Garden Guys and Gal

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Garden Guys and Gal

Garden Guys and Gal are USU plant professors who find joy in sharing their gardening know how

09/04/2023

Much thanks to Dan and April and the fantastic crew for having me in the show this morning (on Labor Day even!). Scarecrow Walk with over 100 scarecrows starts this Thursday at the USU Botanical Center with the trebuchet pumpkin launch at 6 pm. We have so much fun planned and would love to have YOU and your family join us. MUCH THANKS to our amazing gold level sponsors - we couldn’t put on this event without you:
Builder’s First Source
Wheelwright Lumber
Discover Davis
Lagoon
Ovation Homes
Layton Crumbl
J&J Nursery
Utah Foster Care
USU Botanical Center usubotanicalcenter

08/10/2023

Have you ever seen a bumble bee nest? My intern Mia and I were moving straw this afternoon and stumbled across one. We did our very best to quickly put things back and not disturb the nest, but we had to snap a quick picture. Bumble bees nest in pre-existing cavities like rock piles and animal burrows, as well as under dense vegetation - like a stack of straw. Those little mounds you see in the photo are the brood chambers - where eggs are laid and develop into larva and pupate into bees - similar to honey bees. There is a queen along with female workers and male bees in the colony. Queens hibernate in the winter in cavities and emerge in the spring to quickly begin to build colonies. We were lucky enough to see the queen (top left bee in the photo) and she was massive! The queen will build up the nest and die this fall, leaving a new queen to carry on the following year. It may just be the year of the bumble bee - I’ve seen bucketloads of them this year - but this is the first nest I’ve encountered!

06/25/2023

Have you ever grown the most beautiful peppers only to find that there was a giant sunburn spot on every single fruit? One of the most effective ways to prevent this is to add shade fabric. When selecting shade fabric, I choose 30%, which allows 70% of the sunlight through - which is plenty for high altitudes with intense light (like Utah). I made some hoops for my shade fabric to sit on from a 10-foot piece of 1/2-inch PEX that I found in the plumbing isle of my local Home Depot - I cut it into 2, 5-foot pieces to make 2 hoops. You can also use 1/2 inch poly or PVC - it just needs to bend but be sturdy enough to hold up the fabric. 2-foot lengths of 3/8-inch rebar is driven half-way into the soil so only a foot is above ground. You simply bend your PEX or poly and slide the open ends over the rebar. You can attach the fabric with zip ties (I do it loose so I can move the fabric back out of the way,) or with clips. It is so easy, doesn’t look terrible, and will give you gorgeous peppers.

05/12/2023

Spring is in full swing in Utah and we think you may have some gardening questions on your mind. Ask in our INSTAGRAM STORIES and we will be happy to answer you.

05/10/2023

It’s time! Let the tomato planting begin! Make sure that wherever you are that you are seeing nighttime temperatures above 50 F and if the temperature happens to drop (which it can all through May), be prepared to cover your plants and provide some protection. You can plant deep like what you see me do in the video or you can trench plant and plant shallow and sideways in the top warmer layers of the soil. Tomato cages are optional; you can string trellis, grow on the ground (although I recommend mulching under plants if you do this), or however you see fit. The fertilizer I used is very light (5-1-1), so I fertilized slightly heavier than I would with something like a 16-16-16. Remember if your soil has ample P and K, you will use a nitrogen only fertilizer (21-0-0 for example) and only at planting. Heavy nitrogen fertilizer application with tomatoes can prevent fruit formation. Get prepping and planting and enjoy it while you are at it!

