Waterwise Gardening

NCDA&CS, nursery/landscape industry team up to promote water-wise gardening, landscaping Grant from Golden LEAF helps fund public information campaign

RALEIGH - The N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services and the state's nursery and landscape industry have launched a campaign to educate the public about how they can successfully grow plants in the home landscape even during periods of drought and water restrictions, Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler announced today.

The Water-Wise Works! media campaign is a partnership between the department, the N.C. Green Industry Council and N.C. State University's Department of Horticultural Science. The campaign emphasizes ways that will help homeowners maintain an attractive landscape with less water.

"Drought and water restrictions across North Carolina have severely reduced demand for nursery and greenhouse plants and related services," Troxler said. "Many of these businesses report that sales have declined as much as 40 percent, and employee layoffs have approached 30 percent. This campaign will help people understand that even during a drought, you can still enjoy beautiful North Carolina-grown plants if you practice water-wise gardening.

"These tips make sense even as we return to more normal rainfall patterns," he said. "They focus on making the best use of the resources we have and not being wasteful. They're good principles to live by."

The statewide campaign is using public service advertisements on radio and television to tout the importance of water-wise landscaping and gardening. They feature NCSU horticulture expert Bryce Lane, host of UNC-TV's "In the Garden." The ads refer consumers to the Web site Tarheel Gardening for tips and other information. The site was developed by the N.C. Nursery and Landscape Association and NCDA&CS.

The campaign is supported by a $215,475 grant from the Golden LEAF Foundation and funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

TV spots are slated to run across the state from now through May. Radio ads have been running since late March. Ads also will be running in Our State magazine.

"Golden LEAF is pleased to support this project as the green industry is such an important sector of the agricultural economy in North Carolina," said Valeria Lee, president of Golden LEAF. "In addition, the whole state benefits as we adopt these practices for wise water use."

A report released last year estimated that the green industry contributes $8.6 billion to North Carolina's economy and employs more than 151,000 people. The industry comprises growers of greenhouse/nursery stock, Christmas trees and flowers, sod producers, and related businesses such as landscape and irrigation contractors, lawn care professionals, arborists and retail lawn and garden centers.
Visit Green Industry Council for more information.

For more information contact your local Cooperative Extension Center and ask for the Commercial Horticulture Agent.

USDA- Woody Plant Seed Manual

USDA FS Agriculture Handbook 727 - The Woody Plant Seed Manual, a handbook on seeds of trees and shrubs, is not available in hard copy format. But, you don't have to wait for this information. We have the April 2008 version on our Woody Plant Seed Manual page.

If you are considering planting tree or shrub seeds check this site out for more information about the preparation procedures for these plants.


For more information contact your local Cooperative Extension Center and ask for the Commercial Horticulture Agent.

Griffin Greenhouse & Nursery Supplies coming to WNC!

Griffin will be holding a day long seminar in Asheville June 11th. They will offer 5.5 hours of seminars that should all earn pesticide recertification credits. They will cover insect and disease control, greenhouse sanitation, plant growth regulators, pesticide resistance and more. There will be a lunch served as well. Normally there is a charge of $125 per person but because it is their first time in this area it will be FREE of charge. Registration information coming soon! If you are not familiar with Griffin check out their website, http://www.griffins.com/. They offer supplies for the nursery and greenhouse industry. Griffin has an office in Knoxville, TN and will ship to the Asheville area. The Knoxville office phone number is (865)546-9608.

For more information contact your local Cooperative Extension Center and ask for the Commercial Horticulture Agent.

NC Urban Forest Council hosts "Conservation Arboriculture."

Philip van Wassenaer and Neville Fay are the guest speakers. The seminar will be held at the Biltmore Estate, Asheville on June 16, 2008. More information coming soon. Contact the NC Urban Forest Council for more information, (336) 774-0215, NCUFC@aol.com In this first seminar we intend to explore the principles of Conservation Arboriculture. We will review heritage trees in North America, veteran tree habitat, biodiversity, co-evolution, conservation management techniques etc. Additionally, in the context of operating within a risk-averse society, we intend to explore the principles of non-defensive arboriculture, the role of device-based tree assessment in modern arboriculture (e.g. Picus tomography and wind-load simulation, tree pulling tests) and how reasonable risk decision-analysis can take account non-safety values of trees.

