MASTER GARDENERSJanuary 2020 Issue

In this issue 2019 Hours as of Dec 31, 2019 ......................................... 1 By-Law Changes ................................................................ 1 Dates for 2020 .................................................................. 1 UT AgResearch Announces 2020 Field Day Schedule ....... 2 Best Ever Compost: A Recipe Worth Trying ...................... 3 January Plant of the Month: 'Cayenne' Silky Dogwood .... 4 February Gardening .......................................................... 5 Short Rows ........................................................................ 6

2019 Hours as of Dec 31, 2019 469.5 hours were reported in 2019 Valued at $10,643.57 Total value of Master Gardener program in 2019 $15,916.24

By-Law Changes There are some changes being made to the

Sequatchie Valley Master Gardeners Bylaws. These changes are minor wording changes to update terms and names. There is also, a change to the officers section regarding the election of secretary. Active members will receive a draft of changes before the February meeting.

Dates for 2020 • Quarterly meeting, February 1, 2020, Dunlap, 9:00AM • Soil Test Saturday, March 14 Pikeville, Farmer Market – details at the February Meeting • Soil Test Saturday, March 21, Dunlap – details at the February Meeting • 2020 Flower, Lawn and Garden Show "Plant a Smile", April 24-25, 9am - 5pm Both Days Cumberland County

Community Complex, 1398 Livingston Rd, Crossville, TN $3 adults, Children under 12 are free; Master Gardeners free entrance with badge https://www.ccmga.org/2020flags

• Quarterly meeting, April/May Pikeville • Quarterly meeting, July/August, Pikeville, Tomato Tasting • Steak and Potatoes Field Day, August 4, Plateau Research & Education Center, Crossville • Quarterly meeting, November 7, Dunlap

January 2020

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UT AgResearch Announces 2020 Field Day Schedule Seventeen Events to Showcase Agricultural Research Across Tennessee By: Ginger Rowsey

University of Tennessee AgResearch is planning a full calendar

of field days for 2020. A total of 17 field days will take place at UT AgResearch and Education centers across the state, providing visitors a chance to see agricultural research in action, speak with university experts, and network with industry professionals.

The landscape of Tennessee agriculture is varied and extremely diverse, and this is reflected in the topics covered by the AgResearch field days. There are field days for cattle farmers and row crop producers, as well as field days devoted to the production and maintenance of turf grasses, ornamental plants, vegetable crops and forestry.

2020 marks the return of the biennial Milan No-Till Field Day, which is always held on the fourth Thursday of July in even-numbered years at the UT AgResearch and Education Center at Milan.

The complete AgResearch field day schedule is as follows: • Fruits of the Backyard – June 9, 8:30 a.m. CDT, Middle Tennessee AgResearch and Education Center, at Spring Hill

• Green Industry Day – June 16, 8 a.m. EDT, UT Gardens, Knoxville • Tobacco, Beef and More – June 25, 8 a.m. CDT, Highland Rim AgResearch and Education Center, Springfield • Summer Celebration – July 9, 8 a.m. CDT, West Tennessee AgResearch and Education Center, Jackson • Milan No-Till – July 23, 6:30 a.m. CDT, AgResearch and Education Center at Milan • UT Arboretum Butterfly Festival – August 1, 10 a.m. EDT, Forest Resources AgResearch and Education Center – UT

Arboretum Auditorium at Oak Ridge • Steak and Potatoes – August 4, 8 a.m. CDT, Plateau AgResearch and Education Center, Crossville • Fall Gardeners’ Festival – August 25, 8 a.m. CDT, Plateau AgResearch and Education Center, Crossville • Turf and Ornamental – August 27, 7 a.m. EDT, East Tennessee Center – Plant Sciences Unit, Knoxville • Cotton Tour – September 2, 8 a.m. CDT, West Tennessee AgResearch and Education Center, Jackson • Horse Management – September 10, 4 p.m. EDT, Brehm Animal Science Arena, UT Institute

of Agriculture campus, Knoxville • Horse Management – September 15, 5 p.m. CDT, Middle Tennessee AgResearch and Education Center at Spring

Hill • Horse Management – September 17, 5 p.m. CDT, West Tennessee AgResearch and Education Center, Jackson • Organic Crops Field Tour – October 1, 9 a.m. EDT, East Tennessee AgResearch and Education Center – Organic

