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The KSL Greenhouse is the place to get authoritative answers to all of your gardening questions. It is one of the longest running gardening programs in America. Join Tim Hughes and Larry Sagers from 8:00 to 11:00 am each Saturday morning for the best gardening advice on the planet.
Check out the KSL Greenhouse webpage at http://www.ksl.com/?nid=183 for weekly tips and archives of past shows on podcasts. For more gardening information and past tips and articles Larry has written or to join him in his classes and travels, log onto www.larrysagers.com .
Regular listeners to the KSL Greenhouse show know that for the past couple of weeks, Tim and I considered changing the name of the show to the "KSL Mushroom Show." With the recent temperature change and precipitation changes, there is no reason to do that now.
Regarding the mushrooms, if they are still coming, rake them off and pick them up if you are worried about pets or children eating them. Most of these are feeding off of dead, decaying organic matter and are not attacking healthy plants. There are no sprays for mushrooms!
One of the most frequently asked questions on the show is about peach tree borer. This clear-winged moth resembles a wasp and attacks the base of all stone fruit trees including the flowering forms of those trees. Preventative sprays are the most effective way to control the pest. For more complete information, check out the Utah State University Extension website at http://utahpests.usu.edu/ipm/htm/factsheets/publication=8058 .
SO HERE ARE SOME TIPS FOR YOU NOW THAT THE RAIN IS GONE (OR SO WE HOPE): Planting vegetables now for a fall harvest makes perfect sense for experienced gardeners. Cool-season crops that mature when temperatures drop in the fall are much tastier and have a better texture than those that mature in the heat of midsummer.
Unplanted soil only grows only weeds and plenty of them. Keep soil covered with desirable plants to reduce the weeding and grow tasty produce. Double-crop short season vegetables by replanting something else after harvesting your spring planted vegetables.
Plant cool-weather crops including lettuce, chard, spinach, carrots, beets, broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage. They are frost tolerant, so they are not damaged by light frosts in early fall.
I like to plant some shorter-season crops warm season crops right now. These include snap beans, cucumbers and summer squash.
Even though spring weather may not have cooperated, you can still find something to plant. Fluctuating temperatures may change the process and the techniques, but planting now may produce some of the tastiest produce you have ever had from your garden.
The wet weather is making some disease more severe than usual because normally our dry climate controls them. Fireblight is devastating some crabapples, roses are showing severe black spot and rust outbreaks in some gardens and some sycamore trees are almost defoliated. In most cases, the diseases have run their course and damage will subside now the weather is drying out.
If your lawn is not as green as you would like it, the fertilizer you added earlier is probably used up or leached away. Add some high nitrogen fertilizer with some iron sometime this week to get back that rich, dark green color.
As always, you can get your question answered by calling Tim and me on the KSL Greenhouse Show every Saturday. We hope to hear from you soon.
