Ask a Master Gardener
Oklahoma Spiders
When it comes to spiders, there are basically 3 types of people. First there are those that are perfectly cool with spiders to the point that maybe they even have a pet tarantula at home. Then there is the second group of people that aren’t that big of a fan of spiders but are ok with them if they keep their distance. And then there is the third group of people that even the mention of the name “spider” causes them to head for the hills. Just for the record, we only have two spiders in Oklahoma...
Is it time to prune?
It seems like each year as our trees are losing their leaves and the flowers are turning brown, we get asked a lot of questions about whether now is a good time to prune plants. The answer is yes and no… it depends on the plant. But first, why do we prune our plants in the first place.
We prune our plants for a variety of reasons: to train and shape the plant, thinning to allow better air circulation, to get rid of dead branches, to stimulate new growth, or to keep growth aways from our homes...
Christmas Wreaths
A couple of years ago, our youngest daughter gave me the basic components I needed to make a home-made Christmas wreath. There was a wire wreath frame and floral wire - basically everything you need except the greenery. I think it was probably less than a $10 investment.
That year we walked around the yard gathering green cuttings and then we apparently still had some dried flower heads. Within an hour we put together a wonderful, hand-crafted Christmas wreath which hung on our front door for...
Crickets
This question comes from a reader who asked “why do I have so many crickets coming into my house this year? I’ve lived here 19 years and don’t ever remember this many crickets.” Let’s see what might be going on.
During the summer months, crickets spend most of the day underground, only coming out at night to feed. As the daylight hours start to get shorter with the arrival of fall, they tend to come out of their underground homes more often in search of a mate.
Crickets also like to congregate....
Encouraging Pollinators
As more and more people are learning about the important role insects play in our food chain, many are wondering what they can do or perhaps what they should stop doing to help encourage insect development in their landscape. Fortunately, there are a variety of things we can do and most of them really don’t require much from us. In some instances, we might even be grateful we don’t need to continue many of the year’s end garden traditions we have picked up. Let’s talk about some of those.
Insects...
Christmas Trees
Now that we are past Thanksgiving, it’s time for many of us to start shopping for our Christmas tree. Here’s some things to think about before making your purchase.
This first one seems kind of obvious, but you need to know how big of a tree you can handle in your home. So, get out the tape measure and measure how tall and wide a tree would fit in your space. It’s easy to find the “perfect” tree, only to get it home and realize it’s too big so you end up having to saw off part of the tree you...
Bees
When we talk about bees, the first one that typically comes to mind is the European Honeybee. You may not know them by that name, but they are the type of bees most beekeepers are keeping in bee hives.
One thing to remember is that bees are part of the order Hymenoptera along with ants, hornets, and wasps. Overall, there are about 20,000 species of bees, with Oklahoma playing host to 4000 different types. Yes, that’s 4000 different types of bees in Oklahoma. So, the next time you see a bee in...
Helping Plants Survive Winter
Let’s face it, winter is coming whether we gardeners want it to or not. As the days cool down, we notice a lot of our plants dropping their leaves, signaling an end to the season.
Most of our perennials will do fine during the winter with some degree of care on our parts while our tropicals (if we want to save them) will need to be brought indoors soon.
Our best strategy for helping our plants survive the winter is to keep them healthy during the rest of the year. Healthy plants do much better...
Greenhouses
Let’s say you’ve been growing your own vegetables for several years and are wanting to start being able to grow your own food 12 months out of the year. You have some options. Some are relatively inexpensive, while others will require a sizable investment on your part. Let’s talk about some of your options.
In an article a few weeks ago we talked about cold frames. These are small structure that enable you to not only extend the growing season in the fall but also allow you to start earlier...
Dispelling Garden Myths
Gardening like a variety of other topics is susceptible to myths. Myths may have a kernel of truth to them which appears to add validity to their claims, but this validity is short lived under the microscope of scientific investigation. This is one thing I particularly like about the Tulsa Master Gardeners, information we share and use to answer your questions is research-based, university-sourced information. If we tell you something, you can rest assured there is science to back it up and I am...