Crops Unit, Knoxville • Northeast Tennessee Beef Expo – October 8, 7:30 a.m. EDT, AgResearch and Education Center at Greeneville • Woods and Wildlife – October 15, 7 a.m. EDT, Forest Resources AgResearch and Education Center – Cumberland

Forest at Oak Ridge • Beef Heifer Development School – October 22, 8:30 a.m. CDT, Middle Tennessee AgResearch and Education Center

at Lewisburg

All field days are open to the public, and most are free to attend. More detailed information about each event will be available closer to the scheduled time. Check in

at agriculture.tennessee.edu to learn more. You can also visit each AgResearch and Education Center's homepage or call their main office for details. That information can be found at this site: taes.tennessee.edu/centers. Through its land-grant mission of research, teaching and extension, the University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture touches lives and provides Real. Life. Solutions. ag.tennessee.edu.

Visitors to the 2019 Fruits of the Backyard Field Day learn about vegetable gardening. Fruits of the Backyard is one

of 17 field days UT AgResearch will host at locations across Tennessee in 2020.

Photo by G. Rowsey, courtesy UTIA.

January 2020

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Best Ever Compost: A Recipe Worth Trying This is an excerpt from Composting: Wastes to Resources, a 4-H Leader's/Teacher's Guide written by Jean Bonhotal and

Marianne Krasny and published by Cornell Cooperative Extension.

Just Follow the Recipe! Composting is like baking a cake. Simply add the ingredients, stir, "bake," and out comes -- compost! Whether you compost kitchen wastes or yard and garden wastes, there are a few basic steps to

follow. Here are the necessary ingredients and general directions for composting.

Ingredients: KITCHEN COMPOST

Add a mixture of some or all of the following ingredients: • vegetable peels and seeds • egg shells • fruit peels and seeds • nut shells • coffee grounds • any other vegetable or fruit scraps Note: (Do not add meat scraps, bones, dairy products, oils, or fat. They may attract pesky animals.)

YARD OR GARDEN COMPOST Add a mixture of some or all of the following ingredients: • hay or straw • wood chips • grass clippings • weeds and other garden waste • leaves • manure • ashes • shredded paper • sawdust

Directions

1. Choose a "pot" for baking your compost. Any type of composting bin will do. 2. Place kitchen or yard wastes into the composting bin. Chop or shred the organic materials if you want them to compost

quickly. 3. Spread soil or "already done" compost over the compost pile. This

layer contains the microorganisms and soil animals that do the work of making the compost. It also helps keep the surface from drying out.

4. Adjust the moisture in your compost pile. Add dry straw or sawdust to soggy materials, or add water to a pile that is too dry. The materials should be damp to the touch, but not so wet that drops come out when you squeeze it.

5. Allow the pile to "bake." It should heat up quickly and reach the desired temperature (90° to 140°F, or 32° to 60°C) in four to five days.

6. Stir your compost as it bakes if you want to speed up the baking time.

7. The pile will settle down from its original height. This is a good sign that the compost is baking properly.

8. If you mix or turn your compost pile every week, it should be "done," or ready to use, in one to two months. If you don't turn it, the compost should be ready in about six to twelve months.

9. Your "best ever compost" should look like dark crumbly soil mixed with small pieces of organic material. It should have a sweet, earthy smell.

10. Feed compost to hungry plants by mixing it with the soil.

Cornell Waste Management Institute ©1996 Department of Crop and Soil Sciences

C:N Ratios of common compost materials

• Table scraps, 15:1 • Grass clippings, 19:1 • Old manure, 20:1 • Fresh alfalfa hay, 12:1 • Fruit waste, 25:1 • Corn stalks, 60:1 • Old leaves, 80:1 • Straw, 80:1 • Paper, 170:1 • Sawdust, 500:1 • Wood, 700:1

A rule of thumb on C:N ratio is about ¼ - ½ of the pile volume nitrogen materials and ½ - ¾ carbon materials.

