Soil acidity can affect your lawn

The weather man says we?ll have a few pretty days this week and after all the rain, they?ll be a welcomed change.

I know many folks who are already thinking about spring. I know that I am. However, we dont need to get in too big of a hurry to start planting and sowing and doing all those other garden and lawn chores. It?s still winter time.

One chore that is good to do now is soil sampling. If your lawn needs lime it doesnt matter if you fertilize, spray weeds and mow faithfully you still wont have a green carpet around your house. An acid soil (low ph) influences the uptake of mineral nutrients by lawn grasses. Lawn grasses growing in strongly acid soils may be low or deficient in phosphorus, calcium, magnesium or molybdenum. The micronutrients boron, copper, iron, manganese and zinc are less available for lawn grasses in alkaline soils. Overall nutrient availability is highest in slightly acid soils.

Lawn grasses growing in strongly acid soils are often poorly rooted and slow-growing. Roots may be shallow, sparse and brown. Aluminum, soluble under strongly acid soil conditions, can reach toxic concentrations.

Soil acidity influences the activity of microorganisms that decompose organic matter. Excessive thatch may quickly develop in lawn grasses maintained in strongly acid soils. Bacteria, the smallest and most numerous microorganisms in soils, are most active at pH 6-8, fungi at pH 4-8 and actinomycetes at pH 7-7.5. (Pure water has a pH of 7.0.)

Earthworm activity is reduced as soils become more acidic. As earthworms channel, they mix plant residues with soil and improve the movement of air and water in soils.

Lawn grasses growing in soils with near neutral pH are reported to be less susceptible to certain fungal diseases, including red thread, Rhizoctonia brown patch and Pythium.

A test conducted in a qualified soil-testing laboratory is the most reliable way to determine the need for lime. For example, at some pH levels soils high in clay or organic matter require more lime to neutralize soil acidity than light, sandy soils.

Give us a call here at the Extension office for more information on soil testing. It will pay big dividends for your lawn.

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HAY PRODUCTION FOURTH LARGEST ON RECORD

Hay production, at 4.37 million tons, was down 11 percent from the 2004 record crop, but still the fourth largest since records began in 1909. Hay acreage, at 1,885,000, was down 3 percent from a year earlier. Hay production, excluding alfalfa, at 4.26 million tons, was 10 percent lower than 2004. These hay producers harvested 1.85 million acres, 50,000 acres less than a year earlier with a final yield of 2.30 tons per acre, down 0.2 tons from the previous year.

Total alfalfa production, at 112,000 tons, was down 16 percent from 2004. Alfalfa producers harvested 35,000 acres with a yield of 3.20 tons per acre, down 0.6 tons from last year. Hay harvest got off to a slow start due to cool, wet weather during late April and into early May. Drier conditions followed soon after and continued for the remainder of the season. A dry fall hampered growth of hay fields and prevented many farmers from obtaining their typical second and third cuttings. Growers seeded 5,000 acres of alfalfa and alfalfa mixtures during 2005.

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PLAN PROPER PRUNING PROGRAM NOW

Pruning is one of the more important practices that need to be carried out in fruit plantings. Pruning should be done annually, starting with the year you set the trees. Correctly done pruning will increase tree life, fruit size, fruit quality and help make taking care of the tree much easier.

For new plants, pruning is done to reestablish a favorable root-shoot balance that was destroyed when the plants were dug at the nursery. With tree fruits, pruning at planting can be done to promote a strong central leader where needed and to force scaffold limb development at the desired locations.

When trees and vines begin fruiting, annual pruning is essential to renew fruiting wood and to adjust the fruit crop load. With time, fruit wood may lose its ability to have many fruit and/or large size fruit. Removal of some of this older fruit wood will stimulate the development of new, healthy wood that will have fruit buds in the coming years.

A healthy, mature fruit tree will generally set more fruit buds than is needed for a full crop. If trees are allowed to overbear, fruit size will decrease, limb breakage may result due to the excess weight and certain varieties, especially in apples, may go into an alternate bearing cycle. Since fruit buds are formed in most crops the summer of the year prior to the appearance of the fruit, pruning may be regarded as a fruit thinning operation. While pruning will generally not eliminate the need for thinning the crop following fruit set, it will reduce fruiting stress enough to allow for better early growth of the plant and the crop than would otherwise be seen.

Pruning can be considered as a pest control operation in several ways. Good pruning practices result in increased light penetration throughout the canopy of the plant. Light may also be regarded as a natural pesticide. Areas receiving adequate sunlight may be less prone to certain diseases. Along with improved sunlight penetration comes better air circulation and spray penetration throughout the canopy of the plant.

Together, these factors should facilitate good pest control. Conscientious pruning involves removal of diseased wood which may harbor problems for the coming growing season. This is the second way in which pruning may be regarded as a pest control operation.

Winter has always been considered the best time to prune fruit crops. For many of the benefits outlined above, this time period is preferred. Since removal of diseased wood is a primary consideration, pruning should be done before growth begins in spring.

When you get the pruning job done go ahead and apply a dormant oil spray to get a head start on many of the scale insects and mites that can build up on the trees. Be sure to read the label directions when using any pesticide. Give us a call here at the Extension office for more information.

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2006 WINTER WHEAT ACREAGE UP 25 PERCENT

Total wheat acreage for 2006 is forecast at 300,000 acres, up 60,000 acres from 2005. Winter wheat planting was underway by the last week of September with 5 percent of the crop seeded by October 2. By mid-month, 27 percent of the expected crop was sown, with farmers awaiting rains to help germination. Dry conditions continued and by month?s end, farmers had two-thirds of their acreage seeded with a little over a fourth emerged through November 27.