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HAMILTON COUNTY MASTER GARDENERS
September, 2019 Volume 26, Issue 6 PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE
By Bertha Livingston
MISSION In support of the University of Tennessee mission and the Univer-sity of Tennessee Extension missions, the Master Gardener Pro-gram promotes environmental stewardship through a network of volunteers who provide research based information and education to Tennessee communities in home gardening and related areas. As part of our mission the program supports the continued educa-tion and development for committed volunteers.
In This Issue
2 Calendar of Events 3 HC Fair Exhibit Information 4 Hospitality Monthly Mtg Info 4 Important Message 5 Secretary Report 5 Recap of August Meeting 6 Tom’s Tidbits 7 MG at Work/Education 8 September Gardening Tips 9 Officers/Chairpersons
MONTHLY MGHC MEETING
SEPTEMBER 27, 2019
CHANGE NOTICE: Send change of address, phone number and email ad-dresses to [email protected]. By using this email ad-dress it will affirm your new infor-mation will be updated in the MGHC records. To send a “news item” to everyone doing publicity or communi-cations, i.e. website, newsletter, etc. for MGHC send it to this email ad-dress: [email protected].
Hi all,
September marks the last days of summer and the be-ginning of autumn, but what happens in this month is so exciting for all the master gardeners-the Hamilton Coun-ty Fair Exhibit.
We realize there is a harvest emerging which connects our youth to nature; it enhances the physical and mental health and helps develop their creativity. Studies sug-gest that when children are introduced to time outdoors, it can help reduce bullying, depression, and obesity, es-pecially for anyone stressed by circumstances beyond their control.
Take the day at the Hamilton County Fair to enjoy the hard work, resourcefulness and innovation the master gardeners have invested in this year’s Fair exhibit for the children. Spend time watching and laughing with them playing the games, studying the soil tunnel and completing exercises in the multiple children tents. Have lunch outside and take a hike around the park. It opens a new dialog to discuss how nature works.
We all can be teachers to those around us. “Now Go play in the Leaves!”
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CALENDAR OF EVENTS FOR SEPTEMBER
CEU AND VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES FOR MORE DETAILS OF UPCOMING EVENTS, WEBSITES OF INTEREST,
SPECIAL ALERTS AND CURRENT TOPICS & ARTICLES: SEE MGHC.ORG
BEING A MEMBER OF THE YAHOO GROUP WILL GIVE YOU THE LATEST INFORMATION ON ALL ACTIVITIES
September 2, Monday, Labor Day September 9,16,23,30, Monday, 10:00 AM-Noon September 4,11,18,25, Wednesday, 10:00 AM-Noon MGHC Hotline September 9, Monday, 6:00 PM Tennessee Valley Chapter of the Wild Ones, greenspaces, Plant This, not That, Bill Moll Although common non-native landscape plants rarely support native insects, they do fill nursery, land- scaper and homeowner objectives-this is why they are commonly used. For each of those plants, the program will feature native plants which fill those same objectives and also support a living landscape.
