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The Baxter County Master Gardeners are a fun group of folks who enjoy sharing their love of gardening with any visitor.

At our meetings we have speakers, refreshments, & fun.

Come join us!



Next Meeting Date:
September 5, 2019 from 1:00 - 3:00 pm

Meeting Place: 
The First Presbyterian Church
1106 Spring Street
Mountain Home, AR

September Speakers: 
Guest Speaker: Deb Anderson & Ceil Gasiecki
Topic: US and Canadian Rockies: Garden & Nature Tour

Horticulture Table: Mike Kuenzli
Topic: How to Add Your Pins to Your Name Tag

​Master Gardeners Monthly Radio Program:
Mountain Talk Radio September 18th on 97.1   7:15 a.m. - 8:am.
Master Gardener Hosts this month are Tommy Hagan and Ceil Gasiecki

Directions:
From Mountain Home
Take US Hwy. 62B East through Mountain Home until you come to Cardinal Street. Cardinal Street is the intersection just past Harp's Grocery.  Turn right onto Cardinal Street and travel South until you come to the first stop sign which should be Spring Street. Turn left onto Spring Street and go down the hill past the bridge and the First Presbyterian Church will be on your right hand side. 

From Gassville:
Take Hwy. 62/412 towards Mountain Home. Once you get to Mountain Home continue on into Mountain Home on US 62B. This will take you through town till you get to Harp's Grocery and you come to Cardinal Street. Cardinal Street is the intersection just past Harp's Grocery.  Turn right onto Cardinal Street and travel South until you come to the first stop sign which should be Spring Street. Turn left onto Spring Street and go down the hill past the bridge and the First Presbyterian Church will be on your right hand side. here to edit.

Wanna be a Baxter County Master Gardener?

The 2019-2020 training will be done in 2 ways so you can be on  your way to becoming a Baxter County Master Gardener.

1. In-class training will be held at the Baxter County Extension Office located at 3 East 9th Street, Mountain Home.  All 5 ZOOM classes are by teleconference and will be held on Wednesdays from October 9th through November 6th, 2019 from 8 am to 4:30 pm.

The cost of ZOOM training is $100 to cover your book and training supplies.

2.  Online training is an option for those who cannot attend class. These classes are taken at your leisure at home between January and March 2020.

The cost of online training is $125 to cover your book and training supplies.

Click here for the application.

​In addition to the training, you must agree to give at least 40 hours of volunteer service back to the county extension office through the Master Gardener Program during the next  year and comply with the guidelines of the Baxter County program.

Application deadline is September 6, 2019.
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Contact Brad Runsick at the Extension Office at 425-2335 or [email protected] for further information.

