2012 Class Calendar & Assignments
2012
February 9, 2012 Basic Training Class: Planting, Soils, Mulching
9:00 am - 1:00 pm
Reading Assignment:
- Visit the Soil Testing Laboratory Web site and familiarize yourself with it. Go to all the separate tabs and learn all you can about soil tests... which one is for what, how much they cost, what they tell you... all you can learn.
- From UF Edis web site read the following publication about soil pH.
- Protect and Improve Your Soil
- Manage Your Soil
- A Guide to Florida-Friendly Landscaping: Florida Yards & Neighborhoods Handbook - (read pp 10-11 on Proper Tree Planting. Then read pp 29-30 on Mulch.) You will be given a printed copy of this handbook in class.
February 20, 2012: Demonstration Garden Workday
9:00 am - 12:00 noon. Note the change back to the normal hours. Come with tools (pruning loppers, hand pruners, pruning saw, shovel, gloves), prepared to work.
March 8, 2012 Basic Training Class: Basic Botany, Watering Efficiently, Fertilizing Appropriately
9:00 am - 1:00 pm
Reading Assignments:
- Scientific Nomenclature: What's in a Name?
- How Trees Grow in the Urban Environment
- Read this simple but important understanding of botany called How Plants Work.
- If you want to do further reading on the subject, Stan suggests the book, Botany for Gardeners by Brian Capon.
- Answer these questions (click here) and come to class prepared to be called on to answer them.
- A Guide to Florida-Friendly Landscaping: Florida Yards & Neighborhoods Handbook - Read pp 39-45 on Watering Efficiently. Read pp 47-56 on Fertilizing Appropriately.
- Read this information on micro-irrigation. This information is provided for the purpose of information only and not as advertising. But this is where we buy the components for the micro-irrigation system in the demo garden.
- Fertilizers for Home Gardeners
- The Florida Fertilizer Label
- Plant Nutrients and Fertilizers for the Non-Farmer
- Soil pH and the Home Landscape or Garden
- Producing Garden Vegetables with Organic Soil Amendments
- Organic Vegetable Gardening
- Soil Plant Water Relationships
- Answer these questions before coming to class (click here).
- New Plants to Learn about Today:
March 19, 2012 Demonstration Garden Workday
9:00 am - 12:00 noon. Come with tools
(pruning loppers, hand pruners, pruning saw, shovel, gloves),
prepared to work.
April 12, 2012 What Everyone Will Ask You about: Lawns
9:00 am - 1 pm
Reading Assignments:
Do these homework questions (click here).
- Read this on growing grass in shaded areas.
- Visit
this site from the Florida Lawn Handbook and read the material on "other pests".
Then look
through the rest of the Lawn Handbook to familiarize yourself with what it contains: http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/TOPIC_BOOK_Other_Pests No, you don't have to read it all! - See this site on a fire ant control product, Over 'N Out:
- Practice using this lawn problem diagnostic flow chart.
- Read this info on summer and fall lawn problems.
- Here's a site on identifying common lawn weeds.
- The section in this publication for lawn care professionals has the best information on weed control products.
- http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/EP141 ; More good info on weed control in lawns. Especially note the info about timing of herbicide applications.
- Here is some information on effectiveness of lawn fungicides for gray leaf spot of St. Augustine grass.
- If someone wants to submit a plant sample to our Plant Diagnostic Clinic in Quincy, this is the form.
- New Plants to Learn About Today:
April 16, 2012: Demonstration Garden Workday
9:00 am - 12:00 noon. Come with tools
(pruning loppers, hand pruners, pruning saw, shovel, gloves),
prepared to work.
May 10, 2012 Basic Training Class: Managing Yard Pests Responsibly
9:00 am - 1:00 pm
Reading Assignments:
- A Guide to Florida-Friendly Landscaping: Florida Yards & Neighborhoods Handbook - Read pp 67-78.
- Read "Homeowner's Guide to Pesticide Safety"
- Interpreting Pesticide Label Wording
- Read "Insect Management on Landscape Plants". Consider downloading the PDF version and printing yourself a copy.
- Read "Southern Chinch Bug Management on St. Augustinegrass"
- Read "Two-lined Spittlebugs in Turfgrass"
- Read "Lawn Caterpillars"
- Read "Nematode Management in Residential Lawns"
- Read about "Take-all Root Rot" in lawns.
- Read about "Brown Patch" disease in lawns.
