Nebraska Extension in Stanton County

By Kathleen Cue, Nebraska Extension Horticulture Educator

In carpentry, there is an old adage urging us to measure twice and cut once. The same can be said when it comes to plants.  Planning is the least expensive of the plant selection process, simply requiring a little of our time to talk to experts and glean information from catalogs and web sources.  I’ve never had a client say, “Gosh, I’m really sorry I planned and did the research!”  Rather, I hear from clients who didn’t adequately plan and are now dealing with how to help plants survive or costly removals.

Fall Garden Clean Up

By Kathleen Cue, Nebraska Extension Horticulture Educator

 When cleaning up the fall garden, it’s hard to know what should be cleared away and what should stay.  Gurus of tidiness opt for removing everything now in order to start with a clean slate in the spring.  But is there such a thing as too much tidiness?  It turns out that, yes indeed, that can be true. 

 Plant stems act as a catch-all, collecting leaves, twigs and other bits of organic debris around the crown of perennial plants. This mulch layer protects the crown and root system from weather extremes, making them more winter-hardy.