Gibson HomeBuilders

Today’s topics are Master Gardeners Associations, Landscaping Ideas for Existing and New Homes.

My guests today are Jerry Parr with the Master Gardeners Association in Parker County & Jean Gibson, Vice President with Gibson Home Builders, Inc.

Parker County Extension Service 817-598-6168

The Texas Master Gardener Program is an educational activity offered by Texas Agrilife Extension in affiliation with Texas A & M University. It is designed to increase the availability of horticultural information and improve the quality of landscaping in Texas. These goals are implemented through the training and employment of local volunteers known as Master Gardeners. Each county in Texas, working with the County Extension Agent, can establish a county program.

TEXAS MASTER GARDENER
Who are Texas Master Gardeners?
Master Gardeners are members of the local community who take an active interest in their lawns, trees, shrubs, flowers and gardens. They are enthusiastic, willing to learn and to help others, and able to communicate with diverse groups of people.
What really sets Master Gardeners apart from other home gardeners is their special training in horticulture. In exchange for their training, persons who become Master Gardeners contribute time as volunteers, working through their cooperative Extension office to provide horticultural-related information to their communities.
Is the Master Gardener Program for Me?
To help you decide if you should apply to be a Master Gardener, ask yourself these questions:
1). Do I want to learn more about the culture and maintenance of many types of plants?
2). Am I eager to participate in a practical and intense training program?
3).Do I look forward to sharing my knowledge with people in my community?
4).Do I have enough time to attend training and to complete the volunteer service?
5).If you answered yes to these questions, the Master Gardener program could be for you. Contact your local Extension Office to see if there is a Master Gardener program in your county, not all counties have one. If there is a program, obtain an application from the Master Gardener Coordinator at the office.
Training
If accepted into the Master Gardener program in your county, you will attend a Master Gardener training course. Classes are taught by Texas Cooperative Extension specialists, agents, and local experts.
The program offers a minimum of 50 hours of instruction that covers topics including lawn care, ornamental trees and shrubs, insect, disease, and weed management; soils and plant nutrition, vegetable gardening; home fruit production; garden flowers; and water conservation. The training is offered at various times during the year at various locations across the state. Check with your County Extension office for specific locations, dates, and times.
Volunteer Commitment
In exchange for training, participants are asked to volunteer time to their County Extension program. At least 50 hours of volunteer service within one year following the training is required to earn the title of "Texas Master Gardener."
The type of service done by Master Gardeners varies according to community needs, and the abilities and interests of the Master Gardeners. Some Master Gardeners answer telephone requests for information related to gardening. Others staff plant clinics or displays in shopping malls or community centers. Master Gardeners may speak to local groups and conduct workshops. They may help establish community garden projects, work with 4-H youth, or assist their agent with news or radio releases related to gardening. The Master gardener Coordinator in the County Extension office decides how volunteer time can be best utilized.
Master Gardeners are representatives of Texas Cooperative Extension, The Texas A&M University System. In all volunteer work related to the program, Master Gardeners follow the research-based recommendations of Texas Cooperative Extension. The title "Texas Master Gardener" can be used by volunteers only when engaged in Extension-sponsored activities.
Certification
Participants become certified Master Gardeners after they have completed the training course and fulfilled their volunteer commitment.

For More Information
Application forms and additional information are available from your local county Extension office.

What is Water-Wise Landscaping? Water-wise landscape design and management focus on working with nature and natural forces (such as rainfall) to create an aesthetically pleasing, livable landscape, while using less water from the local supply. Minimizing the need for watering in your landscape requires careful observation, planning, and common sense. Several principles for water-wise landscaping include choosing the best design and plants, preparing soils, and watering properly for efficient water use. Water-wise landscaping is also known as xeriscaping, a word trademarked by the National Xeriscape Council. The word is a combination of the prefix xero- or xer- meaning dry or dryness and the suffix-scape meaning scene or view.
Plan Your Landscape The first step in any successful landscape is a good plan. Observe the site and take notes on the current use of different areas or their desired use. Indicate high-use areas, desirable views, environmental concerns (such as wind direction, slopes, dense shade), and traffic flow through the yard. Sketch the property, including any permanent structures, trees, and shrubs that you plan to leave, grass areas, driveways, and sidewalks. Based on your notes, develop a plan that meets your needs for use, appearance, and budget. Consider maintenance and water requirements in making your decisions. For example, maintaining a high-quality lawn area for entertaining will require frequent fertilizing and mowing, as well as high water use. A more maintenance-free choice for get-togethers is a deck or patio, but don't overdo the use of wood or concrete on your land. Leave plenty of vegetative surface for rain to reach the soil and soak in; otherwise, runoff and erosion problems are created. Whatever plan you develop, the cost can be distributed over a period of time if you implement your design over several years.

