Welcome everybody to Midday Magazine for this Thursday, August 29th, 2024.
I have your host, James, with you today.
And we are joined by one of my favorite people to talk to.
I always learned something I've been excited all week for this interview.
Janelle Wears with us, Horticultural Educator
with UW-Madison Division of Extension Marathon County
and Wood County, Janelle. It's good to see you.
It's really good to see you. How are you doing?
Doing good. Thanks so much for being here today.
I'm looking forward to talking about lilac snippets with you
and some other information about that.
But I want to start our show talking a little bit about sewing success.
Yeah, so I'm really excited.
This is going to be I think the third year that we have been able to host this course
since at least post-pandemic.
So some folks may be familiar with master gardeners
and the training that's involved to become a master gardener.
This is an in-person opportunity to take that training.
However, let's say you're really interested.
You've heard about that training. You're really interested in it
but you don't want to become a volunteer.
Not ready to make that commitment. That's okay.
This course is open to anybody who really wants to take that next step
and get more of an in-depth understanding of gardening.
So a little bit about this class.
We are going to be having this.
And we will be having this class on Monday evenings starting September 9th
and running through I believe it's November 29th.
The class will be in Marshfield at the Marshfield Library.
Let's see Monday evenings from 5 p.m. to 7.30 p.m.
and just to give you a taste of what to expect with the class.
These are the topics that we're going to be covering.
So we'll start with just some general gardening practices.
Things that you may be doing and you don't know why you're doing it.
So like mulching or maybe pruning or good plant spacing,
all that type of stuff.
We're going to kind of talk about the things you may already be doing
and things you may want to do.
And the reasons why the science behind why you want to do it.
Then we'll get into integrated pest management.
This is a framework of how to think about all of your pest issues.
We'll dive deeper into specifically insects, plant diseases, wildlife, weeds.
We'll talk about botany and give you a real basic understanding of, you know,
there's, I mean, botany is the science of its own.
So we were only going to be spending a week, one chapter on botany,
we're really going to give you a real basic understanding of that way.
You can build on that and understand the science behind why all of these techniques work.
Then we'll jump into specifically perennials and annuals and then woody ornamentals.
So that's your trees and shrubs.
We'll talk about fruit, small fruits, your apple trees, your pear trees, cherry trees.
And then also those small fruits, blue berries, raspberries.
We'll even talk about strawberries, perennial vegetables.
We'll talk about lawns, we'll talk about annual vegetables and vegetable gardens.
All of that and probably a little bit more.
So the way the class is set up is you will be assigned a reading.
You'll get a paper copy of the text.
You'll read the chapter reading for that week.
You'll watch video lectures, they're hosted on YouTube.
So you're going to need to have access to the internet and email as well,
because I'll email you the assignments each week.
And then when we meet in person, that time in the classroom, so to speak,
I don't do a whole lot of lecturing.
It's not a, I don't take the sage on a stage approach.
It's all really basically hands on activities that are all designed to reinforce those concepts
that you covered earlier in that week.
You know, it's a lot of fun.
It's 12 sessions.
When you think about, you know, we covered everything that I just mentioned.
Yeah.
That's why it takes 12 sessions.
Right, right.
We, it's 12 sessions to get through.
And like I said at the beginning, this course is considered an approved learning opportunity.
If you are interested in taking that next step in becoming a Wisconsin master gardener.
If you have questions and want to learn more, definitely feel free to reach out to me.
You can get in touch with me by calling the local extension numbers at 715-421-844-0.
Okay, I was going to help you.
I was going to help you.
Thank you.
You don't need me.
Thank you.
Or you can also send me an email.
My email address is my first name.
So that's J-A-N-E-L-L-D-W-E-H-R-A-W-I-S-C-D-U.
Janelle, is this a class that people need to register for?
Yes, definitely.
In fact, so I would ask that everybody register about a week before the class starts.
I believe that's going to be September 5th.
I think that's what that means.
It'll be the next Thursday.
Yes, yes.
So get your registration to him before next Thursday.
Oh, and that reminds me, there is a cost to the class.
It is, you know, I try to make everything that I do as affordable as possible.