September 10, Tuesday, 6:30 PM Chattanooga Herbies, Hamilton County Ag Center. The “herb of the month” is lemongrass. September 14, Saturday, 2:00 PM Tennessee Valley Bonsai Society, Hamilton County Ag Center, Aesthetics, John Mullins September 21, Saturday, 10:00 AM-12 Noon 3rd Saturday Education Class, Hamilton County Ag Center, Cool Season Gardening, Katie Bishop Celebrate the fall and cooler weather by making some changes to your garden. Katie Bishop, Master Gardener, Manager of the Evelyn Davenport Navarre Teaching Gardens at the Chattanooga Area Food Bank and Program Assistant to Tom Stebbins at UT/TSU Extension will share her knowledge about planting cool weather veggies, roots and numerous greens. Katie will also have seeds to hand out. Come learn what to grow AFTER the summer heat. September 26, Thursday, 7:00 PM Tri-State Rose Society, Trinity Lutheran Church Doors open at 6:30 PM for light refreshments September 27, Friday, 6:00 PM, MGHC Monthly Meeting—see page 4 for information TO VOLUNTEER FOR: CAFB Greenhouse Workdays Contact: Katie [email protected] Alpine Crest Elem. School Contact: JoAnn [email protected] John [email protected] Workday at the Zoo Contact: Lee [email protected]
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Gardening Through The Years Hamilton County Fair Exhibit Information
The Hamilton County Fair is locally considered to be the official kickoff of the fall season in Hamilton County. Held on the last weekend in September each year, the County Fair attracts over 50,000 people for the two-day event. The Fair is held on Dallas Island in Chester Frost Park, a 280-acre lakefront Hamilton County facility located in North Hamilton County, about 15 miles from downtown. The fair is open both days from 10:00 am until 6:00 pm. The Master Gardeners of Hamilton County consider this project to be one of the largest volunteer projects that we are associated with each year. We are working hard to make this year’s exhibit one of the best. The Fair set-up days will be September 26 and 27, 2019, starting at 9:00 am until 5:00 pm. Lunch will be fur-nished along with cold drinks, water and light snacks. We will put up fencing and tents, organize the mural painting area, place the soil tunnel, hang the banner and place plants for visual cohesion. The Fair days will be September 28 and 29, 2019, starting at 9:00 am until 6:00 pm. The parking passes will be distributed to volunteers on the set-up days and at the Friday, September 27, BBQ dinner. The dinner counts as the September monthly meeting. See Lori Ashton’s article on the next page for more information. Meal tickets will be given to volunteers on the days of the Fair. Please leave your parking pass at the desig-nated mail box for others to use at their volunteer shift. Try to carpool with MG friends. Tear down will be Sunday, September 29, 2019, from 6:00 pm until 9:00 pm. NOTE: No vehicle can be moved from 5:00 pm until 7:00 pm on this day. We need volunteers to take exhibits apart and sort for return to the storage unit, pack up tents, tables, supplies, tools, and load up borrowed plants to be returned. Monday, September 30, 2019, from 9:00 am until done, we will be completing the breakdown and cleaning up the site. This exhibit cannot be successful without volunteers. Check out the list below and explore the Sig-nUp for different times and areas you would like to volunteer and get involved!
• Herbies Exhibit
• Q&A Tent ( with plant sales)
• Tom’s Bugs Exhibit
• Children's Tables
• Vegetable Gardening and Raised Beds Exhibit
• Hydroponics Exhibit
• Straw Bale Gardening and Composting Exhibit
• Rain Barrels Exhibit
• Mulch Exhibit
• Soil Tunnel for children’s exhibit
• Children’s Mural
• Food and Supply Tent Carlton Mathes/Bertha Livingston Co-Chairs, Hamilton County Fair
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NEW MG VOLUNTEER HOURS WEBSITE
All CERTIFIED Master Gardeners have been sent an email from Fran Geier ([email protected]) on the link to the new MG volunteer hours website to rec-
ord your volunteer and CEU hours going forward. The old system has been turned off. All of your past years of volunteer and CEU hours have been transferred to the new system.
Please take the time to read and follow the instructions to login and become acquainted with the new system. Do not wait until December. If you have any questions or need the instructions resent, email Fran.
INTERNS: Once you submit your 40 volunteer hours and 8 CEU hours sheets to Diane Moore ([email protected]) and she verifies your hours, she will inform Fran Geier, Certification Officer. Fran will contact you with the instructions to record your hours yourself going forward.
COUNTY FAIR BBQ AND PLANT SWAP
Your Hospitality Committee invites you to the Master Gardener Fall BBQ and Plant Swap to celebrate our
group’s contribution to the Hamilton County Fair on Friday, September 27, 2019, at 6:00 PM, at Chester Frost
Park, Picnic Shelter 2 (across the street from the Campers Registration Building.) Pork and beef BBQ, buns,
sauce and drinks will be provided. The membership is responsible for the side dishes and/or desserts. Every
dish will be truly appreciated and enjoyed! Please call or email me with your RSVP and whether you are bring-
ing one adult guest so I will know how much BBQ to order or if detailed directions are needed..
