Pruning Demonstration Workshop

There will be a pruning demonstration workshop scheduled for Thursday, Feb 12th at the University of Arkansas Fruit Research Substation in Clarksville. The workshop will begin at 1:00 p.m. and end at 4:30 p.m.

In this workshop, you will learn about the principles of pruning along with a hands-on demonstration for pruning apples, blueberries, brambles, grapes, and peaches.

Registration will begin at 12:30 p.m. with a $5.00 charge collected at that time.

Please contact me or call 479-754-2406 to pre-register or to get further information. When you call, please state whether you are a commercial producer or a home owner.

Couty 76 Membership Meeting

On February 10, 2009, the general County 76 Membership meeting will be held at the U of A Extension Office in Little Rock. County 76 is the statewide advisory group for the Arkansas Master Gardener program. It is open to any Master Gardener who is in good standing in their county program. The meeting will be held in the auditorium at the extension office from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Directions can be found on our website.

Topics for this meeting include Leadership Training, 2009 calendar and project work time. This is also the time when members can change projects. We encourage all members to attend and support County 76.

There will be no registration fee, unless you wish to purchase lunch. Lunch orders must be paid for in advance by January 30. Feel free to bring your own lunch if you wish, as we won’t have time for people to leave and buy lunch elsewhere. If you have any questions please feel free to contact me.

Arkansas Master Gardener ProgramCelebrating 20 years (1988-2008)

Plant of the Week: Saguaro Cactus (Carnegiea gigantea)

On the top shelf in my little hobby greenhouse grows a giant. Though this giant is only 5 years old and, for now at least, 4 inches tall, it has the potential to get much larger. The plant is the saguaro cactus from the Sonoran Desert of Arizona.

The saguaro cactus (Carnegiea gigantea) is a superstar amongst the cactus family both for its storied existence and size. It can reach as much as 45 feet in height though 20 to 30 feet specimens with foot thick trunks are more common. During the first 75 years of its life, it grows as an unbranched column; thereafter, it begins to branch and forms the familiar shape we know. Saguaros often live to be 150 years old.

This cactus grows only in the Sonoran Desert, the driest desert in the United States that occupies 120,000 square miles of the southwestern quarter of Arizona, and adjacent areas in California, the state of Sonora in Mexico and parts of the Baja Peninsula. It occurs in areas receiving between 2 and 10 inches of rainfall per year but won’t grow in salty soils or along arroyos where floods might occur. While it tolerates frost it won’t survive where freezing conditions prevail.

Flowering begins when plants reach about 50 years of age.

Lighting The Christmas Tree Without Igniting A Fire

There’s nothing better than a real Christmas tree to show your holiday spirit, but there are some steps you should take to ensure your family is safe from potential fires, said Dustin Blakey, Sebastian County extension agent for the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture.

According to the National Fire Protection Association, between 2002 and 2005, firefighters across the United States responded to an average of 240 fires each year caused by holiday lights. Most, 35 percent, occur in December, while 13 percent occur in January.

“The greatest risk of fire is the use of dry trees,” Blakey said. Keeping the tree hydrated is important, because a small flame can explode into a big fire in a dry scotch pine, he said.

The first, and perhaps most important step, is to start with a fresh tree.

“Generally speaking, locally grown trees will be the freshest,” Blakey said. “Be careful before buying trees shipped from the north and stacked for weeks on the side of a building.”

Color is not a good indicator of freshness, because many trees are dyed, he said, “but a good test you can do is to lift the tree a few inches above the ground and drop its cut end. There should be no needles falling off.”

Master Gardener Potluck - October 2008

NEWS BRIEFS from the University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service

Diabetics Can Still Enjoy The Holidays

Foods that are good for diabetics are good for everyone, says Debra DeRossitte, Craighead County extension agent for the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture.

“Whether managing your own diabetes, or trying to accommodate a family member who will be visiting, you and your family can enjoy tasty remakes of holiday favorites,” she said.
Diabetes in Arkansas has been at or about the national average for the past 10 years with an estimated 227,000 adults in Arkansas being diagnosed with the disease, according to the state Health Department.

Because diabetes is characterized by high levels of blood glucose, or blood sugar, eating less sugar may help control blood sugar levels. Because people with diabetes have an increased risk for heart disease, total fat, saturated fat and cholesterol should be limited. In addition,
people with diabetes are at increased risk for hypertension and stroke. Excess sodium can increase the risk of developing these problems.

