Yard and Garden News

Winter is a nice time to order fruit plants to be planted next spring. At this point, most gardeners haven't started their spring orders yet, which means that the nurseries are well stocked with many varieties to choose from. 

Be a smart gardener and get a head start now!
Tip #1: Order from a local Minnesota nursery or plant supplierIf possible, it is a good practice to order fruit plants from a local supplier in your area or region. Not only does this help support our local Minnesota horticulture industry, but it also helps minimize the amount of time that your fruit plants are in transit by the shipping company. It can also help ensure that the varieties you purchase are adapted to your region.

There are a number of nurseries and agricultural suppliers in Minnesota that allow you to do online orders of high quality fruit plants, including raspberries, strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, honeyberries, and others.

Use the farm directory on www.minnesotagrown.com (a MN Dept. of Ag…

A sprig of Mistletoe has been fraught with meaning for thousands of years, becoming wildly popular during Victorian times. As author Washington Irving wrote about the plant in 1820: “the mistletoe, with its white berries, hung up, to the imminent peril of all the pretty housemaids.”

Mistletoe, a symbol of fertility, life, friendship and love, typically dangles from doorways during Christmas time, inspiring plenty of smooching! 
The dark side of MistletoeBut as Utah State University Forest Pathologist and Professor Fred Baker points out, at least in our state, Eastern spruce dwarf mistletoe plays a much more sinister role. It is actually a disease that kills trees quickly, with most trees dying within 20 years.
Deadly to northern Minnesota trees...Many stands of black spruce in northern Minnesota suffer from this fungal pathogen. 

The dwarf mistletoe disrupts a tree’s physiology in many ways. The most common sign is the formation of a witches’ broom, a clump of small, weak branches arising…

Q: We acquired seven junipers 6’ tall this summer. They seem healthy but the snow is weighing down the branches on several of them. Can I wrap them with plastic snow fencing? We started with burlap but it's cumbersome and we need a lot of it.A: You'll want to prevent your junipers from getting damaged by the weight of the snow. Just gently shake the branches and that gives a temporary reprieve.

Wrapping your junipers with snow fencing would also prevent damage and, in fact, may be a better measure than merely shaking the branches. It will also protect from sun scald, too, but burlap is better and is primarily used for this purpose.

Wrap your shrubs with 2-3 layers of fencing to reduce  the drying effects of winter winds. If your junipers are in a north or north east location, the possibility of winter burn is reduced.

More Resources
Protecting Trees and Shrubs in Winter

From the University of Wisconsin Extension:
Winter Burn

Got a gardening question? Just Ask Extension!

Your goal is to pick out the perfect Christmas tree for your holiday celebration. But do you know exactly what you're buying? 

Which trees are native? What tree will retain its needles better? What's the best the way to keep my tree fresh throughout the holidays? 

Here's an encore presentation of a Y&G News article we ran last year (with a few updates) to bring you some facts about that all important purchase for your family:
What's the most popular tree in MN? There's not great data to share here. But in 2018, the University of Minnesota Forestry Club tracked their sales and they say there are two front runners--Fraser firs and balsam firs, but pines don't make the cut. 

Fraser firs make up almost half of those trees sold by the club. This tree originally came from the southern Appalachian region of Virginia and North Carolina, but it's also grown in Minnesota in certain situations. Some refer to it as the “southern balsam fir."  It has a bigger trunk…

We know the feeling...you've got someone who loves gardening on your holiday gift list, but you think they might have everything they need.  Not so, my friend!  

The possibilities are almost endless!  This is the Y&G News Annual Gardening Gift Idea List with contributions from UMN Extension Educators who are going to tell you about some of their favorite gardening gifts. 

We'll start with an "easy peasy" one... something ALL gardeners love!
Gift Idea #1: Gloves, gloves, gloves!Author: Mary H. Meyer, Extension Horticulturist & Professor
Can a gardener ever have too many garden gloves? No! I go through several pairs of garden gloves a season….usually a waterproof style with latex covering the palm and fingers, like Gardena.
However these inexpensive gloves wear out, often with a hole in the finger or getting quite dirty inside since the gloves are short and dirt can come in through the wrist. 

I recently got a pair of Foxgloves original gloves (a free offer to memb…

While winter has fully set in, did you know...there are still many ways to use local foods in your holiday meals.  
What produce is available during a MN Winter?Thanks to root cellars and high tunnels, you can continue to find local carrots, potatoes, onions, garlic, kohlrabi, beets, and even kale and lettuce! Locally raised eggs and meat are also available year-round. 

There are many benefits to eating local foods, including improved freshness, reduced transportation miles, and supporting your local economy. 

Why buy local now?The National Farmers Union reports that for an 11 pound turkey, which sells for an average retail cost of $16.39, the farmer will receive only $0.66. Buying locally and directly from farmers allows farmers to retain a greater share. 

Where to find local foodA few places to find local foods in the winter include: 
Look for winter farmers markets - Minnesota Grown maintains an excellent interactive map showing winter markets around the state. Search Minnesota Grown’s …

Meyer lemons are fun to grow indoors and usually ripen in the winter in Minnesota. These lemons have a mandarin orange in the background as a parent and are a milder or sweeter form of lemon. 
What to expect as it ripensThe color changes from dark green to light green then yellow and finally a light orange or egg yolk color when fully ripe. The fruits become slightly softer on the outside as they ripen. 

The ripening can occur over several weeks. If fully ripe, they will fall from the tree, but usually by that time, the fruits are quite soft and perhaps overripe. Look for this form of lemon in the grocery store and you will see the fully ripe color. Unripened fruits are edible but will not be as sweet as fully ripe Meyer lemons. 
An unusual Holiday giftWant to give an unusual Christmas gift to your gardening friends? Meyer lemons can be purchased at local garden centers and make a fun gift. 

They require full sun and regular watering and fertilizer, but will consistently bloom and fruit i…