16th Annual Plant Fair!

Three lovely Master Gardeners selling plants at the Plant Wagon

The Lincoln Trail Area Master Gardeners are hosting the 16th annual Plant Fair May 17, 2014 from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Hardin County Coop. Extension Office (201 Peterson Drive, Elizabethtown.) Lincoln Trail Area Master Gardeners

This year we have 50 vendors! Selling everything garden related. Here's the list:

BETTER GARDEN TOOLS - Garden Tools

CARDIN LOOP  -  Red Cedar Birdhouses, Garden Benches, Gourds

CATHY’S HERBS & QUILTS -  Herbs & Related Items

COLONIAL WAGON & WHEEL - Metal Lawn & Garden Art           

COOPS D’VILLA -  Birdhouses, Bat Houses, Garden Items

COUNTRY CORNER GREENHOUSES - Nursery Plants & Garden Items

CREATIONS BEGINNING NURSERY -  Vegetable & Flower Plants

ENTOMOLOGY SOLUTIONS, LLC -  Good Bugs to sell, Pet Bugs to see

DAYLILY SOCIETY OF LOUISVILLE - Daylilies

FALLEN MAPLE FARM - Plants, Birdhouses, Twisted Sticks

FAMILY THYME CREATIONS - Standard & Butterfly Koi, Water Plants

GAIL’S GOODS - Plants, Garden Crafts

GLENNWOOD GARDENS - Japanese Maples, Trees, Shrubs

GRANDMA’S KETTLE CORN - The Best Kettle Corn Around

HARMON’S TOUCH -  Wood Lighted Houses, Planters, Unique Birdhouses

HINTON’S ORCHARD -  Vegetable, Annuals, Perennials, Hanging Baskets, Pots

JONI’S JUNQUE - Jewelry, Yard Art, Chalkboards, Signs

LANI’S HONEY FARM - Local Honey

LEGENDS & FAIRY THINGS - Hand Crafted Fairy Houses, Book

LINDSAY’S HOUSE OF PLANTS -  Hanging Baskets, Flowers

LOG CABIN GREENHOUSES -  Sedums, Water Plants, Vines, Perennials

MCDOWELL BLUEBERRIES -  Blueberry Plants

MARTIN GLICKMAN -  Daylilies

MEL’S KY CRAFTS -  Wooden Flowers, Planter Boxes, Yard Art

MILLENNIUM STEEL WORKS -  Metal Yard Art

MVP GARDEN CENTER, LLC -  Nursery Items

NATURE WOOD PRODUCTS -  Yard Art

OLD THYME LOGHOUSE GARDENS -  Lavender, Unusual Plants

OUTDOOR POWER SOURCE, INC -  Stihl Handheld Tiller, Garden Items

PEERCE’S FARM & GREENHOUSES -  Annuals, Hanging Baskets

PEERCE’S PRENNIALS -  Perennials

PROMISED LAND BLUERRIES -  Blueberry Plants

REID’S PRODUCE -  Recycled Garden Art, Plants

REPURPOSED MOSAICS -  Mosaic Garden Items

ROCKY TOP CRAFT SHOP -  Barn Wood Benches, Garden Items

ROLLING HILLS FARM COMPOST -  Compost & Compost Tea

S&S WOOD PRODUCE -  Wooden Bowls, Wooden Cake Stands, Wood Pen

SHERMAN KASINGER -  Decorated Garden Shovels, Garden Art, Wreaths

STICK WORKS -  Hand Crafted Walking Sticks

THIS ‘N THAT -  Up-cycled Signs, Chairs, Garden Tool Bags, Garden Art

THOMAS TOMATOES -  Tomato Plants

THREE SPRINGS FARM - Porch Pots, Hanging Baskets, Veg & Flower Plants

TOMATO SPRING -  Tomato Stakes

TOP DOLLAR RECYCLING -  Concrete Items & Yard Art

WINDOW WORLD OF LOUISVILLE -  Sunrooms

WONDERS OF WATER -  Fountains, Water Plants, Koi Fish, Pond Equipment

Time to Prune, for some...

This is "topping" a tree and NOT a way to prune trees.

Believe it or not, spring really is on the way. After a long, cold winter, many homeowners begin to turn their attention to their landscape. The winter months can be damaging to trees and shrubs. To ensure healthy spring plants, homeowners may want to prune the trees and shrubs around their home. But you shouldn’t just prune for the sake of pruning; make sure you have a valid reason.

Pruning during the late winter months allows you to remove damage caused by winter winds and precipitation.

Pruning also is a way to remove diseased, crowded or hazardous branches. When pruning trees, the size of the tree should not be reduced too much in one season. Limit the pruning amount to one-fourth of the tree’s volume. Start by thinning out branches by cutting them off close to the tree’s trunk or a large limb.

Leave the base of the branch, known as the collar, intact. Cutting the collar will prevent the plant from growing over the wound caused from pruning. Pruning in this manner allows for a healthy tree that is more open to sunlight and air movement. If the branch is cut back only part way, there will likely be a crowded regrowth of new branches where the cut was made. Do not seal or paint the wounds resulting from pruning, because this will only delay the tree’s healing process.

Spring-flowering shrubs may need rejuvenation pruning, and the best time for that is right after they flower. If you prune a shrub before it blooms, you remove buds too soon and don’t get an opportunity enjoy those blooms. When you prune after blooming, you can still enjoy the flowers and the plant can recover, grow, and produce more buds for flowers next spring.

For rejuvenation pruning you remove one-third of the shrub’s oldest growth. You need to select the thickest, darkest and unhealthiest stems or branches and cut them back. You should cut back stems to soil level and branches to the point of intersection with the shrub’s main trunk. This ensures that only the youngest, most productive wood (that which produces the most and best flowers) remains a part of the shrub. During early spring you can also prune shrubs that will bloom during the summer months.

Pruning is not limited to a certain time of year. You can prune at any time if you notice damaged branches and limbs. The process is invigorating for the plants in a home landscape so you shouldn’t necessarily think of pruning just as a means of size control.

If you have a plant that has grown out-of-bounds, pruning may not be the answer – you may need to consider replacing the plant with one that will reach a smaller size at maturity.

The Kentucky Cooperative Extension Service offers publications that can answer many of your pruning and other gardening and landscape questions. Online, http://www.ca.uky.edu/agc/pubs/ho/ho45/ho45.pdf offers information about pruning trees and http://www2.ca.uky.edu/agc/pubs/ho/ho59/ho59.htm offers information about pruning shrubs. For more information, contact the Hardin County Cooperative Extension Service at 270.765.4121 or www.hardinext.org or Amy.Aldenderfer@uky.edu.

Educational programs of the Cooperative Extension Service serve all people regardless of race, color, age, sex, religion, disability or national origin.