Common holiday recipes can be altered to reduce sugar, salt, fat and cholesterol, DeRossitte said.

“For example, a traditional casserole could taste just as good with fat-free or light sour cream, and the green beans could be steamed this year instead of being sautéed in butter,” she said.

“Try using herbs to reduce salt, and forego the generous serving of salt,” DeRossitte said.

Get – and Stay – Organized for the Holidays

If the holidays bring a sense of dread, the answer may lie in some simple planning and maintaining order in our lives.

“Don’t let all the stress of the holidays make it difficult to spend quality time with family and friends,” says Robbie McKinnon, Pike County extension agent with the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture. “What we need is a practical solution that will help us organize and balance our professional and personal lives.”

And McKinnon offers enough practical solutions to take us all the way to Jan. 2, 2009:

• Start planning early.


• Don’t leave things to the last minute.


• Make a list of tasks and cross off completed ones.


• Keep a calendar for the entire family.


• Include the kids in the division of chores.


• Hire help if you need it.

“If you’re going to do a lot of cooking, go ahead and get your kitchen clean and organized right away,” McKinnon continues. “Throw our most of those extra butter containers and save just enough to send food home with your visitors.”

McKinnon offers tips for shopping:

• Make a list, but buy a few extra reasonably priced gifts for emergencies or overlooked friends or co-workers.


• Shop early to avoid crowds.


• Shop online and have gifts delivered to your front door.


• Keep receipts for easy returns.


• Buy extra storage bins for new lights and decorations.


• Add extra batteries to your shopping list.

If you’re traveling during the holidays, pack early and make arrangements for pet care.

Why Can't We All Just Get Along?

Conflict is going to happen, and solving conflicts without causing bad feelings is not easy, according to Dr. Wally Goddard, professor and extension family life specialist with the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture.

Goddard offers insight into why conflict happens – and some reasons for our reactions: When something happens that is different from what we expected or hoped for, we may interpret the difference as unfair to us. Or when someone blames or accuses us, we react – often because we feel hurt and angry.

Our reaction may be either to fall silent or to fight back.

If we choose to go silent, a cold war may begin. If we choose to fight back, there may be an explosive situation. Whether we pout or fight back, a lot of time and energy can be wasted, and the relationship can be damaged.

Goddard offers advice for curbing our reactions.

First, realize there are two sides to every situation. We usually understand one side—the way we feel.

Second, try to understand what the other person is thinking or feeling – and attempt to show that understanding.

Goddard acknowledges we all may say unkind things sometimes and it is hard to say peaceful things when we feel attacked. However, if we can keep ourselves from reacting, we will have fewer repairs to make later.

Plant of the Week: Common Boxwood (Buxus sempervirens)

Being from the British Isles, it’s not surprising that the garden plants of choice for our founding fathers had a certain Anglo-centric feel. Of these, none is more typical than the common boxwood, Buxus sempervirens.

In nurseries, boxwoods come in two basic flavors: Buxus sempervirens which occurs widely in Western Europe from the English isles to northern Africa and B. microphylla which occurs in East Asia from northern Korea, through Japan and in adjacent areas of China. Though there are more than 80 species in the genus, these two have the hardiness to grow in temperate gardens.

The European species has a narrower leaf with a slightly blue-green cast and is actually a small understory tree in its wild form. However, as perhaps the oldest known ornamental plant in western gardens, selected clones have been passed on for centuries so several distinct growth forms are commonly seen. The “American” boxwood is a tall growing clone that grows 12- to 15-feet tall in 50 years and is offered in the nursery trade as ‘Arborescens.’ The earliest mention of this imported shrub in the colonies was in 1652.

The “English” (‘Suffruticosa’) box is a dwarf form popular for formal parterre plantings, edging and foundation plantings. It has dense branching and, if unpruned, grows as a cloud-like mound 4 to 5 feet tall and 6 to 8 feet wide. It’s said to never flower. If relentlessly clipped, it can be kept under a foot tall for decades.

Because the species occurs over such a wide geographic range in Europe the winter hardiness varies considerably. Some clones are only hardy to zone 6 while others are hardy to zone 4. Telling boxwood clones apart is almost impossible, especially if hedge shears have been used to keep the plants in bounds.

Boxwood wood is so dense and heavy, it sinks when put in water. Before the advent of plastics it had many applications. The best wood-block prints were made using crosscut sections of Turkish boxwood. Today wooden chess pieces are carved from boxwood with the white pieces having their natural color.

