In this issue for December 2006:

MAKE A RESOLUTION – TRY NEW GARDEN PROJECTS IN 2007
ORNAMENTAL GRASSES
BEWARE THE EMERALD ASH BORER
FEATURED BROADCAST PROGRAMS
ABOUT THIS NEWSLETTER
HOW TO SUBSCRIBE OR UNSUBSCRIBE

MAKE A RESOLUTION – TRY NEW GARDEN PROJECTS IN 2007

With the New Year just on the horizon and resolution making in full swing, consider visiting Garden Expo and fulfilling a commitment to try some new garden projects in 2007. It's an ideal event for innovation. Come away with a new skill after attending the hands-on workshops on making a decorative sprinkler, garden stake or colorful stepping stone, plus many other projects. It's also the place to take in some of the more than 100 educational offerings on everything from installing garden ponds to the proper use of outdoor power equipment to cooking with herbs. More than 400 exhibitor booths offering garden, lawn and landscaping tools to get you started will be at Garden Expo, too.

Full details are available at www.wpt.org/gardenexpo/

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ORNAMENTAL GRASSES

Add interest to the winter landscape by including ornamental grasses to the look outside of your window. There are other benefits as well: grasses suffer from few insect and disease problems, require few nutrients, are deer resistant and low maintenance, often reach maturity in only three years, come in a wide variety of colors and textures, and provide sensory stimulation – visual with movement and audio in the pleasing sound as the wind courses through them.

Our university extension neighbors in Minnesota have an informative Web site at www.extension.umn.edu/distribution/horticulture/DG6411.html/

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BEWARE THE EMERALD ASH BORER

Although it's chilly outside and bugs are not a top-of-mind concern right now, spring will bring the need to be vigilant, particularly where it concerns a nasty pest lapping at Wisconsin's borders – the Emerald Ash Borer. The bug has already been found in northern Illinois.

Here's some things to know:
- When the beetle emerges from the tree trunk, it creates a D-shaped hole (the shape of its body) that is 2 to 3 mm in diameter.
- Peel back bark and look for serpentine tracks in the wood. Emerald Ash Borer larvae cause those.
- An infested tree will die back gradually over three years. In the first year, the top third of the tree will yellow and drop leaves. In the second year, the second third will be affected. Finally in the third year, the bottom third will die. During the first year if there is yellow in the top of the tree, check the base for suckers. This is a common defense at the tree’s base against the bug but rarely happens if the tree is affected by vercillium.
- Look for the beetle itself. It is pretty, a metallic green about 1/2-long and narrow.

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FEATURED BROADCAST PROGRAMS

2:30 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 24 The Wisconsin Gardener "The Winter Garden." Producer/Host Shelley Ryan learns about decorative peppers. www.wpt.org/garden/ Funding for The Wisconsin Gardener is provided, in part, by Ariens Co., www.ariens.com/

2 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 31 The Wisconsin Gardener "Sticks and Twigs." Learn about pruning trees and shrubs. www.wpt.org/garden/ Funding for The Wisconsin Gardener is provided, in part, by Ariens Co., www.ariens.com/

2 p.m. Saturdays Cultivating Life This program provides easy demonstrations of how to connect home and garden into one lifestyle. www.cultivatinglife.com/
10:30 a.m. Saturdays P. Allen Smith's Garden Home Ideas on how to blend indoor and outdoor living spaces. www.pallensmith.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=123&Itemid=152/

2 p.m. Sundays The Victory Garden Host Michael Weishan tours gardens and offers tips. www.pbs.org/wgbh/victorygarden/

2:30 p.m. Sundays P. Allen Smith's Garden Home Smith shares timesaving holiday recipes with ties to the garden and provides interesting history on traditional holidays such as Christmas, Hanukkah, Winter Solstice and Kwanzaa. He also shows how to use the best from the garden indoors during this magical time of year. www.pallensmith.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=123&Itemid=152/

1 – 7 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 31 A Marathon of Wisconsin-focused programs, from northern scenery to Wisconsin’s birds, produced by Wisconsin Public Television. www.wpt.org/whats_on/index.cfm#morning/

Major funding for the Wisconsin Gardener
is provided by Ariens.

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ABOUT THIS NEWSLETTER
We hope you enjoy receiving landscaping and gardening tips, broadcast information and other news in this format. You receive this e-newsletter because you signed up for it either through the Wisconsin Gardener Web site, the Wisconsin Public Television (WPT) Web site, in response to a mailing or at the annual Garden Expo. It is a cost-effective way for WPT to communicate with you. Please forward this e-newsletter to your friends who would enjoy receiving it. Your e-mail address only will be used for communications from WPT. Note that if the format of this e-newsletter is not to your liking, you can copy the text into a word processing file and alter it in any suitable way.
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