Lawn, Gardening & Pests
A yard that feels and looks like home. A bountiful harvest. Grow your own and sow something beautiful.
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Recent News
Importance of Color in the Garden
An exciting benefit of gardening is the vast palate of colors that can be observed with garden plants. Vegetables, flowers, herbs and fruits contain natural pigments that can be visually seen as red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, white, black and brown.
The colors we find among our garden plants are the result of complicated genetic traits that are expressed over the course of the growing season. Color can even be an indicator of plant nutrition and overall plant health. Sometimes, poor color expression, like yellow or dull leaves, can be a signal for plant disease or nutrient stress. Colorful plants also attract pollinators and other beneficial insects to the garden.
The color of vegetables, flowers, herbs and fruits commonly grown in West Virginia gardens is derived primarily from pigments like chlorophyll, carotenoids and anthocyanins. These pigments are dominant in certain plant parts and can exist alone or in combinations, creating various shades of colors.
Read Importance of Color in the Garden
Master Gardeners Make A Difference in WV
Dear Friends and Garden Enthusiasts,
Read Master Gardeners Make A Difference in WV
Native Winter Squash
As summer turns into fall, most of the produce we harvested will begin to decay if not properly frozen, canned or pickled. If you are looking to add another crop to your garden that will keep for a longer period and double as decoration, look no further than a winter squash.
Persimmons
Rich in fiber, antioxidants and countless nutrients – persimmons have been cultivated for hundreds of years. Native persimmons (diospyros virginiana) can grow to 30 to 40 feet. While you can start a persimmon from seed, using a stem cutting will give you an identical copy of the parent tree. There are several different methods that can be used to propagate native persimmon.
It is easy to propagate a persimmon from seed. Choose a seed from a fully ripe persimmon, remove a few seeds and soak them for a few days to loosen any sticky flesh. You will need to simulate the natural overwintering process by chilling the seeds, wrapping them in a moist paper towel and putting them in a jar or plastic bag inside of a refrigerator for three months. If the paper towel dries out, rewet it.
Apple Trees
Although apples are an adapted species, they hold a significant place in West Virginia’s history. One of today’s most popular apple cultivars, Golden Delicious, was found in Clay County in 1912. West Virginia’s star apple was marketed by Stark Brother’s Nursery to obtain nationwide, and eventually worldwide, fame. The Golden Delicious apple was designated as the state fruit in 1995. However, West Virginia was growing apples long before the discovery of the Golden Delicious.
Johnny Appleseed is said to have crossed the northern panhandle of the state in the early 1800s, and he may have planted the seed that developed into West Virginia’s first successful and super sweet cultivar, Grimes Golden.