- Read about "Gray Leaf Spot" of St. Augustine grass.
- Review "Weed Management in Home Lawns" again.
- Review the Roundup label. (View at 150% if you're having trouble reading the fine print)
- Regarding weed control in beds, read "Weed Control in Annual Color Beds", from NC State University.
-
Read about carpenter bees.
Read about Subterranean Termites and the Formosan Subterranean Termite
- This Division of AES, Bureau of Entomology and Pest Control - Termite Help.Org - FDACS site is a valuable resource of information about termite control in Florida.
- Read about Powderpost Beetles and Other Wood Infesting Insects.
- Read about Nuisance Wildlife.
- Read about Moles.
- Read about Fire Ant Control Materials. Also read this on Stinging or Venemous Insects or Related Pests and this on Fire Ant control principles.
- Read about Cockroach Control.
- Print and answer these questions; bring them to class.
- New Plants to Learn About Today:
May 21, 2012: Demonstration Garden Workday
9:00 am - 12:00 noon. Come with tools
(pruning loppers, hand pruners, pruning saw, shovel, gloves),
prepared to work. (Open House)
June 14, 2012 Basic Training Class: Florida Yards & Neighborhoods Checklist
9:00 am - 1:00 pm
New Plants to Learn About Today:
June 18, 2012: Demonstration Garden Workday
8:00 am - 11:00 noon. Note the time change because of the heat. Come with tools (pruning loppers, hand pruners, pruning saw, shovel, gloves), prepared to work.
July 12, 2012 Basic Training Class: Vegetables and Herbs
9:00 am - 1:00 pm
Reading assignments:
Vegetables. Answer these questions (click here) before coming to class. References:
- Soil Preparation And Liming ;
- Florida Vegetable Gardening Guide ;
- Planting Guide: An easy-to-read and helpful chart. ;
Then study these two color insect sheets: Vegetable Garden Insect sheet 1, and 2. Then... so that you don't confuse the bad guys with the good guys, go to the insect sheets on beneficial insects:
- Beneficial Insects Sheet 1
- Beneficial Insects Sheet 2
- Beneficial Insects Sheet 3
- Beneficial Insects Sheet 4
Then, for vegetable disease references, go to the UF-IFAS Extension Plant Disease Control Guide section on vegetable crops, and the Cornell vegetable diseases website , and familiarize yourself with how they work and how you can find descriptions and photos of diseases there. Don't concern yourself with any pesticide recommendations given there; they are for commercial vegetable crops and not home vegetable gardens. As a MG, you will stick to control recommendations given in the Florida Vegetable Gardening Guide.
- Use this site on Tomato Diseases in the Home Garden: http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/PP121
- New Plants to Learn About Today:
July 16, 2012: Demonstration Garden Workday
8:00 am - 11:00 noon. Note the time change because of the heat. Come with tools (pruning loppers, hand pruners, pruning saw, shovel, gloves), prepared to work.
August 9, 2012 Basic Training Class: Recycling, Providing for Wildlife
9:00 am - 1:00 pm
Reading assignments:
- Read the chapters on "Attracting Wildlife" and "Recycling" in "A Guide to Florida-Friendly Landscaping". Here's the link http://fyn.ifas.ufl.edu/materials/handbook.pdf but remember that you have a copy of this book.
- Read through "Landscaping
Backyards for Wildlife: Top Ten Tips for
Success", http://plants.ifas.ufl.edu/education/digital_teacher_notebook_june_2007/part_4/General Native, Non-native and Invasive Plant Info/13_IFAS UW175 Landscape Backyard Wildlife.pdf - Read "Wildlife Food for the Fall", http://leon.ifas.ufl.edu/News_Columns/2004/103104.pdf
- Read "Dead Wood: Key to Enhancing Wildlife Diversity in Forests"
- Read "Brush Piles for Wildlife", http://santarosa.ifas.ufl.edu/portal/module 8 recycle/8BrushPile.html
- Although this publication, "Build a Brushpile", is from Iowa, it still applies to our area,
- This University of Georgia
publication, "Building Shelter for Wildlife",
http://www.aces.edu/pubs/docs/A/ANR-0785/ even talks about building a living brush pile.