Prepare Soil Adequately Good soil is the basis for healthy plants and optimum use of water. The key to good soil is the addition of organic matter, such as compost. Sandy soil will hold water and nutrients better if organic matter is incorporated. Clay will absorb water faster, reducing runoff and erosion, if it is loosened with organic matter. Incorporate approximately 2 to 3 inches of compost, shredded leaves, or other fine organic material into the soil annually. In locations with established trees and shrubs, it is difficult to incorporate organic matter, but applying and maintaining a 2- to 3-inch layer of an organic mulch (coarse leaves, shredded bark, pine needles, or wood chips) will gradually improve the soil as the humic acid formed by the decomposing material leaches into the ground.
Select Plants Wisely Decide on the trees, shrubs, and ground covers for your water-wise landscape based on their natural ability to grow well in your area. Select plants that do well with little or no addition of water. Consider native plants as well as introduced species for residential landscapes. Your local Extension agent and nursery personnel can help you identify suitable plants for your location. Limit plants with high water demands to small areas that can be watered efficiently. Grouping plants by water requirements is one way to guard against over watering some plants and under watering others. In general, ground covers require less water than turf grass, so replacing some of your lawn with a ground cover will conserve water. If you have large deciduous trees in your yard and want to reduce work and water, go natural - allow leaves to accumulate as they would in nature. Plant a few under story shrubs (such as azaleas and rhododendrons), a few under story trees (such as dogwood), and quit raking!
Mulch Your Gardens Use mulch to conserve soil moisture. Organic mulches help retain moisture so there is less need to water. They also recycle plant materials that might otherwise end up in the landfill. In addition, mulches control annual weeds that compete with desired plants for water. Organic mulches improve soil structure as they decompose and moderate the soil temperature; two factors that also help plants use water efficiently.
Use Optimum Cultural Practices Proper mowing and fertilizing of the lawn help conserve moisture. Mowing at the proper height (do not remove more than one third of the grass at any one mowing) allows the grass to develop deeper roots that are more efficient in using soil moisture, and reduces annual weeds. Fertilizing at the proper time (your Extension agent or local nursery experts can help you determine this) encourages healthier turf that needs less watering. Leaving shrubs in their natural forms reduces stress to the plants and, therefore, lessens their need for water. Keeping weeds, insects, and diseases under control reduces the competition and stress to plants that increase their water demands. These principles minimize the water demands in your landscape, help you save money and time, and reduce your impact on the local water supply.
Use Turf Grass Appropriately
Limit the amount of turf grass you use in the landscape to areas in which grass provides a functional benefit (i.e., a play area for children) that exceeds the benefit of other ground covers or surfacing materials. Select turf grass suitable to your climate and site.Design the grass area to make watering easier. Long narrow areas and small, odd shapes are hard to water efficiently. Avoid turf in the strip between the sidewalk and the road; most irrigation water will land on the paved surfaces and run off.