For more information contact your local Cooperative Extension Center and ask for the Commercial Horticulture Agent.

New, Native Plants for Wildlife Website!!

Announcing the opening of a new, native plants for wildlife website for NC!!!!

The URL is www.ncsu.edu/goingnative/
The website contains multi-layers of information, an interactive native plant database, recommendations for identification and management of select invasive plants, and a 10-minute video. Please forward to other individuals or groups that might find the site interesting or useful.

For more information contact your local Cooperative Extension Center and ask for the Commercial Horticulture Agent.

Henderson County Government Blood Drive

Henderson County Government will hold a Blood Drive
at the Henderson County Cooperative Extension Center
740 Glover St. (Jackson Park), Hendersonville

When: Wednesday, 4/30/2008

8:45 am - 1:15 pm

Sign up online at membersforlife.org/cbsr (code 14145) or call Ivy Olson at 697-4891 to schedule your donation appointment. Donate & Do Disney! Enter drawing for 3 night stay, 4 two-day passes to Disney World & 4 Delta Airline tickets!
In honor of our County & City Employees

Hendersonville Pentecostal Holiness Church will be providing hot dogs
from 10 am until 2 pm for donors at the main shed beside the Cooperative Office!

For more information contact your local Cooperative Extension Center and ask for the Commercial Horticulture Agent.

Storm Water Management Programs for Landscapers

Please RSVP to join the NCSU Water Quality Group/ French Broad Training Center as they present the following two events:


TRM Swale Installation*: Learn how to install turf-reinforced matting on a slope to control stormwater velocities, minimize erosion, and partially treat runoff AND…

Commercial Scale Rain Garden Planting: Learn about the planting plan and techniques for the highly visible Baker Center rain garden/bioretention cell in the second workshop of a two-part series.



Date and Time: Thursday, May 1st from 12:30-1:00pm

Location: The North Carolina Arboretum in front of the Baker Exhibit Center

TNCA

*The TRM Swale installation event has been rescheduled from April 17th to May 1st in order to coincide with the planting of the Baker Center rain garden.
These workshops are free of charge but require an RSVP by April 30th to: carter_cone@ncsu.edu. For questions, please call 665-2492 x339.
We gratefully acknowledge the support of the NCDENR/EPA 319 Program, NCDENR Water Resources, NC Arboretum, UNCA and Pigeon River Fund.

For more information contact your local Cooperative Extension Center and ask for the Commercial Horticulture Agent.

Cost-share program to help farmers recovering from drought

RALEIGH — North Carolina farmers reeling from drought can obtain help under a program unveiled Tuesday in Raleigh. The program will cover 75 percent of the cost of restoring drought-damaged pastureland and providing additional water supply for livestock and crops.



The N.C. Agricultural Drought Recovery Program will be administered statewide through local Soil and Water Conservation district offices beginning May 1. It was made possible by a $6 million grant from the N.C. Tobacco Trust Fund Commission.



“This grant makes it possible for more than 1,000 farmers and farm operations to restore some of the damage from last summer’s severe drought and to prepare, so the next long, hot and dry summer doesn’t do as much damage,” said Billy Ray Hall, president of the N.C. Rural Economic Development Center.



The Rural Center worked with the General Assembly’s Joint Select Committee on Agriculture Drought Response, the Tobacco Trust Fund Commission, several state agencies and other agricultural interests to design the program and arrange funding. The Division of Soil and Water Conservation, which will administer the program, is part of the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources. Others participating in the program design were the N.C. Department of Agriculture, North Carolina Grange, N.C. Farm Bureau, N.C. State University Agricultural Extension Service, N.C. Foundation of Soil and Water Conservation Districts, U.S. Department of Agriculture, N.C. Soil and Water Conservation Commission and Agricultural Advancement Consortium.



