Each nutrient brings its own specialty to the soil profile and, ultimately, to the adept superintendent’s management practices. Knowing the roles of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium – often abbreviated as NPK – in the soil profile takes a superintend…
Home/Lawn/Garden
Plant invaders threaten North Jersey landscape
As peak gardening season lures North Jersey homeowners to landscape supply centers, they buy and cart home many shrubs and trees that – just over the state line in New York – are prohibited in suburban yards… Steven Handel, an ecology professor at Rutgers University, is a member of the state’s Invasive Species Council, which was created in 2004 and issued a report listing steps the state should take to reduce invasives. “To stop selling these invasives would be a big step forward,” Handel said. “And there are some beautiful native plants that are low maintenance and protect our preserved natural areas. “Our job as educators is to let the public know there are better plants to use in their yards than the ones that have traditionally been used,” he said. “A yard can look green and lush – but still be dangerous.”
Rutgers Cooperative Extension of Atlantic County has Added 18 New Master Gardeners
The NJ Agricultural Experiment Station and Rutgers Cooperative Extension announce the addition of 18 new Master Gardeners to its Atlantic County program. These Master Gardeners have completed 60 hours of intensive classroom instruction and will fulfill 85 volunteer hours over the coming year. The Rutgers Master Gardeners of Atlantic County spearhead over a dozen educational […]
Ethel A. Jacobsen First-Graders Harvest Garlic Scapes From Schoolyard Garden
It’s spring harvest time at the Ethel A. Jacobsen Elementary School garden in Surf City. Last week Joanne Kinsey, Family and Community Health Sciences educator at the Cooperative Extension of Ocean and Atlantic Counties, Rutgers New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station, joined the school’s first-graders and teachers Sarah Esarey and Kelly Turner to harvest garlic scapes – for eating and for learning… After experiencing the outdoor classroom firsthand, Kinsey remarked, “The kids were fantastic and really enjoyed working in the garden and tasting the garlic scape pasta. I totally enjoyed the entire experience, the pasta was delicious, and I hope to be invited back again.”
Rutgers 250: NJAES All-Star Variety of the Month – Dogwood
Scarlet Fire™ Extends Ornamental Dogwood Season The Rutgers 250 All-Star Variety for June 2016 is the ‘Rutpink’ Scarlet Fire™ dogwood tree. This is the first Cornus kousa variety released in over 45 years to the ornamental nursery market. Rutgers plant breeder Tom Molnar, continued the decades of work started by renowned breeder and professor emeritus […]
Cresskill environmentalists rolling out rain barrels in attempt to save water
Cresskill’s Environmental Commission is inviting residents to attend a Rain Barrel Making Workshop on June 15 at borough hall. Organizers hope there will be a flood of support for the concept of conserving water in rain barrels… New Jersey State Climatologist David Robinson of Rutgers University said that North Jersey is in an abnormally dry spell right now: “The groundwaters are low. March and April were very dry. May was average. We will have to hope for timely rains and conditions that are not too hot.” Robinson, who is an advocate for rain barrels and smart lawn watering, said such measures are important because “it makes people aware of the finite nature of fresh water that’s out there…people put too much water on their lawns.”
Hot and (potentially) heavy
Heat and humidity are major factors in determining the severity of an anthracnose outbreak, and initial weather forecasts could spell a long, hot summer for superintendents. Turf specialist Dr. James A. Murphy says anthracnose is an opportunistic pest,…
New Jersey Tomato, Victim of Modern Farming, Vies for a Comeback
The Jersey tomato, red, ripe and juicy, was once revered as the best to be had, with a tangy, sweet-tart flavor that was the very taste of summer… “This was the tomato that made the Jersey tomato reputation,” Thomas J. Orton, a professor in the department of plant biology and pathology, said of the 1934 variety.
How to Fight Mosquitoes This Summer
With temperatures well into the 70s in St. Louis, Leigh Walters is preparing for mosquito season… While many mosquitoes live and breed in tree holes, marshes and woodland ponds, the Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus mosquitoes tend to live closer to…
What’s in Season from the Garden State: The Historic Rutgers Tomato Gets Re-invented in University’s 250th Anniversary Year
Of the hundreds of varieties of tomatoes grown by home gardeners or commercial growers, there are a few standards that have become household names. One of those is the ‘Rutgers’ tomato – a leading home garden and processing variety of the early/mid-20th century. While the Rutgers tomato is no longer commercially grown for canned tomato […]
