In descending order, by date published.
1/16/2024 (major revision)
Authors: Brad Lee, Edwin Ritchey
Soil is a mixture of weathered rock fragments (minerals) and organic matter at the earth's surface. It is biologically active - a home to countless microorganisms, invertebrates, and plant roots.
Departments: Plant and Soil Sciences
Series: Agronomy (AGR series)
Size: 1.53 mb
Pages: 18
1/16/2024 (major revision)
Authors: J.D. Green
Every garden has weeds, and every gardener wonders what to do about them. Gardening involves lots of small decisions that can have a cumulative effect on those weed problems.
Departments: Plant and Soil Sciences
Series: Agronomy (AGR series)
Size: 1.47 mb
Pages: 10
1/16/2024 (major revision)
Authors: Kenneth Clayton, Gregg Munshaw, A.J. Powell
Turfgrass is the foundation of a quality landscape. It improves the beauty of other ornamentals and provides a safe recreational surface.
Departments: Plant and Soil Sciences
Series: Agronomy (AGR series)
Size: 2.21 mb
Pages: 16
1/16/2024 (major revision)
Authors: Jonathan Larson
Insects are the most biodiverse group of animals on earth. Amazingly, there are about one million total species of insects known currently, with the possibility of tens of millions more left to discover.
Departments: Entomology
Series: Entomology (ENT series)
Size: 8.98 mb
Pages: 16
1/16/2024 (major revision)
Authors: Jonathan Larson
Pests can be insects, weeds, vertebrates, and diseases. Any organism that causes harm to crops, livestock, or humans can be considered problematic and therefore must be managed.
Departments: Entomology
Series: Entomology (ENT series)
Size: 2.23 mb
Pages: 8
1/16/2024 (major revision)
Authors: Lee Townsend
Pest is not a biological term for an organism's environmental role as are the words plant, herbivore, predator, and scavenger. It is a term for an organism that is either causing damage or is somewhere where it's not wanted.
Departments: Entomology
Series: Entomology (ENT series)
Size: 1.23 mb
Pages: 8
1/16/2024 (major revision)
Authors: Tom Barnes, Matthew Springer
Most people enjoy watching wildlife around the home, whether it is birds at a feeder, butterflies on flowers, or the occasional deer or turkey wandering through the yard. In some instances, wildlife come into contact with humans and are in the wrong place at the wrong time. For the gardening enthusiast, this encounter can create conflict.
Departments: Forestry and Natural Resources
Series: Forestry and Natural Resources (FOR series)
Size: 1.11 mb
Pages: 8
1/16/2024 (major revision)
Authors: Krista Jacobsen
Organic farming and gardening have grown in popularity in recent years as consumers and producers have sought alternatives to synthetic fertilizers and pesticides in favor of biologically based management.
Departments: Horticulture
Series: Horticulture (HO series)
Size: 1.39 mb
Pages: 8
1/16/2024 (major revision)
Authors: Rick Durham
To prune or not to prune? This is a question that often faces gardeners. Most feel they ought to prune but are not sure why or how.
Departments: Horticulture
Series: Horticulture (HO series)
Size: 2.73 mb
Pages: 14
1/16/2024 (major revision)
Authors: Sharon Bale, Rick Durham
Can you imagine a world without flowers? Their textures, colors, scents, and forms inspire gardeners, artists, and writers. The desire to grow flowers often motivates novices to take up gardening and moves experienced gardeners to become flower specialists. Annuals, biennials, and herbaceous perennials offer variety and interest to all styles of gardens.
Departments: Horticulture
Series: Horticulture (HO series)
Size: 1.90 mb
Pages: 10
1/16/2024 (major revision)
Authors: Sharon Bale, Rick Durham
Cultivating plants inside the home is both a popular hobby and an interior decorating technique. More than 75 percent of all American families use living plants as part of their home decor or cultural expression.
Departments: Horticulture
Series: Horticulture (HO series)
Size: 1.66 mb
Pages: 10
1/16/2024 (major revision)
Authors: John Strang
Growing tree fruits or nuts can provide a great deal of satisfaction, but it takes a commitment to care for your trees year-round.
