New Tulsa Master Gardener classes start each fall, running from early September to early December on every Wednesday. If you have an interest in becoming a Tulsa Master Gardener and would like some up-front information on the program, click on TULSA MASTER GARDENER and WHY I LIKE BEING A TULSA MASTER GARDENER.

Learn about what you should be doing in the month of AUGUST. A selection of Garden Tips (Vegetable Garden, Lawn, Trees & Shrubs, Fruits, Flowers, and General Landscape)can be found by clicking on GARDEN TIPS.

JUNE: FUNGI

JULY: BACTERIA

Your Master Gardeners are running a 3-part series on Fungi, Bacteria, and Invertebrates . . . aptly called F-B-I. Click on Fungi to view what was discussed in June. Click on Bacteria to view what was discussed in July.

AUGUST: INVERTEBRATES

The month of August contains the third and final installment of the Compost Connection's F-B-I trilogy series which will duly address Invertebrates and their role in the compost decomposition process. The June article covered Fungi, the July article addressed Bacteria, and Invertebrates will complete our Trilogy for components in the basic decomposition process.

There are hundreds of Invertebrates, but some common ones are: sowbugs (or pillbugs, roly polys), spiders, earthworms, snails, slugs, millipedes, and whiteworms, among others. These are the ones you can see with the naked eye, and are called Primary Consumers. When these are present in your compost pile, it indicates good bacterial activity and the temperature isn’t too high to kill the healthy bacteria. These work together with fungi to create energy to decompose. Ants and flies add to the excitement and production of the early composition process.

These primary consumers are part of the "food chain" and are themselves devoured by others in the healthy compost pile such as: springtails, some types of mites, feather-winged beetles, nematodes, protozoa, rotifera, among others, and are called Secondary Consumers. As each decomposer dies, or excretes, more food is added to this complex web for other decomposers. 

The next level of Invertebrates include: centipedes, predatory mites, rove beetles, formicidae ants, carabid beetles, among others, and are called Tertiary Consumers because they eat secondary consumers. Invertebrates tunneling through compost pile help with aeration which is essential for successful decomposition.

These Invertebrates work with Fungi and Bacteria along with "browns" (e.g. leaves, small branches, twigs, cardboard) and "greens" (e.g. food scraps, peelings, and grass clippings) as well as water and oxygen. These work together to create soil magic called COMPOST.

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The Cape Cod Weeder (obviously originating in the Northeast) works well on loose soil, works on both the push and pull, and the point can also be driven straight into the soil to dig out deeper weeds. It has a 6" long reach with a 3" blade.

Boxwoods are one of the most popular shrubs you see around our area. They produce a nice, uniform green display in the summer and hold their green throughout the winter (unless we have an unusual brutal cold spell). They perform well as either a specimen plant or trained as a hedge. However, some people report that their boxwood has a bad odor, something like cat urine. Why is that?

Well, it has to do with the type of boxwood. Some species, especially the English boxwood (Buxus sempervirens) feature leaves that exude a strong scent, especially when the sun shines on them. Individual senses of smell differ, but many people think English boxwood smells similar to cat urine.

For answers to both of these questions, click on FALL TOMATOES.

Thanks to OSU Extension entomologists of the Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology of Oklahoma State University, they have produced a very nice white paper on the subject. Click on BAGWORMS to read about a description of them, their life cycle, their hosts, and (most importantly) management practices. They can be controlled with some effort. 

While most of the time they will not kill a healthy tree, they definitely do present an unsightly sight. To learn more about these pests and what you can do to control them (if you wish), click on WEBWORMS.

This particular map is the standard by which gardeners and growers can determine which plants are most likely to thrive in a particular location around the U.S. The map is produced by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Agricultural Research Service (ARS) and is available on their website. The map is based on the average annual minimum winter temperature, divided into 10-degree Fahrenheit zones.

For more information on how to use this map to your gardening advantage, click on USDA MAP.

We generally run tomato articles for our readers in the summer. So, to better understand what causes these problems and issues and what to do about it, click on TOMATOES1 and TOMATOES2 to find out as well as have access to some great additional resources.

So, click on PRUNING for information on why, when and how to prune. Then, consult the resources at the end of the article for more detailed information on this key maintenance discipline.