Plants & Pests with Nicole
November 2023
Upcoming Events
- Gage County Extension is closed November 10th in observance of Veteran's Day.
- Gage County Extension is closed November 23-24 in observance of Thanksgiving.
- Nicole will be out of the office November 13-20 for vacation and Extension Fall Conference.
- Emerald Ash Borer Program: November 28th at 6:30pm in Auburn (See flyer below for more information)
Irrigation through the Fall and Winter
Clean up Gardens
If you haven’t done so yet, now is a great time to get out and clean up your gardens before the winter. It is good to remove plant material at the end of the season to prevent the spread of insect and disease problems between years. You can till your garden in the fall to add fresh manure to your garden. If you do till it, be sure to add a layer of mulch to the soil surface so that you don’t lose the topsoil over the winter months. Grass clippings with no chemicals on them, or straw or hay would be good options for mulch. It is also a good use for leaves so you don’t leave them on the turf, which can cause problems over winter.
Clean Leaves in the Fall
Raking leaves is a very important process for the health of your lawn. If you do not remove the leaves from the lawn, it can shade and possibly smother the grass leading to damage or death of the lawn. Not removing the leaves from the lawn can also increase the chance for snow mold to occur. Snow mold is a disease that commonly occurs on lawn after a lot of snow accumulates during the early winter and it then sits on the grass during most of the winter. If you do not want to rake the leaves up, or you are physically unable to rake your leaves, you can mow over the leaves to mulch them and leave them on the grass. When the leaves are chopped up into smaller leaf bits, it does not shade out the turf because the blades are able to get into sunlight around the smaller bits of leaves.
Water through Fall
Water trees deeply once every week or 2 during the fall. To water deeply, run a sprinkler or soaker hose in the drip zone for about 20 minutes for newly planted trees and up to one hour for established trees. Water deeply to get down to where the roots are, turf irrigation isn’t sufficient for trees. After irrigating, use a long screwdriver to ensure that moisture got into the soil 12-18 inches, where most tree roots are found. You can use that screwdriver prior to irrigating to see if irrigation is necessary. Push it into the soil, if it goes in easily you do not need to water, if difficult to push into the soil irrigation is necessary. Continue to water through the fall and even 1-2 times per month in the winter if we don’t see sufficient rainfall or snowcover.
Lilacs in the Fall
About Nicole
Email: nstoner2@unl.edu
Website: https://extension.unl.edu/statewide/gage/gage-county-horticulture/
Location: 1115 West Scott Street, Beatrice, NE, USA
Phone: 402-223-1384
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NicoleStonerHorticulture
Twitter: @nikki_Stoner