But this has got, you know, it's a 12 session course.
And so there's some investments that I need to do to cover my costs.
So the, including that textbook that you're going to be getting.
And so the cost for this class is 125.
And if you've got any questions, I'll definitely feel free to reach out to me.
Otherwise, you can call the extension office and they can get you registered.
And we'll get you that information again before we wrap up today.
But the sewing success, this sounds like a very successful idea.
This is a really fun idea.
And so many people out there can be benefitted from it, too,
because whether you are just getting into the gardening game or you've done this for a long time,
it really feels like there's an opportunity to grow and learn everywhere with this.
And I didn't mean to make that pun about growing, but it's on me.
But yeah, it does seem like a really fun, a successful idea.
You know, another thing that I don't necessarily use as an advertising tool,
but I got to mention it.
It's a really, really great opportunity to meet other like-minded people.
So, you know, and especially, I know I'm not a spring chicken.
And I find it challenging to meet new people, especially people like-minded people.
So, if you, if gardening is a passion for you, I'm telling you,
be through these hands-on activities because it's not a classic classroom setting.
You'll have an opportunity to work with others in the classroom.
And I have seen, you know, more than a few friendships grow as a result of three months of hanging out together
and learning about gardening.
What a great thing to bring up.
I actually was just talking about this with a friend of mine of like,
how as we get older, it's harder to meet friends and hang out with new people or any of that.
Like, that's a great extension of this.
That's fantastic.
And I'll thank you for that.
Before I wrap up, we'll mention again how people can register and find out more about
the sewing success class coming up in September.
That's a great one.
We're speaking with Janelle.
We're Horticultural Educator with UW Extension.
And Janelle, we're diving into lilacs today.
We're going to be talking, putting our focus on that.
Yeah. So I personally, I have had a ton of phone calls this year regarding lilacs.
And this year, the areas that have been getting phone calls have been both marathon and wood counties.
And interestingly, I live in Stevens Point.
So I've noticed it also in Portage County too.
In previous years, it seems like the hotspot for this lilac issue was coming from the Wisconsin Rapids area,
into the Nikusa area.
I hadn't gotten very many phone calls from say western wood county,
or even maybe a couple of phone calls in marathon county.
This year, due to the weather conditions that we've had,
not only in central Wisconsin, but all of Wisconsin has seen an uptick in questions about what's going on with the lilacs.
And so, and I share this because this has been, I have conversations once a week.
In fact, after I'm finished up here, I'll be having that conversation with my colleagues across the state where we share what are we seeing in our neck of the woods.
And so the lilacs, this lilac issue has been coming up just not only locally, but across the state.
So, let's see, what's going on?
Well, basically what happens is the leaves, the leaves are browning, and they're falling off,
and typically it kind of starts at the bottom of the plant and progresses its way upward.
And the cause of this is typically this disease called septoria, or septoria leaf spot.
There are a couple other fungal diseases that mimic septoria.
And honestly, if the, what I would recommend is not go by the description, but actually kind of look up what septoria looks like.
But if it's not septoria, and it's one of these other diseases, the management options are going to be the same.
Okay, that's good. That's really important to know with that.
Certainly interesting, the differences of these diseases are what I have you.
But the fact that the cure or the solution is similar to with all of them, that really does help, I would think.
Yeah, yeah, what I would recommend is try to get the, try to at least get a visual confirmation that from somebody that, yep, that looks like it's either septoria or one of these other similar diseases,
rather than just going by a description of the radio, or taking a look doing your own research.
You brought in some exam, I'm sorry, I appreciate the examples you brought in, because that, that even helped me a little bit understand this a little bit better.
So I think that's a really good note of looking even online at examples, so that you have a better idea in your head of what to look for.
Yeah, yeah, another cause of defoliation of, of, of lylax could be powdery mildew.
Now, powdery mildew, another fungal disease, it does not present itself in the same way as septoria though.
Powdery mildew, you're going to see what looks like somebody sprinkled baby powder all over the leaves.
And then the leaves fall off.
That's another one, management issue is going to be real similar.