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• Horticulture entries are sought for the Baxter County Fair (September 11-15). Entries range from all types of vegetables, fruits, flowers, plants, and field crops. The Baxter County Fair is held in Mountain Home with entries accepted Tuesday, September 11 from 2:00 to 7:00 p.m. You can go to www.baxtercountyfair.org for complete details.
• Applications are being taken for the upcoming Master Gardener training to be held on October 9, 16, 23, 30 and November 6 and 14 in Mtn. Home. Space is limited and pre-registration is required. Cost of the program is $100. For more information, call 870-425-2335.
• Homeowners should check their lawns for fall armyworms. Heavy populations are capable of causing damage to lawns which resembles scalping with a mower. To check areas for armyworms, use a soap flush (2 tablespoons of lemon-scented dishwashing soap in a gallon of water) to bring larvae to the top of the sod. Insecticides labeled to control armyworms in lawns are Sevin, bifenthrin, trichlorfon, spinosad, cyfluthrin, gamma-cyhalothrin, lambda-cyhalothrin, permethrin, azadirachtin, chlorantraniliprole, halofenozide, indoxacarb and Bacillus thuringiensis (B.t.). Following application, wait 1-3 days before mowing.
• September is the beginning of the cool-season lawn establishment period. Turf type tall fescues are best established from September to mid-October with late February through March as a poor second choice. Late seeded lawns will not be strong enough to survive the first summer. Prepare a good seed bed by tilling and bring a pint of soil to the Extension office to determine nutrient needs. Sow 8 to 10 pounds of seed per 1,000 square feet for establishment. If you just need to thicken up your fescue lawn, overseed with 4-5 pounds per 1,000 square feet.
• To get the most out of a pre-emergent herbicide program for winter annual weed control, make the application now or at least by September 15. Applications made in late September or thereafter often miss the beginning of germination of winter annual grasses and broadleaves. Remember after applying the pre-emergent herbicide, it needs to be watered in within a few days to activate it. Don’t apply a pre-emergent to a lawn to be overseeded or a newly seeded lawn.
• Don’t fertilize or severely prune shrubs now because this will encourage rapid regrowth, and the new growth won’t have time to harden off before cold weather arrives.
• Now’s a good time to collect soil samples for your lawn, gardens, and shrubs and have them analyzed by the University of Arkansas. Your soil sample report should be back within two weeks. If the report calls for lime to reduce soil acidity, apply it in the fall. The lime will have several months to work before spring growth begins.
• Dig and divide spring blooming perennials.
• Save seeds from annuals and perennials for next year’s planting.
• Replenish mulch around trees and shrubs.
• Twig girdler insects should be making their appearance this month. Small branches of pecan, hickory, or elm are uniformly girdled from the tree and fall to the ground. The fallen twigs have eggs deposited in them so dispose of them immediately, to control the twig girdler. This will reduce next year’s problem.
• This month bring life back to your landscape by planting pansies, ornamental cabbage or kale, snapdragons, dusty miller and dianthus as the temperatures begin to cool. Pansies planted by mid-October survive winters best and will put on a tremendous show this fall.
• Chrysanthemums are setting flower buds. Fertilize lightly now and water consistently to ensure a good show beginning this month. Garden Centers have mums to add to your collection.
• Prepare your compost unit for the influx of fall cleanup which is just a few short weeks away. Clean out units and store compost in trash cans for fall gardening. If you are just starting to compost, come by the Extension office for information on composting or go to www.uaex.edu.
• Leaves should be collected as they fall. You don’t want a heavy covering of leaves entering the winter months. A dense layer can actually smother a lawn. People often leave leaves on the lawn until it turns cold and then rake them. If you have a covering of leaves on your lawn prior to the first frost, the leaves may prevent your lawn from going dormant. When you finally do rake up the leaves, you’ll expose actively growing grass to cold weather. Your lawn could suffer winter injury.
• Start acclimating your house plants for the trip back inside for the winter. Move plants to a less sunny area and then in a couple of weeks move them again to a location that simulates light conditions indoors. All this moving to lesser light outdoors will reduce plant shock when they are moved indoors next month.
• Christmas cactus initiate flower buds by being exposed to cool night temperatures similar to our outside night temperature beginning in September. Moving your cactus outdoors in an area with plenty of indirect sunlight and giving it one more feeding of houseplant fertilizer later this month will cause your cactus to bloom late fall to early winter. While outdoors, limiting water will encourage flower buds to open at the same time. Naturally, you will bring the cactus indoors when danger of frost is predicted and place in a well-lit area until buds are about to pop.

For more information on any of the above points, contact the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture Cooperative Extension office at870- 425-2335.

​Hatchery Outdoor Adventure
We will need volunteers for the 2019 Hatchery Outdoor Adventure Day which will be held on Saturday, 09/07/19, from 8:00 am to 2:30 pm.  The planned project this year is called Garden in a Glove.  
Please contact Darrell Stewart to sign up for shifts.
 
Baxter County Fair
The Baxter County Fair is right around the corner in September.  Rick Gatewood has graciously again agreed to be our chair.  However, Rick is looking for an assistant to help him getting this organized.  

If you are interested in learning more, please contact Ceil Gasiecki or Rick Gatewood.  Appreciate your help.

Mentors for New MGs
Mentors are needed for the students in the upcoming ZOOM and online MG classes. Contact Audrey Holt if you would like to mentor a new MG.

Horticulture entries are sought for the Baxter County Fair.

Entries range from all types of vegetables, fruits, flowers, plants, and field crops.

The Baxter County Fair is held in Mountain Home with entries accepted Tuesday, the week of the
fair,  from 2:00 to 7:00 p.m.

​Check out the web site (www.baxtercountyfair.org) for more information.