Use the Best Watering Method
While soils vary greatly in their ability to hold water, your garden and lawn should receive enough water to wet the soil to the bottom of the root zone each time you water generally 1 inch per week. Determine this by digging a hole 5 to 6 inches deep in the watered area the day after watering so the water has a chance to seep in. Adjust weekly watering to your soil needs.
Avoid watering by hand - it often wastes water as there is excess runoff, and water does not penetrate beyond the top 1 inch of soil. This irrigation practice harms plants by forcing root growth too close to the surface. If you must water by hand, place a 5-gallon bucket with a few holes in the bottom next to the plant and fill it with water; when it is has drained, move it to the next plant and refill. Properly used sprinkler systems can deliver a large quantity of water in a short time. They have the disadvantage, however, of excessive evaporation, both during watering and from the plant and soil surface. Early morning watering minimizes water loss. However, sprinkler systems that deliver the water from overhead are the most effective means of watering turf grass. Be sure to position sprinklers to shower areas of vegetation, not driveways, streets, or patios. Water until the soil is moist 6 inches deep, usually 1 inch per week applied at one time.
Trickle or drip irrigation systems and ooze hoses are very efficient, slowly applying water to vegetable and ornamental gardens. Soil moisture can be maintained at a level most suitable to plant uptake. If properly installed and maintained, little water is lost to evaporation or runoff and water use can be reduced by up to 50 percent. For many situations, the expense of installing a good trickle irrigation system will be compensated by reduced water usage, less replacement of plant materials, and less work. On any irrigation system, replace leaky parts promptly.

Measure the Quantity of Water
To measure the amount of water - whether from a sprinkler or rain - use a rain gauge or a tin can set in the lawn or garden areas to be measured. The soil has received an inch of water when the water in the container is an inch deep.

Irrigation
Water is becoming a scarce and expensive natural resource. About 25 percent of all water used in Texas metropolitan areas is applied to urban landscapes. In summer, this increases to as much as 60 percent. Much of this is ineffective, since the soil and plants can't absorb the excess. The greatest waste of water is applying too much to your landscape too often, especially in homes with irrigation systems. Not only is this wasting a precious resource and costing homeowners money, too much water creates problems with your landscape, ranging from poor plant growth to plant diseases like mildew and fungus.

Most plants and lawns need no more than I inch of water a week from all sources, including rain. Parker County receives about 32 inches of rainfall annually. Supplemental watering should be done only when rainfall does not produce the required I inch per week. Many of the drought tolerant plants recommended in the real dirt can thrive on 1 inch of water per month, so never water unless your plant shows it needs it.

Frequent, light applications of water are actually harmful to plants, since it only wets the surface of the soil to a depth of less than I inch. Most plant roots go much deeper. Light sprinkling only settles the dust and does little to alleviate drought stress to plants growing in hot, dry soil. Instead, give plants a weekly soaking until the soil is wet to a depth of 5 or 6 inches. This type of watering allows moisture to penetrate into the soil area where roots can readily absorb it. A soil watered deeply retains moisture for several days, while one wet only an inch or so is dry within a day.

In contrast, there are those who water so often and heavily that they drown plants. Symptoms of too much water are the same as for too little. Leaves turn brown at the tips and edges, then brown all over and drop from the plant. These symptoms should be the same, since they result from insufficient water in the plant tissue.

Too much water in a soil causes oxygen deficiency, resulting in damage to the root system. Plant roots need oxygen to live. When a soil remains soggy, little oxygen is present in the soil. When this condition exists roots die and no longer absorb water. Then leaves begin to show signs of insufficient water. Often gardeners think these signs signal lack of water, so they add more. This further aggravates the situation and the plant usually dies quickly.

Thoroughly moisten the soil at each watering, and then allow plants to extract most of the available water from the soil before watering again

Hose-end Sprinkling
Sprinkler irrigation, or "hose-end overhead sprinkling" as it is sometimes called, is the most popular and most common watering method. Sprinkler units can be set up and moved about quickly and easily. They are inexpensive to buy, but if used incorrectly they can be extremely wasteful of water.

Sprinkler equipment varies in cost from a few dollars for a small stationary unit to $50 or more for units that move themselves. A solid-set sprinkler system for a small garden could cost more than $100, although it is not necessary to spend that much. The best investment is an impact-driving sprinkler than can be set to water either a full or partial circle.

Sprinkler irrigation has its advantages. The system can be used on sloping as well as level areas. Salt does not accumulate because water percolates downward from the surface carrying salts with it. Different amounts of water can be applied to separate plantings to match plant requirements.

However, there are some drawbacks. Use sprinkler irrigation early in the day to allow time for the soil surface to dry before nightfall. Irrigation in a wind of more than 5 miles per hour distributes the water unevenly. If you have poor quality water, the mist, which dries on leaves, may deposit enough salt to injure them. Strong winds may carry the water away to neighbors' yards. Attempting to cover a square or rectangular area with a circular pattern also wastes some water. Move the sprinkler unit at regular intervals if the garden is larger than the sprinkler pattern. With caged tomatoes or trellised crops, set the sprinkler on a stand to allow the spray to arch up and over the top of the leaf canopy. Improper timing and operating in wind or at night can damage plants and waste water.