Several reminders for those who have never been to the park or to one of our BBQs: bring a plant if you wish to
participate in the plant swap and do not bring children, alcoholic beverages or firearms. Last but not least, this
will be on a Friday during the rush hour so please allow yourself plenty of time to get there.
As in the past, we bypass our usual 3rd Thursday meeting because the Fair occurs on the last weekend of Sep-
tember. The day before the Fair begins is the perfect time to reward all the creativity and hard work that goes
into the Master Gardener display. See you at the park!
WARNING: There is a posted speed limit in the park.
Lori Ashton
Hospitality Chairman
423-903-2404
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Secretary’s Report Master Gardeners (interns too) are invited to come and observe our monthly board meeting. The next one will be Thursday, Sept 5th. Project leads are especially encouraged to attend. It is held at the Ag Center where intern classes take place. Each month, officers give their reports and project leads have a chance to highlight important news or items of interest. With the fair less than 8 weeks away we spent some time reviewing the progress made on plans for the fair and comparing notes about solutions to challenges in previous years. Carlton is doing a great job! Mike Payne presented the possibility of an expansion to the Aquarium Butterfly Gardens. He want-ed MGHC to be on board with the idea before approaching the aquarium and the city. He present-ed concept drawings and explained his vision for it. A motion was made, seconded and all agreed for Mike to do an initial assessment of the expansion and report back to the board when the aquari-um and the city’s parks and recreation department are in agreement. New business included a proposal to begin a centralized photo bank where we can gather, docu-ment and preserve MGHC photos and articles. A committee has been formed and a system will be developed. Shirley Stewart
Over 100 master gardeners attended the August meeting to listen to Joe Kilpatrick talk about blueberries.
Joe talked about rabbiteye blueberries, different varie-
ties, pollinators for maximum fruit set and harvest sea-
sons for blueberries.
He also had the cookbook available for sale from The
Blueberry Farm, “Blueberry Favorites 150 Blueberry
Recipes.”
The Blueberry Farm 1363 Highway 151 Lafayette, GA 30728
www.the blueberryfarm.com
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TOM’S TIDBITS By: Tom Stebbins
UT/TSU Extension Agent for Hamilton County
PHOTO BY BEEKEEPER ,KEN DALE
Boxelder Can Drive You Buggy in the Fall
Boxelder is a species of a maple tree. Most maples have palm-shaped leaves. Boxelder has a divided leaf with 3-7 leaflets. I think the leaves look a lot like poison ivy. These trees are common in all parts of the eastern United States. Most people don’t intentionally plant a boxelder tree. They are found as a native species all over the Chattanooga area. The limbs are brittle and break easily. The trunk is susceptible to rot and infested with boxelder bugs. These bugs squeeze their way into houses with the arrival of cold weather.
Boxelder bug biology
Adult boxelder bugs are flat, about 1/2 inch long with wings. They have three orange stripes on the area behind the head. The young nymphs resemble the adults in shape, except they are smaller, wingless and bright red. Eggs are laid in the spring on the trunk, branches, and leaves of the tree. They are found almost entirely on flowering female trees rather than on male boxelder trees. There is no noticeable feeding or injury to the trees. Boxelder bugs then feed on low vegeta-tion and seeds on the ground during the spring and early summer. These black and orange bugs move back to the female boxelder trees for a second generation, starting in mid-July.
Just looking for a good home
During the autumn months (around October 1), adult and large nymph boxelder bugs congregate in large numbers pri-marily on the bark of boxelder trees and then begin migrating to a place for overwintering. These adult boxelder bugs are capable of flying several blocks.
