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With the growing season fast approaching, the time to start working in your yard is close. This can be fun but overwhelming if you are new to gardening, installing a new landscape, or if there are major pest or disease problems in your yard. Utah State University Extension is mandated by the federal government to offer free or low-cost resources to help in these areas and others. Additionally, their recommendations are research-based and offer nonbiased information.
For someone new to gardening, getting started can be confusing. Fortunately, USU Extension offers free easy-to-follow fact sheets for commonly grown vegetables. The fact sheets include information about when to plant, how to prepare the soil, how to fertilize, harvest times and solutions to common problems. These fact sheets can be accessed at: http://extension.usu.edu/productionhort/htm/vegetables/home-vegetables
Another great resource concerning vegetable varieties to grow in the home garden can be found here: http://extension.usu.edu/files/publications/factsheet/Horticulture\_Vegetables\_2014-02.pdf
Deciding what variety of fruit tree to grow can be difficult. Most online and mail-order companies have dozens to choose from. Mike Pace, the USU Extension Agent in Box Elder County, home to Utah's Famous Fruit Way, has put together a web page with fruit varieties and descriptions useful to home growers. It can be accessed at: http://extension.usu.edu/boxelder/htm/fruit
During the growing season, it is common to find landscape or garden plants that look unhealthy, but it may be difficult to determine what is wrong. Local Extension offices are happy to assist with this. Additionally, USU Extension has a pest and disease diagnostic lab with very experienced scientists who are happy to look at plant samples mailed to them. They charge only $7 per sample to cover costs. They can be reached online at: http://utahpests.usu.edu/uppdl/
Another service the USU pest lab offers is a free, emailed IPM Advisory (integrated pest management) with updates on how to manage pests and diseases in fruits and vegetables. The pesticide spray recommendations they make include lowered-risk and organic options. To subscribe to the updates, visit http://utahpests.usu.edu/ipm. They will send you regular updates throughout the growing season and do not share email addresses.
Soil is among one of the most neglected but important considerations when starting a new yard or garden. To determine if soil in a particular area is suitable for growing crops and landscape plants, testing is inexpensive to do. Testing is also especially useful in identifying or eliminating the soil as a factor where plants consistently struggle in certain spots in the yard. The USU Analytical Laboratory is capable of testing soil for things such as nutrient levels, soil texture, salinity, and pH. Access their website at www.usual.usu.edu. The form for soil testing can be downloaded at: http://usual.usu.edu/forms/soilform.pdf. The routine test is almost always sufficient for homeowners and hobby gardeners. Another common concern many gardeners have includes appropriate tree selection for the landscape. An online, interactive program exists at www.treebrowser.org. The program allows users to input desired characteristics and then list of trees is then generated with pictures.
Utah State University Extension also offers information in many other areas, including food preservation, finances, and youth development. Access their main website at extension.usu.edu for more information.
