KJFM NEWS — Garden Talk is produced monthly at the Adair County University of Missouri Extension Center in Kirksville, Mo.

AROUND THE YARD AND GARDEN

TREES AND SHRUBS
Brush off heavy snow from trees and shrubs to avoid limb breakage. Heavy snow will break or damage branches leaving a wound and making the tree more susceptible to insects and disease.

Winter is a great time to get out and learn to identify trees. Plants with interesting bark, distinctive buds, evergreen foliage, persistent fruit or a unique branching structure stand out when other plants are bare. Witch Hazel, a shrub or small tree with arching branches generally growing as a dense, multi-stemmed clump provides color with its yellow flowers when nothing else is in bloom during late fall and winter months. Plants in this family (Hamamelis), do not all bloom at the same time, nor do they always bloom at the same time every year. Bloom time depends on the weather. The common witch hazel (H. virginiana) peaks between mid-October and mid-November. A few of the spring-flowering witch hazels can start blooming by the end of December or early January depending upon weather, but peak flowering occurs between mid-January and mid-March in Missouri.

IN THE LANDSCAPE
This time of the year ornamental grass, red twigged dogwood and evergreens add color to a dreary landscape. Birds can also add color and enjoyment. A lot of gardeners enjoy watching and feeding birds, which can have a hard time finding food during the winter months. A favorite seed of a lot of birds is the black oil sunflower seed. Consider planting sunflowers in your garden next summer and saving the seed to feed the birds in the winter.

Birds need shelter. Natural plant covers aid birds seeking protection from cold weather. Shelter is also needed for protection against natural predators, such as birds of prey and cats. The feeding area is greatly enhanced by a landscape with trees and shrubs, both deciduous and evergreen. A rich growth of grasses and flowering plants provides cover for nesting in the spring and summer and natural sources of seeds during the winter.

FRUIT & VEGETABLES
Garden catalogs start arriving after Christmas and can provide hours of reading enjoyment and dreaming about gardening next summer. I like to look through catalogs for new varieties that are available. I also enjoy looking at heirloom seed catalogs for different or unusual vegetables I might want to try. Seeds of cool-season crops such as broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage and Brussels Sprouts can be started indoors in February for setting out in the garden in late March.

In January and February food is often scarce, the ground is covered with snow and rodents turn to the trunks of fruit trees as a food source, often causing some major damage. Mice, squirrels, rabbits and other rodents will nibble on the bark, often girdling the tree, which will send it into decline or even kill it. Deer also cause damage to fruit trees. Protect trees from deer by erecting a fence or some kind of barrier around your trees.

Pruning of blueberry plants, grapevines, other small fruits and fruit trees can start around mid-February. Dormant sprays can also be applied at this time to help control overwintering pests. Dormant spray should be applied on a mild day while temperatures are above freezing.

GARDEN SUPPLIES
Winter is a good time to clean tools that were tossed in the garden shed, caked with mud last fall. Scrape off all soil and clean tools to prevent rusting. Oil them if needed. Clean out the garden shed. Throw out old seed, as most is only good for 2-3 years. It is recommended that fresh seed be used each year for best germination results. After several years, pesticides become ineffective. Read the label for proper disposal instructions. Give away or recycle old pots. Take an inventory of supplies and make a list of what is needed for the next gardening season. Use this time to make new garden markers. Old window shades make great plant labels. Dust off the old shades in the closet or head to a local thrift store to purchase some for a small cost.

CONTAINER PLANTS/HOUSEPLANTS
If you didn’t decorate outdoor containers for the holidays, consider decorating them for winter color. I cut pine and cedar branches, buckbrush (also known as coralberry) and red twigged dogwood and place them in outdoor pots. I also add pinecones. Bows or winter ornaments could also be added.

Overwintering container plants can be a little tricky. Many people try to overwinter hanging baskets or container plants of annuals, tropical hibiscus and many others, only to find during the winter months that it’s really not as easy to maintain them as it was outside during the summer. These plants tend to turn yellow, drop leaves, be infested with insects, and often die. It is hard to duplicate the same environmental conditions in your home as the plants were exposed to outdoors, where they were in warm to hot and humid conditions. Inside your home the air is usually dry and temperatures are much lower than what the plants were exposed to outdoors. These differences in environmental conditions cause leaves to turn yellow and drop from the plants. Insects that were hidden in the soil or on the undersides of leaves often multiply and infest your plants under these conditions.

If you are dealing with buggy plants, try spraying them off with water, wipe them off with a cotton ball of alcohol, or try an insecticidal soap. If they are beyond recovery, you should discard them. This is the time of the year to repot houseplants that need repotting and clean encrusted pots. Inspect houseplants for insects, and take off any brown, dead leaves. Over-watering is one of the top reasons houseplants die, so only water them when the soil is dry to the touch. The soil will be light colored when moisture is needed. When moist, the soil will look dark.

LAWNS
Never park or drive on a wet or snow covered lawn as this can cause ruts and compact the soil. Avoid getting salt or ice melt on the lawn, and nearby plants. To prevent damage, spray off plants with water and wash off affected areas of the lawn. Consider using an ice melt containing magnesium chloride. It is less harmful than rock salt, sodium chloride, and it works faster and at lower temperatures. It will cost more than rock salt, but it is worth to avoid damaging plants.

MISCELLANEOUS
Christmas trees can be recycled outdoors as a feeding station for birds. String garlands of peanuts, popcorn, cranberries, and fruits through their boughs. Christmas tree boughs can be used to mulch garden perennials. A light dusting of wood ashes from a fireplace can be applied to lilacs, baby’s breath, asters, lilies, and roses in spring.