January 2020

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UT Gardens Plant of the Month

January Plant of the Month: 'Cayenne' Silky Dogwood Submitted by Jason Reeves, research horticulturist, University of Tennessee Gardens, Jackson

I was first introduced to “red-twig" dogwoods by an elderly

gardening friend about 25 years ago. She pointed out a large, multi-stemmed shrub growing out in the middle of her lawn called a red-twig dogwood. I had never heard of such and thought to myself “what a strange looking dogwood.” It was mid-summer and it did not look all that appealing to me, but I was so plant hungry at that time that I took any plant offered to me. She dug two suckers from the plant, and my mother and I planted them on the fence row at the farm. Wow, was I surprised come winter! The stems turned a beautiful red. I fell in love and wanted more. I asked about them at the local nurseries with no success. Finally, I found a yellow-stemmed one called ‘Flaviramea’. It struggled, and eventually died. I quickly found another one and planted it. It soon died, and, after doing some research, I discovered that 'Flaviramea' is highly susceptible to stem canker.

Red-twig dogwoods are hard to beat for their dramatic colorful show of stems in the winter. They are especially showy when grown

with a background of conifers, or with snow on the ground. They are typically one of three species of Cornus: alba, sanquinea, or sericea. Some of the more common cultivars include: ‘Baileyi’, ‘Cardinal’, ‘Isanti’, Arctic Fire®, Arctic Sun® and ‘Winter Flame’ also known as ‘Midwinter Fire’. Unfortunately, they can all be short lived in the South as they are susceptible to canker/twig blight. However, that has never kept me from planting them. I typically get five or so years of enjoyment out of a plant in the garden before it succumbs. Potato chips don’t last long either but, I buy them over and over.

In the winter of 2011 while driving to Charlottesville, Virginia, Michael Dirr spotted a bright red-twig Cornus amomum growing in a swamp on the side of the highway. He waded out amongst the beavers to snag some cuttings and ‘Cayenne’ was born. Cornus amomum or silky dogwood, as it is commonly called, was not particularly known for its stem color until the roadside discovery of Cayenne. Silky dogwood is native along streams, edges of swamps, and other low areas across much of the eastern United States. It is not affected by stem canker like many other Cornus species.

Cayenne has fresh green foliage all summer. This shrub dogwod does not produce big showy flowers. Instead, numerous small white flowers looking similar to Queen Anne’s Lace are produced in flat cymes up to two inches wide on the end of the stems in May and June that give way to clusters of pea-size porcelain blue fruit in August and September. The fruits are enjoyed by birds. As the temperature drops the real show begins; leaves turn a striking orange-red before dropping to reveal bright red stems.

As with the other species of red-twig dogwoods, Cayenne is a multi-stemmed shrub that spreads by suckers. The best winter stem color occurs on young new growth. Once the stems are a couple of years old, the bark matures to gray. To ensure fresh colorful stems each year, older stems should be cut back close to the ground in late winter or early spring. Strong new stems will quickly spring forth. I like to cut some of the older stems in early December and use them in Christmas decorations both indoors and out. The stems work great placed in pots and beds for added winter interest. Outside, the cut stems will retain their color all winter long. In early March, I remove the rest of the older stems from the plant.

Hardy in zones 4-9, Cornus amonum ‘Cayenne’ thrives in full-sun to partial-shade and is best grown in good garden soil where supplemental water can be provided in periods of drought. It works well in shrub borders and mass plantings; in moist areas, it can form a dense colony making it great for wetland mitigation. In the garden, if left unpruned, it can reach 6-8 feet tall and 8-10 feet wide in three to five years, depending on moisture.

Thanks to Dr. Dirr, there is finally a red-twig dogwood that can be enjoyed even in southern gardens for many years, and I have more money to spend on potato chips!

The red twigs of silky dogwood Cornus amomum 'Cayenne' provide bright winter interest to the landscape at the UT Gardens, Jackson. Photo by J. Reeves, courtesy

UTIA.

January 2020

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February Gardening It may be winter, but there are things to be doing in your garden in February.

• Brush wet snow off evergreens as it accumulates, or as soon as possible after a winter storm. Use a broom in an upward, sweeping motion. Serious damage can be caused to limbs by heavy wet snow.

• Avoid using salt to melt snow and ice from your walks and driveway, as it can be harmful to your plants. Several environmentally friendly products are available at home improvement stores.

• The gardening expert also offers these tips for caring for your indoor plants and outdoor container plants and landscapes during February.

Indoors • Sow broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage seed indoors now or buy transplants in March. Harden them off before planting

out in March. • Extend the life of your Valentine's Day flowers by changing the water daily and recutting the stems every couple of

days, making sure the foliage is kept above the water line. • Remove dust from your house plants by rinsing them in the shower.