So basically, if it's, if it looks like it's a foliar disease, we're not looking at wilt, we're not looking at sudden death of a single branch or, you know, or a section of the shrub,
but kind of just, you know, starting from the bottom and working this way up, management of all of those foliar diseases are going to be about the same.
So when it comes to saving the lylax, is that possible?
You know what, that's a really great question because I've had people, you know, approach me with taking it to that extreme of, hey, you know, this is happening.
Is there any chance that I can save my lylax?
And I, you know what, I hate delivering bad news.
And so I get really excited because this is an opportunity to share great news.
Septoria, similar foliar diseases, even powdery mildew, all of those are cosmetic, meaning that they're not causing future decline of the shrub.
Interesting.
Yeah, I mean, they look on sightly, right? They're terrible to look at.
This is one of those cases that, you know, besides a couple of cultural management things, what I suggest really, really learning to do is how to look away.
So like I said, you're going to notice those effects starting from the bottom and you might see some, you know, once it's really, really taken hold, you might still see some of those green leaves at the top.
And this is because the source of the infection is happening from the leaf litter below, right?
Okay.
And so that leaf litter earlier in the season, especially because we had such a rainy spring, that leaf litter, basically it splashes back, it rains, splashes back on the shrub.
That's why those bottom branches are the first to show the infection, rains again.
Now that splash back is a little bit higher, it makes its way slowly up towards the top of the shrub, right?
So, oh, the other thing too is the bottom of a lilac, especially if you haven't been keeping up on top of the pruning, you know, year after year.
The bottom of the shrub tends to be much denser, right? You've got your suckers coming up, if you're not cleaning that up and improving that airflow.
That's going to be denser.
So, you know, now we've got all of these leaves, it's really dense, high humidity, it's going to make it drying out after rain, happen more slowly.
So now the leaves are wet longer, the longer the leaves are wet, the more susceptible they are to infection.
So you can kind of see, oh, okay, this is what's causing the disease, that's why it's so bad at the bottom, that's why it's slowly making its way up to the top.
Okay, so what can we do now that I've kind of given you that background information?
Yeah, jump in.
So, real quick, is this something that you should plan on seeing in your lilacs in the future, like next summer or not?
Yeah, you know, like I said, I would say it was probably three years ago, maybe as far as four years ago, I first started noticing that Wisconsin Rapids in Tunecus was a little bit of a hot spot for this.
I was leaning into septoria, I can't remember if anybody ever followed up and had their shrubs tested to see if it was septoria, but it's really started to take hold across the state.
I talked to the director of the Plant Disease Diagnostic Clinic, Dr. Brian Hodleston about this.
Actually, I've talked to him a couple of times over the past few years about this, and he said that he was seeing it much more strongly in the southern part of the state, especially in the years that we had a really wet season.
And he said, in those areas where you've seen it in the past, and it's really getting worse and worse, you should be just expecting this to be part of the natural flora of the area.
So, what can we do to reduce the disease in the future, or is there anything we can do?
Yeah, so, you know, it is unsightly, right? It is, you know, not the prettiest thing to have in the landscape, especially when, you know, in June, those lilacs are kind of the princess of the yard, right?
They really are, yes, it's a great way to put it, yes, yeah.
So, if we want to try to keep them looking nice throughout the entire season, we want to make sure as those leaves are falling, we're picking them up as much as possible.
So, there's an organism that's causing the disease, right? The disease is called septoria, I don't remember what the actual fungus, the scientific name is.
But that is living on that leaf material over the winter, and that's how that shrub is getting reinfected in the spring.
So, as the leaves fall, if we get out there and we clean them up as much as possible, there's going to be less of that organism hanging around to reinfect it, right?
Now, you know, I don't know that you're going to be able to do it only unless you're out there vacuuming your yard.
I don't know that you're going to be able to get rid of all of the disease-causing organisms, but I'll tell you what, just knocking it down, doing a good fall clean up, breaking up those leaves, that's going to reduce your chances of having a really bad infection next year.
I just imagine my father out in his yard with a vacuum.
Can you compost these leaves? Are you able to do that with them?
So, you know what, what I would say, what I would strongly suggest you do is either double bag them or burn them.