Departments: Horticulture
Series: Horticulture (HO series)
Size: 1.91 mb
Pages: 10
1/16/2024 (major revision)
Authors: Rick Durham
Landscape designs differ depending on how the landscape will be used. Although the principles are the same, a homeowner who wants an aesthetically pleasing, low-maintenance landscape will create a design very different than that of an avid gardener whose main purpose in life is to spend time in the garden.
Departments: Horticulture
Series: Horticulture (HO series)
Size: 2.46 mb
Pages: 16
1/16/2024 (major revision)
Authors: Rick Durham, Bill Fountain
Woody ornamental plants are key components of a well-designed landscape. Landscape plantings divide and define areas, add aesthetic and psychological benefits, and increase a property's environmental and economic value.
Departments: Horticulture
Series: Horticulture (HO series)
Size: 2.09 mb
Pages: 14
1/16/2024 (major revision)
Authors: Rick Durham
Plants are essential to life on earth. Either directly or indirectly, they are the primary food source for humans and other animals. Additionally, they provide fuel, replenish the earth's oxygen supply, prevent soil erosion, slow down wind movement, cool the atmosphere, provide wildlife habitat, supply medicinal compounds, and beautify our surroundings.
Departments: Horticulture
Series: Horticulture (HO series)
Size: 4.27 mb
Pages: 22
1/16/2024 (major revision)
Authors: Rick Durham
Learning about new plants is an exciting venture. Sometimes you are looking for a plant to fill a certain spot in your garden. At other times, you want to complete a particular color scheme, or your attention is caught by a magnificent tree, shrub, or perennial in a public or private garden.
Departments: Horticulture
Series: Horticulture (HO series)
Size: 351 kb
Pages: 4
1/16/2024 (major revision)
Authors: Rick Durham
Sexual propagation involves the union of the pollen (male) with the egg (female) to produce a seed. The seed is made up of three parts: the outer seed coat, which protects the seed; the endosperm, which is a food reserve; and the embryo, which is the young plant itself.
Departments: Horticulture
Series: Horticulture (HO series)
Size: 1.38 mb
Pages: 12
1/16/2024 (major revision)
Authors: Rick Durham, Brad Lee
Gardeners have long made and used compost to improve garden soil.
Departments: Horticulture, Plant and Soil Sciences
Series: Interdepartmental (ID series)
Size: 908 kb
Pages: 6
1/16/2024 (major revision)
Authors: Jessica Bessin, Rick Durham, Nicole Ward Gauthier, Adam Leonberger, Kimberly Leonberger, Matthew Springer, Lee Townsend, Stacy White, Erica Wood
For those with a green thumb, growing plants may seem easy. However, when plant problems arise, determining the cause of these issues can be difficult. Developing the skills necessary to determine the cause of a plant problem takes experience and time.
Departments: Bell County, Entomology, Forestry and Natural Resources, Franklin County, Hopkins County, Horticulture, Mercer County, Plant Pathology
Series: Interdepartmental (ID series)
Size: 15.53 mb
Pages: 24
1/16/2024 (major revision)
Authors: Rick Durham, Brad Lee
We generally view gardening as a wholesome activity that enhances our environment. But pesticides, fertilizers, and erosion from gardens and landscapes can contaminate lakes, streams, rivers, oceans, and groundwater. Since the quality of our water resources affects our quality of life, we must learn how gardening practices can contribute to water contamination and how to reduce the threat to water quality.
Departments: Horticulture, Plant and Soil Sciences
Series: Interdepartmental (ID series)
Size: 749 kb
Pages: 6
1/16/2024 (major revision)
Authors: Nicole Ward Gauthier, Kelly Jackson, Kimberly Leonberger, Robbie Smith
Anyone who has ever planted a garden knows not only the rewards of beautiful flowers, fruit, and/or vegetables, but also the disappointment when plants become diseased or damaged. Many factors cause plants to exhibit poor vigor, changes in appearance, or even death.
Departments: Christian County, County Extension, Plant Pathology
Series: Plant Pathology (PPA series)
Size: 21.85 mb
Pages: 20