Outdoors • Bluebirds are already looking for a place to nest, so clean out your birdhouse soon. If you are in need of a good bluebird

house check out https://extension.tennessee.edu/publications/Documents/PB1868.pdf and https://www.tn.gov/twra/wildlife/woodworking-for-wildlife/eastern-bluebird-nest-box.html

• Barrenwort (Epimedium) and Lungwort (Pulmonaria) will be in flower soon. Cut back last year's foliage before new growth appears.

• Lenten rose (Helleborus orientalis) and its hybrids are among the first plants to flower in the new year. A little cleanup makes a big difference when these winter beauties blossom, so cut back last year's foliage before the flower stalks appear. Follow the old leaves down to the crown and remove the entire leaf stalk near the soil. In mild winters, the foliage often still looks good in February, but as the flowers and new foliage appear, the old leaves will become unsightly. The old foliage will be much more difficult to remove once the new growth has appeared.

• For indoor forcing of blooms, cut branches of pussy willow, forsythia, flowering quince, redbud, and star and saucer magnolia. Choose stems with flower buds that have begun to swell. Cut them at an angle and place in water in a cool location in your home with indirect light.

• Late February and March are good times to trim trees and shrubs. • Postpone pruning of spring-flowering and early summer-flowering shrubs like azaleas, forsythia, spirea, and mophead

hydrangea until just after they flower. • Spot-control weeds in a dormant warm-season lawn by pulling them or by applying a broadleaf weed control. • Apply dormant horticulture oil, such as Ultra-Fine, to fruit and nut trees to eliminate scale and other pests. It must be

applied before spring growth appears. These oils also can control scale insects on hollies, euonymus and camellias. For best results, be sure to completely spray the entire plant including the underside of the leaves.

• Green/English and sugar snap peas can be direct sown in the garden in February. In colder parts of the state wait until the end of the month. If sown too late, they will not have time to flower and fruit before it gets too hot.

• If your ornamental grasses such as Miscanthus, Pennisetum, Mexican feather, switchgrass and muhly grass are looking tattered and blowing about the garden, cut them back 3 to 6 inches above the ground. You can also wait until March to perform this task.

“Gardening requires lots of water - most of it in the form of perspiration.”

Lou Erickson

January 2020

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Short RowsApproximate row length to plant per person

Vegetable fresh if preserving

Snap, Dry & Pole Beans 8 ft 8-15 ft

Beets 5-10 ft 10-15 ft Cabbage 5 ft 5-8 ft Carrots 5-10 ft 10-15 ft Corn, Sweet 6-12 ft 12-30 ft Cucumbers 5-10 ft 10-15 ft Lettuce 10-20 ft N/A Peppers 2 ft 2-7 ft Potatoes, Irish 25-50 ft 25-50 ft

Pumpkins 5-10 ft 5-10 ft

Fertilizer Conversions Fertilizer Group pounds per cup pounds per 2-liter container Organic meals, blends and wood ash 1 cup = 1/3 lb 2 liter = 3 lbs Ground Rock Dusts (Limestone, Rock Phosphate, Greensand)

1 cup = 3/4 lb 2 liters =6 lbs

Coarse & Medium Granulated Synthetic Blends (ex. 5-10-10 garden fertilizer)

1 cup = 1/2 lb 2 liters=4.5 lbs

Fine Granulated & Flaked Synthetic Blends (ex many turf fertilizers)

1 cup = 1/3 lb 2 liters=3 lbs

Composts 1 cup = 1/6 lb 2 liters =1.5 lbs Powdered Sulfur 1 cup = 1/2 lb 2 liters = 4.5 lbs Urea and other High Nitrogen Fertilizers 1 cup = 1/3 lb 2 liters = 3.5 lbs

Source http://www.soiltest.uconn.edu/documents/fertilizerandgardenmeasurements2-5-15.pdf

The Extension Master Gardener Program is a program of the University of Tennessee Extension

Sheldon Barker Extension Agent Sequatchie Co. 170 Church St

Dunlap, TN 37327 423-949-2611

UT Extension Sequatchie County web page Sequatchie County Facebook

J. C. Rains Extension Agent

Bledsoe Co. PO Box 289

Pikeville, TN 37367 423-447-2451

UT-TSU Extension Bledsoe County Webpage Bledsoe County Facebook

Useful links

Sequatchie Valley Master Gardening Program Link

TMG Volunteer Handbook link