Backyard Farmer Home

Backyard Farmer airs live Thursdays on NET1 at 7 pm CST from April through September. Join us each Thursday for another great show, answering your lawn & garden questions. View archived videos on YouTube, or interact with the team on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest

Recorded Episodes

This content requires Flash Download the free Flash Player now!

Hort Update for June 7, 2013

Lawns	Major Symptom:
1. Rising soil temperatures	Time crabgrass control products correctly
2. Cool season turfgrass seeding	Avoid seeding after mid-May. Daily monitoring required.
3. Weed control in new seedings	Wait until after two mowings to apply typical herbicides
4. Smooth & downy brome control	Downy will die soon; no selective control for smooth
5. Summer patch	Spring fungicide applications needed to avoid summer damage
6. White grub prentation	Apply between Flag day (June 14th) and 4th of July
7. Lawn mushrooms	Harmless to lawn; remove to prevent children and pets from eating

Trees & Shrubs
8. Elm flea weevil	Tiny holes chewed into leaves by tiny weevils with long snout.
9. What's wrong with my tree?	Drought damage continues to rise
10. Sirrococcus shoot blight	Tip dieback. Higher incidence on unirrigated Spruce
11. Spider mites	Yellowing to bronzing of leaves; stippled appearance
12. Cedar-apple rust galls	Hard galls encircling twigs; develop orange gelantinous projections during moist periods

Landscape Ornamentals
13. Mulching ornamentals	Apply 2 to 3 inches of organic mulch
14. Keeping perennials neat & tidy	Cut plant back after first flower flush

Fruits & Vegetables
15. Strawberry leaf spot	Reddish purple spots on leaves; some leaf browning
16. Strawberry bed renovation	Renovate in June after harvest is complete
17. Tree & small fruit pest control	Follow spray schedule for good pest control
18. Squash bugs	Black shield shaped adult bugs; reddish eggs on leaf undersides
19. Tomato early blight & septoria leaf spot	Brown leaf spots with concentric rings, leaf yellowing from bottom up
20. Morel mushrooms	Where and when to find morel mushrooms

BYF Logo

Made for iPod, iPhone, iPad, and Android systems.

Local Conditions

Image of water

Dry conditions persist throughout Nebraska. Stay informed on current conditions, and public water utilities restricting water use. Visit UNL Drought Resources.

Your Weather Forecast

Nebraska's local Soil Temperatures
US Drought Monitor

Monthly "To Do" Calendar

UNL Gardens

A beautiful way to learn! Visit the living horticulture resources on UNL's East Campus.

Your browser does not appear to support JavaScript, or you have turned JavaScript off. You may use unl.edu without enabling JavaScript, but certain functions may not be available.