Dear Garden FRiends,
Sneaking in here into the back of the class...
We had a unit on turf grasses on Thursday. I confess, Darlin and I were sort of snoozin’ on this one. However there were a few take-aways.
The presenter is an authority on Bermuda grass, and has actually developed some new varieties. He takes care of the KC Royals park among other locations such as golf courses, parks, medians, municiple lawns, etc.
We learned what grasses are suited for lawns in our particular area, how to keep them healthy (good soil prep, proper soil testing, pH, etc). Benefits of various types suited for our area, versus the drawbacks of those same types.
A client needs to be apprised that there is actually NO PERFECT GRASS! If you want green 360 per year, you will have some work to do in this area. If you are satisfied with 9 months of green and a 3 month dormancy period, there are a number of grasses that can work well. Other requirements modify what type of grass to select based on the client’s expectations. But first of all help the client understand what is involved in his/her lawn expectation. And what can be done, or even should be done regarding those expectations. A client might start out expecting green 12 months per year, but when learning of the costs and effort involved in achieving it, they may modify their expectation. A golf grounds keeper has certain expectations that a home owner may share, but his may not be modified, while the home owner’s might be.
Since Texokie and Darlin are not caring if they have a few bare spots in their yard, dandelions, henbit, etc., despite the copious notes Texokie made, it is not our area of rapt interest. We are, however, glad to have met the person who would be willing to help us identify weeds, as we are researching the various edible weeds in our area.
We also participated this last week in a special event for Master Gardeners in our area. It was on Yard Art (ornaments made from re-purposed junk, stone marker painting, etc.) Darlin and I BOTH actually each won a door prize!
The other part of the event was on Herbs Growing in Oklahoma. Our presenter was faced with very limited time, and she would place a slide up on the screen chock full of info, and be speaking a mile a minute. *sigh* Texokie was sorrowful to not be able to capture nor retain very much of this information.
However, a few nuggets DID fall out:
*The extension agents are working on a new fact sheet on herbs in Oklahoma, so perhaps some of this info in detail may be made available in the future.
*When planting herbs:
~Can use them in borders often
~REmember medicinal herbs CAN BE POTENT! Can interact with meds. Be careful, and consult your doc/health care professional
~Herbs can be used in different sized spaces and do well in containers.
*GENERAL RULE ABOUT HERBS:
If you grow it for root or for fruit- it needs FULL SUN!
If you grow it for the leaves - partial shade is all you need!
She noted that while this is a general rule, there of course may be exceptions. But she did not go into that.
For those on facebook, she has a facebook page and is willing to answer questions, especially for people from Oklahoma. However, if you are in a similar growing zone, she may be willing to answer people from other states as well. She said do a search on “My Raggedy Herbs” Her name is Lori Coats. She especially is into growing Lavendar.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
I thought that I would continue my soil notes from last week, as I think they are of particular interest to all of us on this thread.
SOIL NOTES INSTALLMENT 3
SOIL STRUCTURE
In discussing structures, he introduced the word “peds.” This is basically the unit structure you are seeking to identify. If you are holding a loose handful of soil, and it is granular, each grain clump is a ped. If you are holding a large clump of clay, that unit which is all stuck in one piece is a ped.
*GRANULAR
Soil is made of horizons or layers. He mentioned that the Minnesota pic was about 5% org matter and is granular. It is ideal. It can hold water and won’t break roots.
*BLOCKY
This is soil in which the peds are of a squarish/rectangularish blocky form.
*PRISMATIC
Soil peds take on a columnar shape
He noted that drying of BLOCKY and PRISMATIC soils until they crack will break the roots.
Blocky can indeed move from blocky to granular by adding organic matter.
OTHER FORMS:
*PLATY – flat sheety structure
*SINGLE GRAIN – sand is an example.
* MASSIVE – He showed a picture of a large clod of dirt (ped) which was about 7x5” thick. [There was a pencil shown next to it for scale – this looked like he went to part of TEXOKIE’s yard to obtain it! LOL!]
IDEAL SOIL FOR CROP PRODUCTION
* Medium texture for air and water movement
* Sufficient clay to hold soil moisture reserves
* Deep, permeable sub soil with adequate fertility levels
* Good environment for roots to go deep for moisture and nutrients.
TIP ON TREE PLANTING IN POOR SOIL
To plant a tree in poor soil be sure to dig a much larger hole so you can put in good soil to let the roots breath through in growth.
This rule is especially true, especially when using herbs for medicinals.
Many of our current medications come from different flora, even anti-vurus medications.
Some herbals magnify the effect of pharmicutical medications, while others minimze or are contra-indicated.
It is best to familiarize with the medicinal side effects of so called botanical medicine or phytomedicine .
Even wikipedia has a list of adverse and suspected effects of medicinal herbs at :
www. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_herbs_with_known_adverse_effects
Hey , that's where I hang out!!
Thanks for the update on soils , grass , and herbals
Grasses may not seem relevent to you now , but wait 'till someone asks questions about it, and then you'll have to 'punt'. Lol !
Been there ,... done that !
Glad to hear that you and Darlin are still being challenged by the classwork and study .
Just a word : try to keep a list of instructors,extension contacts, and other folks in class along with method of future contact( phone, email, facebook, etc.).
Followup will keep you in the information loop for further education opportunities, and people to contact when you can't find an appropriate answer to your questions.
Consider it :" Horticultural Prepardness"
Thank you! Have you posted any pix of your prize-winning yard art?
Thanks for the info.