SIMPLE things like retaining stubble or even putting out nitrogen fertiliser on wheat crops are taken for granted in todays farming systems.

But there was a time, not that long ago in relative terms, when the no-till and minimum till practices used by close to 90 per cent of Australian croppers in some fashion was a revolutionary, risky idea.

One of the first proponents of no-till practices in the country was agronomist Peter Ridge, who worked in the Wimmera region as one of the first private agronomists in the mid 1980s.

Following a stint with the Victorian Department of Agriculture, Mr Ridge said one of his major focuses when he went out on his own was to work to improve water use efficiency.

We used to use neutron probes to monitor soil moisture reserves and it was pretty clear there were better results in systems incorporating stubble retention, Mr Ridge, who now lives in Corowa, NSW, said.

This field research backed up work we had done at the Department that pointed that stubble retention also retained moisture.

It was worth an extra 50-60 millimetres a year compared to traditional cultivated paddocks.

Mr Ridge said the initial work in Australia followed research out of North America showing good promise with no-till systems.

There was also a lot of work being done in Queensland, where researchers were primarily looking at managing high volumes of water during big rainfall events by having standing crop residue.

But while researchers were optimistic of its benefits, there had only been very sporadic uptake by Australia farmers.

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Trailblazers of the no-till movement

A collection such as this alerts you to the diversity of snowdrops tall, short, slender, fat, single, double, glaucous or green-leaved and of their myriad markings, as well as how long a flowering season they have. G. reginae-olgae is out in the autumn, G. elwesii Hiemalis Group at Christmas, 'Atkinsii in January and 'Straffan right at the end of February, he says. Since Sales likes to have his garden full of interest at all times of year, he relishes this contribution.

Now, at their midseason climax, the snowdrops are accompanied by a lemon yellow witch hazel (Hamamelis x intermedia 'Pallida) in full flush, and pools of pink Cyclamen coum, growing in small circular beds around the trees in the lawn. In one of these beds, the cyclamen share ground with crocus, white bluebells, self-seeding love-in-a-mist (Nigella), and Cyclamen neapolitanum, giving an all-year flower display entirely on its own.

Elsewhere, Sales has his snowdrops under shrub roses and tree peonies, between summer perennials and pushing through wild strawberry and other ground cover all crisply presented against a thin mulch of dark home-made compost.

I wondered which of the many varieties he would especially recommend. If you were going for only one snowdrop, it would have to be 'S. Arnott a group gives you a lovely honey scent in the air. 'Atkinsii and 'Magnet are old favourites. 'Galatea I love, 'Ailwyn is the best double, and 'Armine is a good late one. He also shows me 'Lyn, named after his wife and found by her in a nearby wood. Tall like a very early-flowering Atkinsii and quick to colonise, it looks terrific. With other snowdrops he has introduced, his naming has been more playful: 'January Sales and 'Compu.Ted (named after his grandson Ted, a computer buff).

Snowdrop 'Lyn' named after John's wife (Heathcliff O'Malley)

Sales is still involved in the management of historic gardens as a consultant for private estates such as Chatsworth. But when not busy with this, or entertaining his grandchildren, retirement has allowed him time to develop his garden into a plantsmans paradise. The maintenance is immaculate, including in the two covered glasshouses, which sport a 'Cornish Snow camellia and pots of South African bulbs, including a fat clump of pink, poker-like Veltheimia bracteata this last plant producing a spectacle that I am going to try to emulate in my own frost-free porch next winter.

A life in gardens

John Sales joined the National Trust in the early Seventies as an assistant to Graham Stuart Thomas (1909-2003), one of the countrys greatest plantsmen and garden writers. Sales has just finished writing his memoirs, so I asked him about his days with the Trust.

In those days, the Trust was run by aesthetes. It had very low membership and visitor numbers, and yet they would still take on properties such as West Wycombe Park with an endowment of just 5,000, says Sales. With inflation, that was hopeless. At that time, most gardens were viewed by many in the Trust rather as a stage-set for the house instead of having an intrinsic worth.

Since they had to be run on a tight budget and there was little opportunity to do much research into them, making them presentable was the main thing. But there was some great talent among the head gardeners men such as Mike Snowden at Erddig and Jimmy Hancock at Powis Castle. With gardeners such as Pamela Schwerdt and Sibylle Kreutzberger at Sissinghurst, who had each other to bounce ideas off, the visits with Graham and myself were more like conversations, but elsewhere we could be mentors to the head gardeners and help address weaknesses organising for them to go on a particular course or work in another garden to help raise standards. Such interactions are vital: people are not born good gardeners, they are made good gardeners through contact with experts.

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Snowdrop paradise: a collector's dream

Grass Seeding Charlie Moreland Campsite episode 1

By: Flowscape Peck

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Grass Seeding Charlie Moreland Campsite episode 1 - Video

By Blair Cotching, Ravensdown Seed Product Manager

Making the correct choice of seed can often be a tricky one for farmers, especially when returns are under pressure, so making the right call to maintain farm productivity is critical. When it comes to seeds however, taking the cheaper option can end up costing you more.

Cutting back on pasture renewal and/or reducing fertiliser application can be tempting, but a careful review of the pluses and minuses is needed when making those decisions, especially as seed is only a relatively small part of the overall cost of re-grassing. So what are you buying when you are buying cheap varieties?

One possibility is that the cultivar might be an older, lower-performing variety whose production has been superseded by newer varieties. Nui, which is more than 30 years old and has been a strong contributor for a long time, is one example which might come into this category.

Buying seeds where the variety is not stated or the seeds are uncertified risks variability in yields and lack of clarity about the endophyte status of the cultivar. Weeds can also be a problem. Given this, it is important to consider the advantages that modern grasses offer, especially when plant breeding has made significant advances during the last 30 years. The advantages newer-bred varieties offer over older, lower performing varieties include:

Better yield. For example, higher performing varieties such as Matrix and Ultra produce 1.5 tonnes DM/hectare/year more than Nui.

Seasonal growth. Significant advances have been made in improving the winter and early spring activity of grasses, producing feed when it is needed most to better meet the feed demands of livestock.

Heading date. Modern grasses are later heading by up to three weeks than older varieties, maintaining pasture quality for longer, and without sacrificing early spring growth. Lush / leafy spring growth generally has a Metabolisable Energy (ME) rate of around 12 - 13MJME/KgDM, whereas stalky pasture which has gone to seed has an ME of around 8 - 9 MJME/kgDM, so is only maintenance feed at best.

Low aftermath heading. This refers to how quickly a pasture returns to vegetative state after heading / seeding. Varieties with low aftermath heading have been bred to return quickly to vegetative state. Benefits include improved pasture quality, improved palatability and voluntary intake, and less need for mowing.

Improved pasture quality. Modern grasses have generally been bred for higher quality (higher ME, higher digestibility, later heading etc). Higher pasture quality leads to increased voluntary intake and improved livestock performance.

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Seed purchasing decisions can impact productivity

Seeding a New Lawn

Using seed is the most common method of planting turfgrass. Whether you have an established lawn or you are starting a new one, the basic principles are the same.

1. Dig or till to a 3-inch depth.

2. Rake to remove clumps and clods.

3. Smooth and level the surface. Remember, you are establishing a finished grade so include any contours needed for drainage.

4. Add compost, topsoil and starter fertilizer and work them into the soil.

5. Roll with a weighted lawn roller.

6. Spread the seed. To ensure even coverage, sow half of the seed in one direction and the other half at a right angle.

7. Rake and roll again.

8. Mulch with a weed-free straw, such as wheat straw. As an alternative, you can use a seed starter mat or seed blanket to help keep the seed and loose soil from washing or blowing away.

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Seed Your Lawn - Lowe's Home Improvement: Appliances ...

ICC World Cup. Click here to bet.

Group: B Seeding: 2 Sky Bet Odds: 100/30 Squad: AB de Villiers (capt,wk), Kyle Abbott, Hashim Amla, Farhaan Behardien, Quinton de Kock (wk), JP Duminy, Faf du Plessis, David Miller, Morne Morkel, Wayne Parnell, Aaron Phangiso, Vernon Philander, Rilee Rossouw, Dale Steyn, Imran Tahir. Previous World Cup appearances: 6 World Cup best: Semi-finals 1992, 1999, 2007 World Cup 2011: QF

Last 12 months: Results: P 24 W 16 L 7 NR 1 Top batsman: Hashim Amla, 1305 runs at 68.68 Top bowler: Imran Tahir, 29 wickets at 23.00

For South Africas World Cup chances here, see just about every other tournament since their debut in the event back in 1992.

There is so much quality in this team its frightening. Hashim Amla and AB de Villiers are arguably the best two batsmen in the world on current form, while the support provided by the likes of Faf du Plessie, Quinton de Kock and David Miller is none too shabby.

Dale Steyn is still the best in the business, Morne Morkel can take teams apart and Imran Tahir has been a real hit in the limited-overs side despite proving to be expensive and non-threatening in Tests.

The Proteas go into this tournament as second favourites behind the Aussies and on paper its easy to see why. But on grass things have so often been different.

Their record in knockout games at ICC events is absolutely wretched. Theyve lost three semi-finals in their six tournaments and in 2011 went out to New Zealand in the last eight having cruised through the group stage. A repeat cannot be ruled out.

Beyond the psychological scars of the chokers tag, the big weakness in this team appears to be the back-up seam bowling behind Steyn and Morkel.

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South Africa

The cities of Port Moody, Port Coquitlam and Coquitlam are assessing damage caused by chafer beetles and the birds and animals that eat them.

image credit: FILE PHOTO

Lawns and grass fields torn up by crows and raccoons in search of chafer beetles could cost thousands of dollars to repair, according to Port Coquitlam and Coquitlam, with Port Moody and School District 43 still assessing the damage.

"There is a lot of damage all over the place. We are doing a full audit. It is very extensive," commented Raul Allueva, general manager of parks and recreation for the city of Coquitlam.

Healthy lawns and sports fields appear to be untouched, with most of the damage confined to areas where grass is in poor shape.

School District 43 reports little to no damage and Port Moody is still in the midst of an audit, although staff say the problem has worsened since last year and Port Coquitlam has put a price to repairing chafer beetle-infected fields in its jurisdiction.

Repairs to the PoCo cemetery, where Terry Fox is buried, will cost $104,200, including the re-establishment of a vigorous lawn, and repairs to other areas will cost about $15,000.

In addition to the cemetery, there are 11 sites in that city with low level chafer beetle damage, six sites with medium level damage and two sites with high level damage where the site is completely disturbed and bare soil is exposed.

"Given the nature of these areas and the size of the areas impacted, we will be managing them through a combination of top-dressing, over-seeding and nematode applications," Todd Gross, PoCo's parks and services manager stated in an email.

Many homeowners are also seeing damage to their property, according to Art Knapp owner Wim Vander Zalm who has been dispensing advice on how to deal with the pest.

Continue reading here:
Cities tallying up the cost of fixing grass wrecked by chafer beetles

If a client wants to create a new meadow from an area of good soil, Pam has found that the most effective way to create it (in areas under a quarter of an acre), is to isolate (rather than removing) the over-fertile topsoil. This she does by covering it with a layer of Terram, Mypex, old carpet (whatever suits the budget and size best) and then spreading a depth of 150-200mm of substrate: limestone chippings or other nutrient-poor material (sand, gravel, rubble, chalk) on top.

She finds this creates an instantly gratifying solution which sorts out a challenging weed burden and is more effective than the more usual method of removing the top soil. It is also a useful ploy to establish patches of wildflowers (say 4-6m square) within a larger area; creating a sort of nucleus seed source.

Next, Pam sows the wildflower seeds onto the substrate, occasionally adding some leaf mould (this has low fertility) as a carrier for the seed. Rarely does she include grass, though occasionally a small proportion of sheeps fescue may be added.

While it is establishing it might need hand weeding to remove more invasive weeds such as willow herb. Then the maintenance is an annual mow and removal of the growth, usually after seeding. A patch will be left unmown to allow later seeders to disperse. It also acts as a source of fresh seed and, very importantly, is left for wildlife. This unmown patch varies annually.

One of Pam's meadow projects

Generally, Pam far prefers to use seed than plug plants. Plugs she finds especially difficult to establish in existing grassland, though there are a few exceptions. The devils bit scabious does well from plugs in substrate, for example.

Gravel areas (driveways and paths) are excellent areas to go wild with. Pam scatters seed on these, usually a mix of yarrow, self heal, birds foot trefoil, autumn hawks bit and white clover as they endure being driven and trodden on. It looks a little like a weed-infested path in the very early stages but as it establishes it looks good.

As to making your lawns richer, the simplest way is just to mow them with the blades set higher, which means you can mow less frequently. Grass grows faster when it is short and slows down as it gets longer. Longer grass also conserves more moisture as it provides more shade, and the roots grow deeper allowing it to reach more moisture in times of drought.

Equally importantly, buttercups, daisies, self heal and other flowering plants can jostle in amongst the grasses, helping keep the lawn green. Tighter mown paths can create interesting differentiation too.

