Kathleen Cue, Nebraska Extension Horticulture Educator in Dodge County
If you are a creature of tidiness, here is a thought to ponder. Cutting back the foliage of flowering perennials, ornamental grasses, and small shrubs is damaging to native bees that overwinter in the hollow stems of plants. Moisture seeps down through the open ends, killing the eggs, larvae, and pupae of native bees that are set to emerge as adult bees come spring.
Nebraska Extension has four excellent opportunities for full-time faculty positions located in Columbus, Schuyler, Fremont, and Lincoln, NE. As active participants in the Nebraska Water and Cropping Systems (WICS) Team, the educators' primary responsibility is to develop and deliver educational programs and resources within a geographic area. To view details of the position and create an application, go to http://employment.unl.edu, requisition F_210170.
The attached document has the information you need to apply for this employement opportunity.
Garden Update
Kathleen Cue, Nebraska Extension in Dodge County
This is the time of year when fungi become the topic of conversation. What most people find alarming is the speed with which conks, mushrooms, and puffballs develop. In some cases, it is literally overnight. What is visible are the sporulating structures—the part of fungi that produces the next generation. A good way to think of this is plants make seeds to produce the next generation, fungi produce spores. These spore-producing structures are varied and fascinating, and most people who ask about them are wanting to eat them.
Garden Update
Kathleen Cue, Nebraska Extension Horticulture Educator in Dodge County
It is not unusual for some plants to blossom out of season. Magnolia, crabapple, lilac, and forsythia are notably spring-blooming plants, but stressful growing conditions can instigate a type of dormancy that pushes flowering to later in the season. Lilacs are a great example this year.
Garden Update
Kathleen Cue, Nebraska Extension Horticulture Educator in Dodge County
As harvest from the vegetable garden draws to a close, it is time to plan and take steps to protect the soil for the winter months ahead. This ensures the soil is in good shape and ready for next year’s garden. After all, soil isn’t just dirt, but a rich and varied composition of minerals and plant nutrients, organic matter, beneficial microorganisms, and humic acid. It is not only foundational, with spaces for roots to grow and anchor plants, but also serving up a nourishing “stew” for seed germination, plant growth and vegetable production.
Garden Update
Kathleen Cue, Nebraska Extension Horticulture Educator in Dodge County
Confusion surrounds the healthiest way to stake newly-planted trees to stand up to fierce winds while fostering good root growth. The old method, seen much too often still, of snaking wire through a section of garden hose to wrap around trunks and branches is highly injurious to trees. This ill-advised technique digs into tree conductive tissues and, left in place too long, shuts down sugar transport from the leaves to the roots. Roots then become starved of sugars necessary for certain functions, like existing.