Rep. Ray Rapp, co-chairman of the legislative committee, said a bill seeking an additional $6 million to extend the program to more farmers will be submitted to the General Assembly in May.



“We recognized that any proposal we made to the legislature could not go into effect before July at the earliest, too late to save many of our farmers,” Rapp said. “Fortunately, the friends of agriculture in North Carolina are not limited to members of the General Assembly. Money from the Tobacco Trust Fund lets us put this project into effect immediately.”



The U.S. Department of Agriculture last year designated 85 of North Carolina’s 100 counties as natural disaster areas. As of April 8, 80 counties remained under drought conditions with the other 20 considered abnormally dry.



Farmers affected by the drought may apply to one of the state’s 96 Soil and Water Conservation district offices for help with several types of projects. These include pasture renovation, drilling and redrilling wells, pond construction and renovation, converting closed lagoons to fresh water ponds, and upgrading existing irrigation systems to more efficient models. The program is open to farmers with a total adjusted gross income of less than $250,000 or those who derive 75 percent of their income from farming operations.

“North Carolina farmers lost a half billion dollars in crops last year because of this drought – that’s 17 percent of total crop revenue in a typical year,” said Sen. Charlie Albertson, also a committee co-chair. “The damage wasn’t merely in lost harvest. Pasture land needs to be renovated and reseeded before livestock can graze again, and we’re still in this drought. Farmers really need our help to go forward.”

For more information contact your local Cooperative Extension Center and ask for the Commercial Horticulture Agent.

Pest News

This information comes in weekly from the NCSU Plant Disease and Insect Clinic from mid April until October. The following is an alert from Steve Bambara:

European Red Mites


We haven't seen this mite often in the landscape the last few years, but it has shown up twice in the Plant Disease and Insect Clinic at North Carolina State University over the last two weeks. European red mites usually overwinter in the egg stage. The tiny orange-red colored eggs hatch at about the time when apple trees bloom. The European red mite is an introduced pest that in North Carolina primarily infests apple trees. Although it is reported to infest various shade trees and ornamental plants in the landscape, cherry laurels seem to be the major ornamental plants that European red mites infest. The European red mite causes typical pale stipples on the leaves of their host plants, but this spider mite spins very little webbing. This mite is slightly different from the southern red mite. With your hand lens you should be able to see that the hairs on the back of the mites each arise from a small, white bump whereas the hairs of southern red mites arise from red bumps. I believe any horticultural oil spray should give adequate control. Oils will not significantly harm beneficial predator mite populations are often preferable for this reason. For professionals, most of the favorite miticides will also work.


For more information contact your local Cooperative Extension Center and ask for the Commercial Horticulture Agent.

AGR-Lite Online Training

AGR-Lite
This link will take nursery growers and farmers to an on-line course to help them in making good decisions in regard to the AGR-Lite Risk Management Tools/Insurance. The course can be taken at your own pace in the comfort of your home or office. As other on-line courses become available we will attempt to post links to them as well.

For more information contact your local Cooperative Extension Center and ask for the Commercial Horticulture Agent.

Irrigation Workshop

There will be an irrigation and sprayer workshop on April 16th at the MHCREC in Fletcher. This event will be from 12:00 noon to 3:00 p.m. Call Denny Thompson at 684-7197 by 9:00 on Tuesday, April 15th to pre-register. Topics to be discussed included Frost Protection, Greenhouse Propagation Equipment, Drip Irrigation, and various sprayers. Several irrigation companies are sponsoring the lunch and workshop.


For more information contact your local Cooperative Extension Center and ask for the Commercial Horticulture Agent.

Weather Alert

The attached weather alert update shows temperatures expected below those originally predicted. Growers should use all precautions necessary to protect their crops. See the attached predictions at: Weather Alert



For more information contact your local Cooperative Extension Center and ask for the Commercial Horticulture Agent.

Green Tips for April

The green industry newsletter for April has now been posted at GreenTips
Enjoy!
For more information contact your local Cooperative Extension Center and ask for the Commercial Horticulture Agent.