Some homes are especially attractive to boxelder bugs. Boxelder bugs like sunny areas and are attracted to buildings with a lot of southern exposure. Buildings standing taller than surrounding structures can also attract large numbers of bugs. As weather cools, these insects will push into cracks and enter houses near foundations. Many crawl under siding or shin-gles and get into wall voids and attics. They also may enter through doors, windows, vent openings, and other accessible areas. Once indoors, boxelder bugs are nothing more than nuisances. They live just a few days and do not reproduce. They do not bite people and are harmless to property. When extremely abundant, they can stain walls and curtains.
Barriers for Bugs
Exclude boxelder bugs with tight fitting doors, windows and sealed walls. Done properly this will also keep out other pests like spiders and ladybugs. Repair door sweeps, add weather stripping to sliding glass doors. Caulk openings in window frames. This may also save energy. If unsure whether a door fits tightly, observe the door from the outside when it is dark and an interior light is on. If light is seen around the edges of the door, then creatures can easily enter the home. Seal cracks, crevices and holes where pipes enter the foundation.
Cultural control is best
A chemical spray around the perimeter of the house helps keep many insects away. However cultural control is the most effective. Eliminate potential hiding places, such as piles of boards, rocks, leaves, grass and other debris close to the house. It is most important to keep them from entering the structure. Once boxelder bugs get into the house they will hi-bernate in the wall cavity or attic. Household foggers or “bug bombs” will not provide control. They will still gradually emerge in the spring. Vacuuming is really the only solution at that time. Ladybugs basically do the same thing. Both in-sects can really be annoying in the spring, so now is the time to keep them out.
For more information see UT bulletin 341-H
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Master Gardeners at Work
The “Salad Table” project (right) was completed by Carl-
ton Mathes, Pam Paulin (pictured) and Jeff Morris. The
goal of the project was to allow persons with mobility is-
sues to have a garden.
The garden is designed to be portable and can be con-
structed in one afternoon by anyone with basic wood-
working skills and hand tools. Contact Carlton Mathes or
Jeff Morris for the detailed plans needed to build the salad
table.
Pam will maintain the garden, feedback will be provided
to the Board and information about the salad table will be
presented in the Grapevine newsletter.
Look for this project on display at the MGHC Hamilton
County Fair Exhibit.
The John Calvin Apartments raised beds project
(left) was approved by the board and completed
August 20, 2019. The garden will be maintained
and managed by the resident group consisting of
several dedicated women.
Two 4’ X12’ raised beds were built. Thanks to
Middle Valley Lawn & Garden for providing the
soil at half price.
The beds can be planted immediately. The master
gardeners who completed the project are Carlton
Mathes, Jeff Morris, Bud Hines and Lori Ashton.
Master Gardener Education
Bud Hines, Lori Ashton, Elaine Tate and Connie Giles attended the
Fall Gardeners’ Festival. The group listened to many educational
sessions, took a wagon tour of the UT Plateau Research and Edu-
cational Center, saw educational displays and visited garden ven-
dors.
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SEPTEMBER GARDENING TIPS
Shrubs and trees
• Work on a landscape plan for fall planting of trees and shrubs. Most of the planting should wait until late October and November, but supplies will be at their peak in garden centers.
• Fertilize roses one last time
• Prune to remove any diseased and dead rose canes Perennials, annuals, and bulbs
• Plan spring bulb gardens and purchase bulbs. A variety of bulbs can have different heights and bloom times, so create your gardens accordingly. Most of the planting should wait until October, but supplies will be at their peak in garden centers.
• Divide, transplant and label perennials. As these plants die back in the fall, it is a great time to divide older plants. Complete divisions by mid October to allow the roots time to establish themselves before winter. Be sure to keep newly divided plants watered.
• If you’ve grown tender bulbs this summer such as caladium, dahlia, gladiolus this is the month to dig them and put them into storage for next year’s use.
• Continue to take garden notes and /or photographs to plan future plantings.