Boxwoods have a reputation for being finicky, but in reality they just need attention to site selection. Plant them in a sunny to lightly shaded site that doesn’t get too hot during the summer months or experience dry, cold winds in the winter. They do best in well-drained soils that have a soil pH above 6.2. In many parts of the Southeast, adding dolomitic limestone prior to planting could be helpful to ensure establishment. Keeping boxwoods mulched to maintain uniform soil moisture is beneficial for the shallow roots.

A number of problems bedevil boxwoods. In Colonial capitols such as Williamsburg and other antebellum homes, boxwood decline, an ill-defined malady that has slowly killed many of the old boxwood plantings, has been a problem in recent years. Newer introductions, either selections of the Asian species or hybrids of it, seem to be immune to the problem.

Winter burn is a common problem for these evergreen shrubs in areas exposed to bright light and strong north winds in the winter. In many areas, root knot nematode (especially in sandy soils) and root rot attack older plants and cause a slow decline with parts of the plant dying back over several years. Because boxwoods are most often used in formal planting arrangements, these afflictions often destroy the effectiveness of the original design. Replanting the same boxwood clone in the affected area is not recommended.

But the most common problem with boxwoods is that they get larger than expected. Over a decade or two boxwoods often outgrow their planting site and need pruning. If summertime clipping will no longer hold the plants in bounds, boxwood can be pruned back severely in early spring just before new growth begins.

Here, you can find more information about horticulture or see other Plant of the Week columns. visit Extension's Web site, www.uaex.edu, or contact your county extension agent. The Cooperative Extension Service is part of the U of A Division of Agriculture.

Small Spaces Can Hold Big Promise for Urban, Suburban ‘Farmers’

Just because your back 40 is 40 inches by 40 inches, doesn’t mean you can’t grow your own food, says Sherri Sanders, White County extension agent for the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture.

With winter on the way, wannabe kitchen gardeners have a few months to dream ahead and maybe add specific equipment to their holiday wish lists.

“Where garden space is very limited, consider wide-row planting of vegetables,” she said. “Wide-row planting is simply a matter of broadcasting seeds in bands anywhere from 10 inches to 3 feet wide instead of a single band on each row.

“With the wide row system, more square feet of garden space is actually producing vegetables, and less space is left for cultivation between the rows,” she said. “With this method, production will usually more than double.”

Many plants that do well with this technique include beets, lettuce, radish, carrots, green onions, spinach, collards, hot peppers, turnips, kale and mustard greens. Beans, peas and potatoes also fare well. Herbs such as rosemary, thyme, oregano, dill and basil are easy growers and highly suitable for backyard farming.

“Containers such as plastic or clay pots, wooden boxes or baskets, tin or plastic buckets or pails and metal cans could be used for mini-gardens,” Sanders said. “Leaf lettuce, radishes and onions could be grown in these types of containers.

“Larger containers with one or more gallon capacity could be used for single plants of tomatoes, peppers or eggplant,” she said.

Of course, your mini-farm will need water.

“Trickle irrigation systems have provided an innovative way to water a garden with a minimum amount of water,” Sanders said. “Several manufacturers make trickle irrigation tubing suitable for the home garden for a modest cost.”

Be sure not to overwater, since water displaces oxygen from the soil and can kill plants.

If you’re organized, you can get more than one crop out of your mini-farm.

Some vegetables have a short harvest season.

“If only one planting is done, these vegetables will be available for a limited time,” she said. “Two or three plantings of these crops may be made a week or 10 days apart, providing a much longer harvesting period.”

Crops that have a short harvest period include radishes, leaf lettuce, spinach, bush snap beans, green onions and sweet corn.

For more information about container growing or small-space gardening, follow this link or contact your county extension office.

The Cooperative Extension Service is part of the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture.

2009 Annual Master Gardener Training

Do you enjoy gardening?

Do you want to be a Master Gardener?

The University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service is conducting an Area Master Gardener Program training beginning January 26, 2009.

The training will be eight (8) consecutive Mondays

from January 26 to March 16.

All sessions will be held at HealthWorks
304 N. Madison Avenue in El Dorado
from 12:00 pm to 5:00 pm.
Cost is $65

Enrollment will be limited. Registration due date is January 9.

After January 9th, cost is $75 if room is available.

Please contact the Ouachita County Cooperative Extension office

at 870-231-1160 for more information.


The Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service offers this Master Gardener Program training to all interested persons without regard to race, color, national origin, religion, gender, age, disability, marital or veteran status, or any other legally protected status, and is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer.