Herb Day

After the Holidays:

Putting Your Tree to Use

Cut Christmas Trees

Will Not Root

Winter Garden Day Set

Articles written by U of I Extension horticulture educators, David Robson, Martha Smith, and Elizabeth Wahle.

www.coles. extension.uiuc.edu/

Mother Nature hit some parts of Illinois with ice on December 1 and left behind damaged trees. Broken and torn limbs from a wind or ice storm need proper attention because this type of damage affects the shape as well as the general health of the tree. If you get calls from clients, advise them with the information below.

Prune properly to avoid additional damage and to salvage the overall appearance. Cut off broken or torn limbs to avoid unnecessary bark stripping. Cut away loose bark or jagged, protruding wood. Make clean cuts with a chisel or knife. This eliminates favorable areas for harmful organisms to accumulate. Do not remove excessive amounts of bark or tissue when repairing wounds.

If a limb has broken off and left a stump, follow the three-cut method to avoid ripping bark and wood. The first cut is on the underside of the limb to be removed, about 1 foot from the trunk or larger limb. Cut only about one-third through the limb. Make a second cut on the upper side of the same limb, about 2 to 6 inches farther out than the first cut. Continue sawing until the branch falls off. Remove the remaining stump by making a single cut that leaves the branch bark ridge intact. Contact the county U of I Extension office for further information on the three-cut method.

You can attempt to reattach any loose bark that is still moist and can be refitted into place. Tacks can be used to hold bark securely, and a burlap covering will help the wound retain moisture. If branches are split at the crotches, pull them back into place and secure them with lag-thread screw rods. Bore a hole through the trunk or branch at the place above the split where the screw rod is to be inserted. Make a hole 1/16 inch smaller in diameter than the diameter of the screw rod. Insert the screw rod until the point is nearly to the opposite side. Cut off the protruding end.

As for "tree paints" or wound dressings, experts are divided on their use. Research suggests that the paints do very little in the way of preventing disease organisms from entering the wound. If a wound is to be treated, use only materials labeled for the job.

There may come a point when you have to decide whether saving the tree is worth the effort. Major limb or trunk damage can never recover to its original condition. Wounds that heal over could cover internal damage. If you are unsure, have a certified arborist check the tree.

Herb Day 2007 is January 20 at the Holiday Inn Hotel and Conference Center (217-328-7900) in Urbana. The program runs from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Herbal experts from around the world will present five educational sessions to inspire herb gardening and use in the coming year.

Caroline Holmes, noted garden author, speaker and garden designer from Bury St. Edmunds, England, will give two talks. Her morning presentation is entitled A Zest for Herbs, which includes a section on her garden designs at Alnwick. In the afternoon, she will follow up with Herbs from Monet's Garden at Giverney, with thoughts about both the artistic and culinary approach to herbs, along with gorgeous slides of the artist's restored gardens.

Kathleen Hull, M.D. will present a historical perspective on Female Complaints in the Garden. She will explain how different plants have been used to treat disorders affecting women. This interesting presentation is not uncomfortable for men in the audience, due to Hull's tact and professional style.

Deanna House will again delight our gastronomic senses with House Specialties with Herbs. Her latest cookbook will also be available.

Art Tucker, Delaware State University professor and world-renowned herbal scholar, has put together a talk that explores what Linnaeus himself might say about some of the medicinal plants of the world, entitled Linnaeus' Thoughts on Herbs.

A retail area will be available, selling a broad spectrum of herb, spice, and gardening products.

Cost of registration, including lunch, is $49 per person and includes the lectures, coffee, tea, and rolls at morning registration, an herbal-theme lunch buffet, and access to the retail area. Reservations must be received by January 12 to guarantee lunch.

To register, make check payable to the University of Illinois and mail to

Herb Day 2007

Attn: Carol Preston

S-406 Turner Hall

1102 S. Goodwin Ave.

Urbana, Illinois 61801

For more information, call 217-333-7738.

Credit card orders cannot be accepted, and cancellations will not be refunded. Registrations may be ransferred to another person as long as Carol Preston is notified of the name change by January 12.

No confirmation will be sent. To confirm receipt of registration, phone (217) 333-7738 or e-mail preston1@uiuc.edu.

Seating is limited and Herb Day sold out last year, so register early to avoid disappointment.

On-site registration will only be taken if all 270 seats are not filled. On-site registration does not include lunch.

Southern Illinois Bedding Plant School
January 4 Belleville, Illinois

Southern Illinois Grounds Maintenance School
January 23-24
Collinsville, Illinois

For details on these two schools, log on to http://web.extension.uiuc.edu/madisonstclair/

Southern Illinois Tree Fruit School
February 6
Mt. Vernon, Illinois

Southwest Illinois Tree Fruit School
February 7
Hardin, Illinois

Southern Illinois Vegetable School
February 15
Mt. Vernon, Illinois

Illinois Small Fruit and Strawberry Schools
February 27-28
Mt. Vernon, Illinois

For more details on these fruit and vegetable programs, visit this website: http://web.extension.uiuc.edu/regions/hort/

It is always a melancholy time when the holiday excitement is over and the tree is taken down. Rather than just throw out the tree that has provided so much joy, there are several ways the old trees can be used.

The one thing you should not do with the old tree is burn it in the fireplace. A dry tree will burn with intense heat and may buckle a steel fireplace, crack a flue in a brick chimney, or start a chimney fire. If anything, use the small twigs for kindling.

An old tradition dating to the Middle Ages is to move the tree outside and set it up for the animals, decorated with various kinds of foods. Birds appreciate suet cakes with seeds, strings of popcorn or cranberries, and fresh pine cones with seeds still inside. Squirrels like strings of peanuts or apple slices.

During inclement weather, the tree can provide protection for animals to roost in or huddle under through a winter storm. Birds such as cardinals and jays, which stay here all year, are much more likely to take up permanent residence in your yard if invited there for the winter.

If you are already providing for the animals, you can use the old tree for plant protection. Since we always have the danger of alternate freezing and thawing throughout the winter, perennials should be covered–not to keep them warm, but to keep them cold. For this reason, you always need to wait to mulch the garden until after the ground has frozen. The ideal mulch is light enough to permit air to penetrate but substantial enough to shade the soil and keep it from thawing every time the sun shines on it.

A good mulch for this purpose is your leftover Christmas tree. Branches from the tree can be cut up and laid over your perennial bed. Two layers of bough, crisscrossed, should suffice. The boughs will admit air to the ground but keep out the sun.

In the spring, remove the boughs in two stages, three or four days apart just as the first new sprouts appear. This technique permits the tender new growth to become gradually acclimated to the chilly spring air.

If you have extensive perennial beds or strawberries, you might run out of branches from your own tree. But, you can be sure there will be a ready supply as neighbors discard their trees.

After removing the branches, save the trunks. They make good beanpoles or tomato stakes.

Cut Christmas trees will not form roots and should be discarded as soon as needles start drying and falling.

Occasionally, some Christmas trees, particularly firs, will develop new shoots and plants appear to be actively growing. Plants continue to actively absorb water and may stay pliable for several months.

There are no records showing that a Christmas tree actively produces new roots and is able to survive in the landscape. In a typical field, the trees are dormant when cut, meaning the tree isn't actively producing sugars. What sugars the tree had produced, and which might be capable of helping feed the tree as it establishes new roots, are stored in the roots in the ground. Cutting the tree severs the tie to this stored energy.

A Winter Day in the Garden is set for January 27 at the Zwermann Theatre, Lincoln Trail College in Robinson, Illinois.Doors open at 8 a.m., and the program runs 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Topics include

·On the Road with a Gardener's Diary: People, Places and Plants by Erica Glasener

·Butterflies: Gardening with a Purpose by Judy Burris and Wayne Richards

·Dark and Purple Plants by Becke Davis

·Creating a Garden Room by Becke Davis

·Low Maintenance Perennials by Dave Wanninger

Early registration is $35 and includes coffee/snacks and lunch.Late registration after January 9 is $40.The program is sponsored by the Crawford County Master Gardeners and Lincoln Trail College. Call 618-546-1549 for details. Or, log on to www.extension.uiuc.edu/crawford and click the "horticulture and environment" tab.

Horticulture books make great Christmas gifts for the gardener on your list. Check out some of Extension's most popular items at www.extension.uiuc.edu.

Click the Publications tab and then go to the Publications Plus section for a listing of available items. Orders are usually shipped within a couple of days of when they are placed.

Hi everyone!

What a wonderful gathering we had at the Hummel residence last week–delicious food, delightful company, and decadent decorations. Thank you, Kathy and Dick, for serving as our host/hostess for the 2007 Master Gardener Christmas party. The Coles County MG group is fortunate to have a couple of homes available for large gatherings–we appreciate your willingness to host us.

And we all had fun with the white elephant exchange---there was even a white elephant included. Somene donated a vase with elephants on it and wrapped it in white paper so it would fit the description. Mary Smith was the proud recipient.

2006 is coming to a close in a couple of weeks. That means your hours for the year need to be recorded. Stop by the office to get that finished up. We will be open through December 22 and then reopen on January 2 (the next MG meeting date). We will have the log book at that meeting and give you the rest of that week to get your time recorded. Then the membership committee will tally hours for the year. So, be sure to get your due credit–I know many of you are shorting yourselves.

Interviews for the 2007 MG trainees are scheduled. We'll let you know the decisions soon---hopefully all the paper work will be completed by January 2 and we can make the announcement at that time. If screening isn't back by that time, we will have to wait until February.

Coles County will serve as the host site again this year, so I'll have clip board in hand to ask for assistance in room and equipment set-up at the next meeting.

We do have the registration information for the Southern Grounds Maintenance School at the office. It's on the MG bulletin board. Be sure to check the dates---it's a month earlier this year–January to be exact. So, don't put off completing the forms and getting your name on the roster.

I hope you each have a wonderful holiday week–Christmas and New Years. Take time to enjoy some tasty food, reminisce with family members, experience the excitement of children, explore the wonder of Illinois winter nature, and give thanks for our many blessings.

I wish you peace and joy (and a little time to relax)!

Sharon