Furrow Irrigation
Furrow irrigation is a popular method of applying water, primarily to vegetable gardens. Successful furrow irrigation requires soil with enough clay so that water flows along shallow ditches between the rows and sinks in slowly. The water must reach the low end of the rows before much has soaked in at the high end. Many sandy or open soils are so porous that water seeps in too quickly, never reaching the end of the row. To solve this problem, use short rows in gardens with sandy soil.

Most gardens can be irrigated easily with the furrow method by using a hoe or shovel to make shallow ditches. To test furrow irrigation, make one shallow ditch from end to end and run water down it. If the water runs 20 to 30 feet in a few minutes, that's fine. If the water sinks in too fast at the high end, divide the garden lengthwise into two or more runs and irrigate each run separately. Make a serpentine ditch to guide the water up and down short rows in small gardens on level ground. The number of rows that can be irrigated at the same time depends on the volume of water available and your ingenuity.

Leaves and fruit of erect plants such as beans and peppers will stay dry during furrow irrigation. New seedlings can be watered by running water as often as needed to keep the seedbed moist. The surface soil of a raised bed does not pack as with sprinkler irrigation, so there is less crusting. Only a hoe or shovel and a length of hose are needed to get the water from the house faucet to the garden.

Drip Irrigation
One of the best ways to water a garden and other landscape beds is with a drip irrigation system. Drip irrigation allows precise application of water near the roots of the plants where they can readily absorb it. There is very little waste due to wind, evaporation and runoff, so the total water usage is reduced from 40 to 60 percent, depending on soil conditions, rainfall, and temperature.

Drip systems consist of flexible tubing laid directly on the ground, or buried slightly below ground level. They utilize devices called emitters, which apply a very low volume of water over a prolonged period of time. This allows the water to soak deeply into the soil without over-saturating it and causing run-off.

Emitters vary from 0.5 gallons per hour to as much as 3 gallons or more. The type of soil, grade level, types of plants, and other factors determine which type of emitters you should use. The goal is to apply enough water to wet the soil to a depth of 6 inches without creating runoff. Normally, this would take about 3 hours. The cycle would then be repeated when the top 2 inches of soil has dried out.

Drip irrigation simplifies irrigation procedures and reduces labor requirements. Drip systems can be easily activated from a single faucet. Once drip hose is installed around shrubs, vegetables and flowers, it never "forgets" to water. Drip systems are relatively easy to install and are available at most local nurseries and home improvement centers.

Using Water around Trees and Shrubs
Grass and/or weeds growing under and around trees and shrubs compete for nutrients and water. When summer rainfall is low and less than adequate water is available, competition imposed by weeds or grass substantially reduces tree growth, bud development and fruit size. When competition is eliminated, roots are more evenly distributed; root numbers increase and they utilize a larger volume of soil. Effective soil utilization by a large root system means that fertilizer and moisture will be used more efficiently.

Remove grass and/or weeds from beneath newly planted trees and shrubs as soon as possible and apply mulch. The longer turf grass grows under trees and shrubs, the greater the reduction of new growth. There is also a cumulative effect, which may decrease tree growth for several years. For instance, if the growth of a tree is reduced by 20 percent for one year because of grass competition, the growth automatically is 20 percent less during the second year's growth. Grass competition reduces growth by as much as 50 percent.

Trees need a deep, thorough soaking once a week in the growing season, either from natural rainfall or supplemental irrigation. When irrigating, be thorough and allow the water to penetrate deeply. To water large trees let water flow slowly onto an area under the drip line of the tree for several hours.

Large trees require deeper watering than home owners can imagine. Remember that watering which is adequate for lawn grasses growing under trees is not adequate for actively growing trees.

When to Water
Soil moisture level is the best test for watering. If soil moisture is adequate, don't water, even if a plant is wilted. To test for soil moisture, probe around plants with your finger. If the soil is moist several inches deep, i.e., will form a ball when squeezed, adequate moisture is present.