04/26/2023

Henbit is one of the prettiest spring w**ds that may be popping up in your garden right about now. The almost heart-shaped leaves have little “bites” on the leaf edges that look like they came from the beak of a hen. Pink flowers are found on hairy stems and resemble mini orchids. This w**d is fairly easy to control and can be hand pulled without much effort in small stands. Keeping turf healthy will help crowd out germinating w**ds and a pre-emergent can be applied in late summer to early fall to prevent germination. When in turf or in large stands where another plant does not need to be preserved, a broadleaf w**d killer can be used. Remember to ALWAYS follow label directions and wear proper personal protection equipment when using chemicals.
**doftheweek **dmanagement **ds **ds

04/14/2023

Dormant oils seem to be on our minds lately, and rightly so, it’s about time to apply. These sprays provide excellent protection against many overwintering pests and diseases that can be damaging to fruit. Application timing can depend on several factors but one of the most important is bud stage. Buds should be swelling and trees should be coming out of dormancy prior to application. When buds are too open, dormant oils can burn leaf and flower tissue, damaging trees and reducing fruit production - so it is important to pay close attention. The latest pest advisory from USU Extension’s IPM team can be accessed by going to https://pestadvisories.usu.edu (or click the link in our stories). Click on the most recent publication called “Dormant Sprays, Pear Saw Flies” and you can dive into different bud stages for different fruit, product options and more. Remember that daytime temperatures are preferably between 50-70 F at application and nighttime temperatures are above freezing. Also read the product label thoroughly prior to application and make sure to mix the oil at the correct rate.

04/12/2023

Day 162 of winter… Give me sunshine or at least some serenity. There are raised beds under here somewhere. ’tWaitMuchLonger .

04/11/2023

How’s your spring planting looking? I aggressively planted peas indoors (on a day when more snow put me right over my limit) so I could transplant as soon as the snow melted. Transplants can give you a jump start and are a life saver when we have prolonged springs. If you are at a Wasatch Back or high elevation location, you can start cool season crops in containers if you need to get some green on your thumb! Containers can be moved in and out depending on temperature and weather conditions and can give you that jumpstart when conditions aren’t looking conducive to planting. However you need to, get growing! It’s good for your soul.

04/08/2023

Bur Buttercup is a fast-growing annual w**d that shows up in early spring. Seeds germinate at soil temperatures just above 40-degrees F and give way to little, yellow, 5-petaled flowers. These flowers fade to reveal burs that can cause some discomfort in the garden. Fortunately control is fairly easy - plants have shallow root systems and can be pulled by hand, rogued out with a hoe, or in larger stands sprayed with either a broadleaf w**d killer like 2,4-D or even a non-selective chemical glyphosate if needed.

03/31/2023

I’ve had SO MANY questions about planting dates and spring crops. Here is what I recommend we consider moving forward:
1. Move your expected planting dates back a bit. The temperatures are warming but we keep getting hit with cold blasts of snow (whoever is snow dancing - stop it!). It will warm up and as soon as it does and dries out enough to work the soil, you can plant.
2. Plant what you can inside. In an act of pure frustration, I am seeding peas in our greenhouse today. This way when we can plant outside, I will have pea plants going into the soil instead of seeds. This will give me a bit of an edge and keep my spring production going.
3. Use season extension when needed. Adding cloches and row covers over plants that you may have already planted will give them the best chance to survive.
4. Relax! 👏 Spring👏Will👏 Get👏 Here👏EVENTUALLY👏 It has to! I’m frustrated too, believe me, but there is not much to be done other than shifting our focus and trying to work around this third, fourth, fifth (I’ve lost count?!?) extension of winter. We are gardeners, we are tough, witty, and malleable. We’ve got this and we will be gardening soon!

03/26/2023

Some of you peeps on Facebook triple-dog dared me to prune a tree while skiing. Proof that pruning can be done with ski poles in hand! Incredible morning at Snowbasin with a record of 482-inches of snow as of this morning and 11-inches of powder falling from 5-9 am! This is truly an incredible water year. The pruners skied through mid-thigh deep powder with me all morning. Despite the snow, get those trees pruned!!! 😂😂😂 P.S. the things I will do for y’all are crazy and fun!

Address

Kaysville, UT
84037

Website

https://www.usubotanicalcenter.org/

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