You could bury them as well. You can compost them, but only do that if you're a well-experienced composter, if you know what you're doing with composting.
As we get into the later part of the season, it's a little bit more of a challenge to get that compost to reach up to between 140 to 160 degrees.
You're going to need it to get a minimum of 140 degrees to kill the pathogen, the disease-causing organism.
That's why I say, you know, yeah, you can compost if you're really good at composting, but if you're not, you know, I don't want to say expert composter, but if you're...
Experience.
Well, I would say if you compost like I do, which mine does not reach temperature, then go ahead and burn those leaves.
What about chemicals? It tends to be... And I know how we've talked about this subject many times that we try to stay away from chemicals at all possible.
Is that something that's an option for people when it comes to this?
Before we jump into the chemicals, I just want to back up for a second, because there's actually one other thing that we can do.
So, we've got to pick up those leaves. The other thing is right around St. Patrick's Day.
And I say St. Patrick's Day, what I'm actually shooting for is late winter, early spring.
Okay, but St. Patrick's Day is something that's easier for us to keep in mind.
Get out there and go ahead and prune that lie lock. You want to improve that airflow.
You want to thin out the bottom, and you can do that by getting rid of the oldest stems that are coming up.
Don't remove more than one-third of the entire shrub, though, but just getting out there and doing that pruning is really going to help with that airflow and reduce that disease.
Excellent. So, as far as chemicals go, that is something we can be stay away from.
Do we, is there a use?
You know, so, yeah, she could use chemicals.
We don't remember when we don't recommend using chemicals until you've had some real severe infection several years in a row.
Remember, I said this is cosmetic. If you're applying those fungicides, that's, you know, it's a time investment,
as well as a monetary investment, and we're adding inputs into the environment.
So, let's wait until we've had that infection several years.
Now, let's say that you do want to use it. There are some active ingredients out there.
You're going to want to look for, and I'm going to butcher the pronunciation of this, I apologize.
Chlorothanol. So, that's a broad spectrum of fungicides that's used for a variety of fungal diseases.
You want thing to keep in mind, though, is you do need to apply that fungicide as a preventative, not a curative.
You've got to get that fungicide on it early in the season, follow the directions on the label,
and it's probably going to mean that you're going to need to be out there, you know, once every week or once every two weeks,
spraying that plant throughout the entire growing season.
Starting from when the leaves first emerge all the way until when the leaves fall off.
And so, because this is such a big commitment, you know, and it's not going to work.
Number one, it's a huge commitment. Number two, it's not going to work just the spray alone.
You still got to get out there and pick up the leaves and open up that airflow.
You know, the benefit that you're getting, you know, does that outweigh that long-term commitment over the growing season.
This is the reason why the director of the plant disease, diagnostic clinic, does not recommend using fungicides.
But if you are going to use fungicides, here's how to do it to be most effective.
Right. Janelle, always an interesting and fun and really insightful conversation with you.
Thank you so much for all the feedback and all the different information you gave us today.
Whether it's, we're talking about this fungicide with lilacs or we're talking about the sewing success class that is going to be coming up.
How can people reach you? How can people find out more?
Yeah, so you, of course, you can always call the local extension office in Wood County.
That's going to be seven, one, five, four, two, one, eight, four, four, zero.
They'll put you in contact with me. Otherwise, excuse me, otherwise, you can get a hold of me.
Probably easiest because I'm always bouncing around from county to county.
You can reach me by email. That's going to be my first name, dot last name.
That's j-a-n-e-l-l-dot-w-e-h-r-at-w-i-s-c-dot-e-d-u.
Reach out to Janelle, get signed up for the sewing success class coming up in September.
Find out more about your plants and your environment and so much more.
I bring your questions to Janelle because I'm knocking them out. She's great.
Appreciate you, Janelle. Thank you so much for hanging out with us.
Thanks for having me.
Find out more at wood.extension.wisc.edu.
That's wood.extension.wisc.edu.
Be sure to follow them on social media as well. It's a great way to keep up to date with all the good things going on with our friends over at Extension.
We will have more Midday Magazine for you right here at 97-5 FM 13-20 AM.
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