Ramsey County

June 2, 2008

Howdy!!!!

Rain, rain where are you???  I will have written this column last Tuesday and maybe it will have rained by now but if not we sure could use an inch of rain.  I need to be really careful about what I ask for as sometimes the rain comes in more than we need creating a mess but lets hope for the best.  The other thing I could not get over this morning was the progress our spruce trees have made.  I have several trees in my yard so keeping a watchful eye over them is quite easy but did miss last night.  As I was leaving this morning I noticed that my spruce trees looked different.  Over half of the trees are loosing their caps already.  I just can’t imagine where this time went.  But what ever the case you do need to be watching your trees for cap retention if you are interested in spraying them for needlecast.  The Chlorothalonil label talks about making the first application after the caps have fallen off of the new growth and a second application in three weeks.  I think (keep in mind this is my opinion) we are waiting too long.  I think we should be making our first application after half of the caps have fallen off and a second application 2 weeks later.  In my mind waiting for all of the caps to fall of allows the very first new growth needles to harden up and will have been infected with the needlecast virus.  So spraying earlier not only covers the new growth needles sooner but also protects a longer array of needles for a longer period of time.  Remember this is only my opinion.

Garden Tours!!!!

I have two garden tours to talk about this week.  The first one being, the Right to Life garden tour to be held Thursday, July 10.  The tour will start at 4 pm and conclude at 9 pm.  This is a great opportunity to visit some very nice yards and get good opportunities for some new ideas for yours.

The second tour is the one I am hosting and will take us to the Tolna area.  We will be leaving the courthouse at 10 am. Sunday, June 22 and arriving back at approximately 6 pm.  Our first stop we will visit is the Sonja Donohue yard (south of Tolna) our second stop will take us to the Gay Messner home for a yard tour and lunch provided by me and the last stop will take us to Corrine’s Garden, south of Pekin.  We will see many different styles of gardening and unlike most we will see plants in their original setting (many not in full bloom).  I main reason for this to show how pretty plants can be without a full bloom in progress and yet maintain a yard of beauty.  We will also get to visit a yard with different features other than the flower plants as one yard will host a variety of dwarf spruce and other types of trees and shrubs along with the showy plants.  We have 19 spots filled with 5-6 seats left so if you are interested in going please stop by our office and get signed up with a $20 travel fee or $30 for two from the same family.

524 4th Ave NE #5, 2nd Floor Ramsey County Courthouse
Devils Lake  ND  58301
701-662-7027
email - ramsey@ndsuext.nodak.edu

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