ID-241: After Your Ash Has Died: Making an Informed Decision on What to Replant

Ellen Crocker, Bill Fountain, Lee Townsend, Nicole Ward Gauthier | Dec. 22, 2016 (New)

Unfortunately the emerald ash borer is only the latest in a series of invasive pests that have recently decimated our trees. Here, we provide basic information on the death of our ash trees and what types of species are less likely to be impacted by invasive insects and diseases in the future.

---

ID-238: An IPM Scouting Guide for Common Problems of Strawberry in Kentucky

Ric Bessin, Cheryl Kaiser, Matthew Springer, John Strang, Nicole Ward Gauthier, Shawn Wright | Nov. 17, 2016 (New)

Integrated Pest Management (IPM) uses a combination of biological, cultural, physical, and chemical methods to reduce and/or manage pest populations. These strategies are used to minimize environmental risks, economic costs, and health hazards. Pests are managed (although rarely eliminated entirely) to reduce their negative impact on the crop. Scouting and monitoring diseases, insects, weeds, and abiotic disorders helps identify potential problems before serious losses result. This is essential to the IPM approach. The key to effective monitoring is accurate identification. The pictures included in this guide represent the more common abiotic and biotic problems that occur in Kentucky strawberry plantings.

---

FOR-129: Black Vulture Damage Control

Matthew Springer | Nov. 11, 2016 (New)

Vultures, as with all other wildlife, will take advantage of resources available to them, and unfortunately this behavior sometimes involves human dwellings or livestock operations. Fortunately, vultures respond well to relatively simple methods that discourage them from congregating or feeding in critical areas.

---

ID-237: Soil Percolation: A Key to Survival of Landscape Plants

Ellen Crocker, Rick Durham, Bill Fountain | Sep. 14, 2016 (New)

Eighty to 90 percent of disease and insect problems on landscape plants can be traced back to soil problems. Plants must be adapted to the site if they are to meet our expectations of growing, remain healthy, and attractive.

---

FOR-122: How to Select and Buck Logs for Railroad Ties

Terry Conners | Mar. 4, 2016 (New)

As of 2014, railroads were purchasing in the neighborhood of 25 million wooden ties each year, so the railroad tie industry can be a reliable market for loggers and sawmillers. Prices for green ties are viewed as good compared to lower-grade lumber, though actual market prices depend on immediate demand, competing lumber prices, distance from the seller to the treating plant, and tie quality and species. If you're a logger reading this article, you'll learn to make better decisions about how to select trees and logs for crossties and switch ties, and you'll be able to buck them so that they're worth more money overall.

---

PPFS-GEN-14: Don't Eat Those Wild Mushrooms

Ellen Crocker, Nicole Ward Gauthier | Feb. 1, 2016 (New)

Mushrooms are strange and wonderful things--some are beautiful, some are ugly, some are delicious, and some are deadly. Mushroom hunting is a fun and rewarding hobby that can turn a hike through local woods into a puzzle-solving adventure. Many people are drawn to mushroom hunting and the potential to forage for food. Unfortunately, there is a dark side to mushroom foraging: poisoning. Each year, wild mushrooms lead to numerous illnesses and even a few deaths.

---

FOR-127: The First Separation of Softwood Species

Terry Conners | Dec. 21, 2015 (New)

Just making the separation between softwoods and hardwoods doesn't help much in identifying wood species; that would be sort of like identifying children by their hair color. Let's look at the next level of wood features that you need to be able to recognize.

---

FOR-126: Grain Patterns and Growth Rings

Terry Conners | Dec. 21, 2015 (New)

Frequently you need to be able to observe wood cells from a particular perspective, and you will need to know where to look for different features on your sample. It's also very helpful to develop a kind of "visual vocabulary" that will let you match a term with a corresponding mental image, and the information in this chapter will start you on your way.

---

FOR-124: First Steps in Identifying Wood

Terry Conners | Dec. 21, 2015 (New)

Wood samples need to be identified for all sorts of reasons, and they come in all shapes, sizes and conditions. I've received samples that were sound, samples that were waterlogged, samples that were rotted or otherwise degraded, painted samples, furniture samples, even samples containing wood preservatives. Most of the samples I receive have a North American origin, but I also receive pieces from art museums and antique dealers that can originate from just about anywhere. This sometimes means that identifying the sample by a common name alone doesn't provide enough information.

---

FOR-125: Distinguishing Softwoods from Hardwoods

Terry Conners | Dec. 21, 2015 (New)

Softwood and hardwood trees are made up of different types of cells. With just a little magnification, it's easy to see that softwood growth rings look different from hardwood growth rings. Additionally, growth rings don't look the same for all of the trees, and the growth ring appearance is one of the things we will look at to identify wood.