area to conserve moisture

and water in well.

Keep the area well watered.

When the turf is 4-6 inches tall it

can be mowed high to even it out

and to cut the tips off of the

blades. This will cause the blades

to thicken and

the grass plants

to toughen.

The straw

generally de-

composes or is

chopped up

with the mower.

If the grass and

straw clump up

you can use a

bagger or rake

the area.

If you only

have a few bald

spots individual

areas can be

treated in similar ways as in reno-

vation.

If your grass is thin you can

simply over seed your lawn area

with more grass seed and hope

for the best. If possible rake

over the area to help the seed

come into contact with the soil.

Seeding rates vary by species.

Tall fescue (because it is a clump-

ing turf grass) should be seeded

at 6lbs per 1000 sq ft. Kentucky

bluegrass and the fine fescues

should be seeded at 2 lbs per

1000 sq ft.

Some information for this article ob-

tained from AGR-52 Selecting the

Right Grass For Your Kentucky

Lawn, By the late Dr. A.J. Powell,

University of Kentucky

AG TAG VOLUNTARY DONATION PROGRAM

BENEFITS 4-H, FFA, AND KENTUCKY PROUD

As you renew your farm license plates today, please consider

making the $10 donation on each tag.

The money is evenly split between Kentucky 4-H, Kentucky

FFA, and Kentucky Proud. The Ag Tag Voluntary Donation Program is supported by Ken-

tucky Commissioner of Agriculture James Comer.

Last year, the Kentucky 4-H and Kentucky FFA each received a statewide total of

$169,280.21.

The 4-H share of the funds is split between the county where the funds originated and the

Kentucky 4-H Foundation. That means part of your Ag Tag donation stays right here in our

county, funding 4-H programs and activities that teach our youth about leadership, citizen-

ship, science and technology, communications, public speaking, agriculture, and more. The

4-H Foundation uses the state portion to support programs many of our 4-H members partic-

ipate in furthering their positive experiences and opportunities.

Making your $10 donation is an excellent opportunity for our agricultural community to

support the youth of our community and help fund the programs that can make a lasting dif-

ference in their lives.

As you renew your farm license plates today, please consider making the $10 donation on

each tag.

For more information about the Kentucky 4-H Foundation visit

www.kentucky4hfoundation.org

Join Us at

Washington County

Horticulture

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The beekeepers meet the first Monday of the month at the Washington County Cooperative

Extension Office at 6:00 PM, with a potluck dinner. Aprils meeting speaker has not been

determined yet.

Lincoln Trail Beekeeper’s Association News and Events

We have had our second bad winter in a row and I hope it is another 20 years before we see the cold tem-

peratures and snow that February brought. The record cold and snow will go down as some of the worst winter

weather Kentucky has to offer. I have worked in Extension for 10 years and it was the first time we have been

closed for an entire week! Tori and Gabby are finally sick of snow and cold too! As I type this we are forecast for

8 inches more snow, when I told the girls they just groaned and asked when it was ever going to warm up?

The Wheelbarrow Series has gotten off to a good start and the weather hasn’t caused any cancellations and

rescheduling yet, I wish I could say the same for the Master Gardener Program that is going on now as well!

Happy Gardening!

Now is a good time to plan

your flower and vegetable garden

layout. Look through garden

catalogs and landscaping books.

Plan on using

plants that you

have experience

with and new

varieties, and al-

ways try to buy

plants that are

disease resistant.

Check local

nurseries for cul-

tivar availability. Generally local-

ly grown plants are better and

you get to look at the plants be-

fore you buy them.

March and April are good

months for planting fruit crops.

When planting apples choose

more than one variety for polli-

nation and fruit set. There are

several apples that are good and

disease resistant in Kentucky,

such as Liberty, Redfree, Enter-

prise, or Pristine. For a more

complete list call me at the of-

fice.

It is also a good time to plant

thornless blackberries (Apache,

Arapaho, Triple Crown), rasp-

berries (Heritage, Autumn Bliss,

Fallgold, Brandywine,

Royalty, Caroline)

March and April are

also good months for

planting trees and

shrubs.

Early March is a good time to

prune summer-flowering trees

and shrubs such as clethra, beau-

tyberry, butterfly bush, golden

raintree, mimosa, and only the

following hydrangeas (Annabelle,

Hills of Snow, Peegee). Do not

prune other hydrangeas or they

will not bloom this year.

It’s a good idea to start spraying

fruit trees for diseases as well.

Apply liquid lime-sulfur spray on

peach and plum trees anytime

before the buds start to swell.

This single spray will almost

completely control peach leaf

curl and plum pocket. Two dis-

eases that cause premature defo-

liation each year and can weaken

trees over time.

You can also spray raspberry and

blackberry with a liquid lime-

sulphur spray to help control an-

thracnose. This will not control

it completely, however it will

help and additional sprays during

the growing season will be need-

ed.

A dormant spray of copper sul-

fate should be applied to apple

and pear trees by the first of

April to improve control of fire-

blight. Be sure to spray the entire

tree. A streptomycin sulfate

spray (if available) during the

growing season will also help.

