Kathleen Cue, Nebraska Extension Horticulture Educator
Spring’s welcome temperatures give us a chance to walk the landscape, checking to see how our trees and shrubs weathered the winter. Rabbit feeding damage on burning bush, vole paths over the lawn, and browning of evergreen needles are some of the things you will notice.
Kathleen Cue, Nebraska Extension Horticulture Educator
“What are these trails in my lawn?” This is a common question once snows recede. Pathways interspersed throughout the lawn are an indication of the presence of voles. What are voles, you ask? Voles are rodents with an appearance very similar to mice except for their tails which are about 1 inch long. Voles are granivores and paths may be more apparent around bird feeders, where fallen seed attracts them.
Kathleen Cue, Horticulture Extension Educator in Dodge County
When we think of flowering annuals and perennials as limited resources, using them wisely contributes to maximizing curb appeal. After all, not everyone has unlimited budgets or time to have flower color everywhere.
A word about the color green—green piques our interest in the winter and early spring landscapes, most notably because there is so little of it around (think evergreens and patches of lawn showing through the snow.) That perspective changes as landscapes green up in the spring and THEN green switches from being a focal point to becoming a background color. This transition is important because flowers show to their best advantage when placed in front of a backdrop of green.
Kathleen Cue, Nebraska Extension Educator in Dodge County
Growing a vegetable garden versus growing a flower garden can be hotly debated. Vegetable gardeners ask, “What good is it if you can’t eat it?” Flower growers think if it is not pretty, what’s the point? For me, growing both vegetables and flowers are necessary—vegetables nourish my body while flowers feed my soul.
Kathleen Cue, Nebraska Extension Horticulture Educator
Ice by itself doesn’t damage trees, but the accumulation of ice on branches creates loads that can and do result in branch breakage and complete tree failure. Case in point is the recent ice storm, creating ice coatings of ¼ to ½ inch over most tree branches. This is a tremendous amount of weight to add to trees and while structurally trees develop to handle wind and snow loads, extreme events like ice accumulation and derechos really throw a wrench into tree structural stability.
By Kathleen Cue, UNL Extension Horticulture Educator
Whether you use landscape fabric beneath mulch in outdoor spaces depends on what you know about it. The two main reasons landscape fabric is used are A) a desire to keep weeds down and B) employing any means necessary to keep rock mulches from sinking into the soil after a rain. Unfortunately, neither of these reasons assures landscape fabric will function as planned.
Here is why.
