News Filed Under Landscape Design and Management

Close your eyes and think back to your childhood.

An underserved community spent a day enjoying the outdoors at the Sam D. Hamilton Noxubee National Wildlife Refuge in early May as Mississippi State University Extension Service personnel hosted 20 adult residents of care homes. 
Jim McAdory, MSU Extension agent in Winston County, coordinated the May 1 event with help from several other Extension agents and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service staff. The goal was to allow this population to experience the outdoors, complete with a hot dog lunch at the end of the event. 

Mississippi growers and those across the Midwest and mid-South still have time to take advantage of two opportunities to improve soil health and water quality while protecting profitability on their farms.

Landscape design and natural landscape enthusiasts will gather at Mississippi State University to perfect their craft and learn from other experts, an annual event happening this year on Oct. 18. The 68th Edward C. Martin Landscape Symposium will be held from 8:30 a.m. to noon at the Bost Auditorium at MSU.

PICAYUNE, Miss. -- School groups, nature enthusiasts and the public can enjoy two fun-filled days of exciting, hands-on learning about the environment, ecosystems, wildlife and insects at the Mississippi State University Crosby Arboretum in Picayune. BugFest offers insect-related displays, interactive exhibits, games and crafts. Biologists, naturalists, entomologists and other experts from Mississippi, Louisiana and Alabama will host booths and give presentations on butterflies, bats, caterpillars, beetles, crayfish, ladybugs, hissing cockroaches, dancing praying mantises, native and exotic arthropods and more.

Despite several recognized benefits of growing winter cover crops, this conservation system has limited acceptance, something Mississippi State University researchers are trying to change by identifying and better managing risks.

Among the significant benefits of planting a green crop on farmland otherwise exposed to winter elements are improved soil health, water quality and erosion control. But cover crops grow into the optimal spring planting times for summer crops. This complicates their use and can reduce productivity of the summer crop.

For the last several years, MSU research has addressed various aspects of this issue, primarily focusing on cover crop management and cover crop species.

Summertime is officially here! Kids are out of school, and many people are gearing up for summer adventures with the family.

May is here and you know what that means, it’s go time! 

RAYMOND, Miss. -- The hard freeze that swept Mississippi on March 19 and 20 dampened some of spring’s early displays and left many landscape plants with unsightly cold damage. Now, homeowners are wondering what to do about their landscape plants that lost their leaves or have brown-tipped or brown, shriveled leaves.

After an unseasonal cold snap in March, spring has officially started and the warmer weather is here to stay– at least for a little while. Hopefully, the cold didn’t damage your plants! Working on your yard is a great excuse to spend time outside now that the weather is nice. Here are a few things you can work on in your landscape for the month of April:

Native plants have garnered a lot of attention, especially because of their relationship to pollinators, but these plants are valuable for many other reasons. In addition to pollen, they provide food and shelter for birds and other wildlife, as well as creating biodiversity in the ecosystem.

If you have Bradford pear trees on your property, you are quite familiar with the odor they release. How could such a beautiful tree smell like rotting fish? The odor isn’t the only thing that makes this tree undesirable.  

Crape myrtles are popular for their low-maintenance beauty, but they can benefit from some light pruning this time of year.

Plants across the state that suffered from the unusually cold weather just days before Christmas will need some help recovering from damage they suffered in the deep freeze. Mike Brown, state climatologist and Mississippi State University meteorologist, said Mississippi’s average late December temperature is 44 degrees on the coast, 38 degrees in central Mississippi and 34 degrees in north Mississippi.

If you have an area in your yard where you want to create a border between property lines, reduce noise from busy streets, or soften a fence line, we have a solution

COMO, Miss. -- The Mississippi State University Extension Service will cohost a collaborative field day in Panola County Sept. 29 to share information about cover crops and reduced-till farming, soil and water health, and pasture soil and water management.

The Mississippi Land Stewardship field day runs from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and begins at Buckeye Farms at 3251 Tom Floyd Road in Como. Attendees will then travel to two different fields, one row crop and one pasture. The field day will conclude at Home Place Pastures. A complimentary lunch is included for participants.

Pruning is one of the least understood gardening tasks and for good reason – it’s confusing. When, how, and if you should prune depends on the type of plant or tree you have and your goal for the plant. Check out these pruning tasks for the last one-third of the year.

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- The presence of a water source on private land can make a property much more desirable for several reasons. Whether it’s a lake, pond, stream or river, a water source provides opportunities for recreation, development, agricultural production, and wildlife and fisheries habitat.

A key aspect of maintaining the value of the water resource is ensuring that it is protected and used wisely.

SHAW, Miss. -- Mississippi State University scientists will cohost a collaborative field day in the Mississippi Delta on July 13 to share information about cover crops, soil and water health, and irrigation automation and efficiency. 

The Soil and Water Stewardship in Row-Crop Systems field day runs from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and begins at Mosco Farm at the southwest of 813 US-61 in Shaw. Attendees will travel to Clements Farm and finish the event at the West F.A.R.M. Pavilion. A complimentary catfish lunch is included for registered participants.