• Continue to cut flowers for drying: yarrow, strawflower, gomphrena, cockscomb, etc.
• Remove and compost spent annuals and fallen leaves
• Plant late season annuals like pansies, snapdragons, Dianthus chinensis, ornamental kale and cabbage for fall through spring color.
Lawn care
• Dethatch and core aerate existing lawns to promote root growth and improve fertilizer absorption and seed germination.
• Lime lawns if a soil test indicates it is necessary.
• Perk up your lawn by fertilizing with nitrogen fertilizers. These will speed lawn growth, thicken the lawn and improve its color.
• If you have thin or bare areas in your lawn, seed and mulch them to reduce erosion and weeds.
• Fall is also the time to introduce new, improved varieties or a tall fescue blend. You should do your seeding by mid October, but you can fertilize as late as mid November.
• Get your bermudagrass or Zoysia lawns ready for winter by increasing the cutting height this month. This helps buffer these grasses from cold damage.
• Applying a fertilizer with potassium can also increase the hardiness of your warm season grasses to winter cold. Look for fertilizers formulated with a preemergence herbicide to prevent seeds of annual bluegrass and other winter weeds from germinating and competing with your grasses for light, nutrients and water.
• If you find your lawn is too shady for grass, now would be a great time to remove lower limbs and "dead wood" from large trees greatly increasing the amount of light reaching your lawn.
• Remove algae and moss from a shady lawn by raking or applying copper sulfate. Fruits and veggies
• If rain is lacking, continue to practice waterwise techniques for your cool-season garden.
• Keep harvesting herbs, especially tender herbs like basil
• Keep harvesting tomatoes, peppers, etc. Harvest onions and garlic as soon as the tops fall over and begin to dry out.
• You can still plant cool season crops including leaf lettuce, spinach, cabbage, broccoli, Swiss chard, parsley, and radishes. http://gardengirls.tennessee.edu.september.htm
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2019 MGHC OFFICERS President · Bertha Livingston Vice President · Suzanne Ford Secretary · Shirley Stewart Treasurer · Bill Apps Asst. Treasurer · Patsy Boles Past President · Bud Hines Certification Officer · Fran Geier Asst. Certification Officer · Gretchen Rominger Communication Officer · Holly Colf Projects Officer · David Gardner 1 Year Board of Governors Patsy Boles Lisa Clark Jeff Morris 2 Year Board of Governors Delora Henderson Ron McKitrick Gretchen Rominger 2019 New Class Representatives Barry Tryon · (Mon) Mitch Collins · (Tues) MG Coordinator/Extension Agent · Tom Stebbins
COMMITTEE CHAIRPERSONS Archives · Jane Goodin Bonny Oaks Arboretum · TBD Budget/Finance Committee · Bill Apps County Fair · Carlton Mathes/Bertha Livingston Education Committee 3rd Saturday Workshops · Bev Fowler Speaker’s Bureau · Carol Mathews Events Coordinator · Shirley Stewart Food Bank Garden Tour · Holly Colf Garden Expo · Lisa Clark Historian · Nancy Williams Hospitality Committee · Lori Ashton Hummingbird/Butterfly Garden · Mike Payne MGHC Friends · Shirley Stewart Membership Directory · Wanda Wilkey Mentor Coordinators Bertha Livingston · (Tues. AM) Cindy Rutledge · (Mon. PM) Intern Hours Coordinator · Samantha Pfeiffer MGHC Hotline: Bill Apps · (Mon.) Diane Slover · (Wed.) Newsletter Editor · Connie Giles Nominating Committee · Lisa Clark Rain Barrel Committee · Bill Apps Scholarships · Tyler Sanderson/Patsy Boles Website/Yahoo · Holly Colf
Send contributions for the October publication by the 25th of September. Articles may be edited or delayed due to time and/or space. Send to editor at: [email protected]
VISION
To provide innovative, research based, progressive home horticulture education to all Tennessee communities...
