With gardening season preparation underway, three new websites have been developed that pertain to home landscapes and gardening, home lawn care and pond management. In addition, the Oklahoma Proven and Oklahoma Gardening websites have been completely updated, featuring beautiful color photos and the most up-to-date, research-based information.
This site features a Frequently Asked Questions section covering fruit, houseplants, ornamentals and trees, turfgrass and vegetables. David Hillock, OSU Extension consumer horticulturist, provides answers to many questions. Hillock also writes a weekly gardening column that’s featured on this site. GROW – A Gardening Column Series covers timely topics for each season of the year. There are weekly columns for 2020, 2021 and 2022. A new column is added each week.
A homeowner’s lawn is one of the first things people see. The tips for lawn care offered on this site will help make any lawn the talk of the neighborhood – in a good way. This new website offers consumer information on topics including irrigation of lawn and gardens, lawns and turfgrass as well as lawn and garden insects, pests and diseases. There is also a link to OSU Extension fact sheets organized by topics.
Did you know that with more than 316,000 ponds, Oklahoma is first in the nation in ponds per square mile and second in the number of ponds? A pond can add visual interest and value to a piece of property; however, it can take a lot of informed care and management. Depending on the goals of the landowner, the pond can be used for fishing, aesthetics, livestock watering or perhaps all three. The Pond Management program at OSU can help landowners head off any problems and help protect pond investment. This website outlines the benefits of ponds and offers a variety of pond management topics, including aquatic plants, fish in ponds, a calendar for land and pond management practices and more.
Oklahoma Proven is a plant evaluation and marketing program that started in 1999 and continues today. Each year an annual, perennial, tree and shrub are selected as Oklahoma Proven plants because they are proven to be tolerant of Oklahoma’s challenging growing conditions. The site features colorful photos of each year’s selections dating back to 1999, along with descriptions of the plants and care requirements. Site users can browse quickly through the plant profiles by category or selection year. There is also a link to the Oklahoma Proven fact sheet and the OSU Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture.
Do you have a question about growing tomatoes? Do you need some gardening tips or want to learn more about Oklahoma public gardens and horticultural attractions? This newly updated site has it all. Meet show host Casey Hentges and the rest of the production team responsible for putting together each weekly show. OSU Agriculture’s Oklahoma Gardening program is the longest running gardening show on television and airs every Saturday morning at 11 a.m. and Sunday afternoons at 3 p.m. on local OETA-TV (PBS) channels across the state.
There is so much information available online and these new and updated websites pull the best research-based information together in a quick and convenient format.