March To Do’s

A Note From Dennis

March 12 (6:00 PM first floor of Hundley Library) Landscaping and plants presented by Nick Kip-per. We again meet at St Cathe-rine's and will have pork barbecue sandwiches so please bring ac-companiments. April 9 (6:00 PM at the Exten-sion Office) We plan to make hy-pertufa planters early for adequate drying that we can plant later in the month for the Green Fest. Wear clothes you don't worry about getting messed and join the fun making these light weight ves-sels at Extension office. We need to finalize plans for the Green Festival – what we will have available to sell and volun-teers for the booth. April 25 Saturday Green Festi-

val in Springfield. Need volun-teers to staff our booth. This is an excellent opportunity to get your volunteer hours. Help increase awareness of the Master Gardener program bene-fits and mission. May 14 (6:00 PM at the Exten-sion Office) Lyda Moore will share her presentation given at the International Master Garden-ers gathering in South Korea last September. Lyda and Pat Schwartz will also share pictures and stories of their South Korean experience. Future Programs to include St Louis Botanical Garden with Joe Rogers and CD presentation of Gardens of the World In Nov and Dec shall we again

sell wreaths? This was a fun vol-unteer project which not only made people aware of our Master Gardener Assoc but more im-portantly, raised $500 for the Backpack Food program. To re-peat this service project we need people to canvass businesses, fac-tories and individuals and then help make the wreaths. For more information contact Jeanette Hase –Spalding 481-1715

Lincoln Homestead Master Gardener Association News/Events

The current Master Gardener Class meets each Thursday Evening from 5:30 PM until 8:30 PM at the Saint Catharine College Library. For more information about the program and to sign up for future classes contact Dennis Morgeson Agent for Horticulture for Washington County at 859-336-7741

This fabulous new redbud is giving many plant lovers a big case of Gotta-Have-It! The leaf colors are spectacu-lar, with new growth starting apricot, graduating to vivid gold, and finally to bright green. And if you water in dry spells, it will keep flushing the tangerine new growth over the entire summer into fall! Its tough constitution lets it withstand drought, heat, poor soil and pollution, while the leaves are impervious to sunburn. Excellent for wildlife, too – in spring, butterflies and early-arriving hummingbirds love the nectar of the small, bright pink flowers. Later, the seeds attract a number of songbirds, including goldfinches, quail, and the occasional - See more at: http://www.springhillnursery.com/product/the-rising-sun-redbud/flowering_trees#sthash.QKo4Hhxb.dpuf

Plant of The Month - Rising Sun Redbud

January 27th Morning Starting Seeds Outdoors In Winter FREE!

Evening Starting Seeds Outdoors In Winter FREE!

February 3rd Morning Introduction To Beekeeping FREE!

Evening Introduction To Beekeeping FREE!

March 3rd Morning Vegetable Gardening With Heirloom Varieties $10.00

Evening Vegetable Gardening With Heirloom Varieties $10.00

March 24th Morning “Souper” Special $10.00

Evening “Souper” Special $10.00

March 31st Morning Growing Primocane Blackberries and Raspberries $20.00

Evening Growing Primocane Blackberries and Raspberries $20.00

April 7th Morning Caladiums, Callas, Cannas OH MY! $20.00

Evening Caladiums, Callas, Cannas OH MY! $20.00

April 28th Morning New and Exciting Annuals and Perennials $25.00

Evening New and Exciting Annuals and Perennials $25.00

May 12th Morning Growing Sweet Potatoes FREE!

Evening Growing Sweet Potatoes FREE!

June 2nd Morning Clematis….Queen Of Vines $10.00

Evening Clematis….Queen Of Vines $10.00

June 23rd Morning Hardy Asters for Kentucky Gardens $10.00

Evening Hardy Asters for Kentucky Gardens $10.00

August 25th Morning The “Other” Iris $20.00

Evening The “Other” Iris $20.00

September 15th Morning Extending The Vegetable Garden Season FREE!

Evening Extending The Vegetable Garden Season FREE!

September 29th Morning African Violets FREE!

29th Evening African Violets FREE!

October 13rd Morning The “True” Lilies $20.00

13rd Evening The “True” Lilies $20.00

October 27th Morning Creating A Meadow Garden FREE!

27th Evening Creating A Meadow Garden FREE!

November 3rd Morning Holiday Cactus $10.00

3rd Evening Holiday Cactus $10.00

Basic Registration For Any and All Classes $5.00 x

Total From Above

Total

2015 Wheelbarrow Series Class Schedule (You Can Still Register)

211 Progress Road

Springfield KY, 40069

Office 859-336-7741

Fax 859-336-7445

Email dennis.morgeson@uky.edu

Washington County Cooperative Extension Service

We Are On The Web!!!

washington.ca.uky.edu

Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Washington-

County-Horticulture/140659449317295

March Recipe Of The Month

Spinach, Bacon, And Gruyere Quiche

2 Tablespoons salted butter

1 small onion

1 8 oz. package frozen chopped spinach (thawed squeezed

and drained) or 3 bunches fresh chopped spinach

8 ounces Gruyere or cheese of choice, grated about 2 cups

8 large eggs

3 ounces chopped bacon bits or pieces

3 cups half and half or milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large skillet, heat butter over medium. Add chopped onion and cook, stir-

ring occasionally, until softened, add frozen drained spinach to warm 1 to 2 minutes. If using fresh spinach

add it to the mix when adding the onion to the butter.

Divide spinach mixture, bacon bits, and cheese between prepared crusts. Place each crust on a separate

rimmed baking sheet. (You can layer the spinach and cheese or mix them together.)

In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, half-and-half, .25 teaspoon salt, and 1 teaspoon pepper. Dividing evenly,

pour egg mixture into crusts.

Arrange baking sheets on racks, and bake until center of each quiche is just set, 55 to 60 minutes, rotating

sheets from top to bottom halfway through. Let quiches stand 15 minutes before serving.

Directions:

Ingredients