Pam has been developing an old horse meadow, on fertile soil. She has reduced the fertility by taking hay crops and then grazing it (removing the droppings, if horses) initially. She then added yellow rattle seeds (which reduces the vigour of the grass and lessens competition). She finds (as I do) that this can be tricky to establish. Other wildflower seeds that she has collected locally were just scattered over the top. The wildflowers have multiplied - suddenly, after 20 years, she has even found that pignut (Conopodium majus) has arrived.

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Wildflower guru: the woman who knows meadows

MYERSTOWN >> Jackson Township Supervisors approved Monday a resolution to submit its grant application to the Department of Conservation and National Resources for the second phase of Fairlane Avenue Park.

If approved, the matching grant will provide half of the estimated $433,000 the township will need to complete what township engineer Steve Sherk calls Phase 2B. This phase will construct the recreation areas of the park that include basketball, pickle ball, and bocce courts; a playground, soccer and baseball fields. Phase 2A of the project will focus on the excavation and grading of the land and construction of a parking lot and grass overflow parking; as well as general seeding and landscaping. Phase 2A is scheduled to begin this spring and will cost an estimated $364,000 making the total estimated cost of the second phase of Fairlane Avenue Park, $797,000.

In related business, the supervisors authorized Sherk to submit the plans for a building to be constructed at Rager Field at Fairlane Avenue Park for code approval. Some controversy surrounds this project as it will be built on a concrete pad that no one seems to know anything about. This concrete pad was a major point of contention with resident Ann Gruber at last month's meeting. During the public comment section Monday, Gruber again raised the question of how the concrete pad can be built without the township's knowledge. She apologized to the supervisors for interrupting Chairman Thomas Houtz last month when he tried to explain the situation and waited for his response Monday night.

Clyde Deck, township secretary, addressed residents' concerns regarding the surveying taking place along route 422. Deck reported that the survey is conducting traffic studies along the route 422 corridor, specifically at the Ramona Rd and routes 645 & 501 intersections. Deck said that the survey is required by Penn Dot to see if a round-about is suitable for the area and also to help traffic move more smoothly through the Eastern part of Lebanon County.

Supervisors authorized Sherk to begin the plan and design of a new maintenance building for the township that will replace the one that was destroyed by fire last year. The estimated cost of the build is $375,000 and will be located on Washington Avenue; the same site as the previous building.

Township solicitor Paul Bametzreider, briefly discussed a letter the supervisors received from the ACLU regarding the township's "Conduct at Meeting" ordinance. The supervisors authorized Bametzreider to review the letter and draft a response.

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Jackson Twp. moves along with Fairlane Avenue Park

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Q: I was walking around my property, taking stock of whats going on, and inspected my pine trees for damage from the last few storms. I was startled when I found gobs of small black bugs clustered in nooks and along lots of the stems!

Most have clear wings and look a lot like aphids that Ive seen but they are black! What do my trees have and should I be worried? E.G., Albuquerque

A: Worried? You better be! Youre correct in your recognition of the critters, they are aphids.

Amazingly, aphids are like chameleons in a way as they can come in several colors. No, they dont change colors, there are just lots of different types. Ive seen white ones, black ones, sort of a pale pink colored ones and the typical green ones in my life. But theyre aphids, nonetheless, and able to inflict a whole host of trouble. So, Ill suggest you treat your trees and do it soon.

Consider spraying with a pesticide like malathion or pyrethrin to gain an upper hand for this, your initial strike at control. If you have concerns about applying a strong pesticide, spray with a dormant oil. Read your pesticide labels for restrictions as to temperature and frequency of the pesticide you choose, but if the infestation is a bad one, get a good knock down with a strong pesticide then change to a more environmentally friendly one for any follow-up sprayings you might need to apply.

However, do it soon as birds are going to start nesting soon and spraying them is harsh!

Monitor the trees throughout the coming growing season and treat them, if necessary. One of the simplest ways to treat for aphids is with water. Spray the tree with the hardest jet of water it can stand! That would disrupt the aphid colonies for sure and helps prevent a secondary malady called sooty mold that can lead to more stress for your trees.

Be sure you arent over-fertilizing your trees, either. It sounds weird, but a too well-fed plant is an attractant for aphids!

I know the weather this weekend isnt conducive to getting out and taking care of business, but dont put it off any longer than necessary. Aphids can cause a whole lot of trouble if they are allowed free rein in your trees!

See the article here:
Do I have aphids in my trees?