- Go through Florida's On-line Composting Center, http://compost.ifas.ufl.edu/tutorial/
- TAPP Think About Personal Pollution http://www.tappwater.org/
- New Plants to Learn About Today:
August 20, 2012: Demonstration Garden Workday
8:00 am - 11:00 noon. Note the time change because of the heat. Come with tools (pruning loppers, hand pruners, pruning saw, shovel, gloves), prepared to work.
September 13, 2012 Basic Training Class: Right Plant Right Place in the Demo Garden
- A Guide to Florida-Friendly Landscaping: Florida Yards & Neighborhoods Handbook - Read pp 29-37.
- Groundcovers for North Florida
- Vines for Florida
- Vines in Georgia
- Selected Shrubs for North Florida
Open this Word document and save it to your computer. Then follow the directions for filling in the information about the plants in your section of the garden. To research your plant, see it in the demo garden, note when it was planted, etc. Then Google the plant and see what you can find out about the plant, keeping in mind that we want to know how it does here, not in south Florida or in New York as an indoor plant. You may also see the plant in local nurseries and ask about it there. Learn all you can. But your information needs to be concise and fit in the space provided.
September 17, 2012: Demonstration Garden Workday
8:00 am - 11:00 noon. Note the time change because of the heat. Come with tools (pruning loppers, hand pruners, pruning saw, shovel, gloves), prepared to work.
October 11, 2012: Demonstration Garden Workday
9:00 am - 12:00 noon. Note the change back to the normal hours. Come with tools (pruning loppers, hand pruners, pruning saw, shovel, gloves), prepared to work.
October 15, 2012 Basic Training Class: Trees
9:00 am - 1:00 pm
Reading Assignments:
- Go to this Division of Forestry website, and study the sections on insect and disease pests of trees.
- Go to this web site and read the publication Dispelling Misperceptions About Trees
- Also check out the Urban Forestry Section on our web page.
- Then answer these questions, (click here)
- Trees in the Demo Garden to Learn About Today:
November 8, 2012 Basic Training Class: Plant Problem-Solving
Diagnosing Problems over the Phone http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/pdffiles/MG/MG07800.pdf
Diagnosing Shrub & Tree Problems http://leon.ifas.ufl.edu/COMHORT/Diagnosing Shrub and Tree Problems.pdf
Lawn Problem Key http://leon.ifas.ufl.edu.News_Columns/2002/lawnchart2.pdf
Tomato Problems http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/pdffiles/PP/PP12100.pdf
Tips on Getting More out of Google
http://www.google.com/support/websearch/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=134479&topic=1221265
http://www.google.com/support/websearch/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=136861&topic=1221265
http://www.google.com/support/websearch/bin/answer.py?hl-en&answer=142143&topic=1221265
The best starting point for searchs with UF-IFAS: http://www.ifas.ufl.edu/
November 19, 2012: Demonstration Garden Workday
9:00 am - 12:00 noon. Note the change back to the normal hours. Come with tools (pruning loppers, hand pruners, pruning saw, shovel, gloves), prepared to work.
December 13, 2012 Basic Training Class & Holiday Party for 2011 Class:
9:00 am - 1:00 noon
Reading Assignments:
-
Go to the Division of Forestry website www.fl-dof.com and study the section on insect and disease pest of trees.
December 17, 2012: Demonstration Garden Workday
9:00 am - 12:00 noon. Note the change back to the normal hours. Come with tools (pruning loppers, hand pruners, pruning saw, shovel, gloves), prepared to work.
2013
January 10, 2013 Basic Training Class: Tying It All Together
9:00 am - 1:00 pm
Bring all your research materials, laptops, etc. today for a practice test.
We will review the test at the end of the session.
January 14, 2013: Demonstration Garden Workday
9:00 am - 12:00 noon. Note the change back to the normal hours. Come with tools (pruning loppers, hand pruners, pruning saw, shovel, gloves), prepared to work.
General Resources
- University of Florida
- Books Can Save Lives
- Environmental Horticulture Department
- Florida Master Gardener Notebook
- Florida Master Gardener Program (State Level)
- Handy Web Sites for the Master Gardener
- Local Gardening Info Sources
- Master Gardener Books On-Line
- Reliable Web Resources for Tallahassee Gardeners
- Vegetable Planting Calendar for North Florida
- Other Universities
- Alabama Cooperative Extension Service
- Georgia Cooperative Extension Service
- Mississippi State University Extension System
- Associations & Organizations
-
Understanding Plant Names (Botanical Names)
--Victorian Carnivorous Plant Society
