Best time for new lawn or repairs is coming soon
By ROBERT KESSLER Penn State Cooperative Extension Franklin County office

COMING EVENTS

Through July 29 - Shippensburg Community Fair, Shippensburg Fairgrounds, Possum Hollow Road, Shippensburg

Aug. 11 - 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., Farm and Home Safety Day, Chambersburg Rod and Gun Club, Williamson

Aug. 12 - 10 a.m., Show; 7 p.m., Sale, Franklin County 4-H Pig Club Roundup, Greencastle Livestock Market

Aug. 15 - 10 a.m., Cut flower trials and flower arranging demos, Horticultural Center Gardens, Franklin Farm Lane, Chambersburg

Aug. 20 through 26 - Franklin County Fair, Chambersburg Rod and Gun Club, 3725 Warm Spring Road, Chambersburg

Aug. 23 - noon to 5 p.m., Fifth annual Master Gardener Tomato Tasting Day, tent at Horticultural Center Gardens, Franklin Farm Lane, Chambersburg

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FALL LAWN PLANTING

It may not feel like it yet, but soon it will be starting to cool down and the nights will be more comfortable. This is a sure sign that the summer is coming to an end. One of the tasks you can start thinking about soon is establishing a new lawn or replacing an existing lawn.

Mid August to early September is the best time to establish a new lawn if you can. The days are cooler with cooler nights and the grass has a couple of months to get established before we get frost.

If you are planning on doing a new lawn this fall, there are things you need to do now so you will be ready in a few weeks.

First, you should purchase a soil test kit from our office for $9.00 and take a soil sample. The results will tell you how much lime and fertilizer you should put on before you work up the area.

You should also spray any perennial weeds, especially grasstype weeds like quack grass and broad leaf weeds like dandelion. Use a material such as glyphosate (Roundup), which will kill the top and the root of the plant. This material has a short time required between the time you spray and the time you can till the area for seeding. Both the testing and the spraying should be done as soon as possible.

You should also find your grass seed soon. You want to buy as good a grass seed as you can because you will need to look at your grass every day year after year. We grow cool season's grasses here, primarily bluegrass, perennial ryegrass, turf type tall fescue and fine fescues. Each grass type has some great advantages and some disadvantages. In most cases, we would not recommend Kentucky 31 Tall Fescue for a home lawn. It is a very coarse grass and hard to keep attractive in a home lawn.

We have additional information on how to seed a lawn that you might need if you're new to doing this. Stop by our office at 181 Franklin Farm Lane, Chambersburg and we will be able to give you the fact sheets you need.

HORNWORMS ON

TOMATOES

One of the most common vegetables grown in home gardens is the tomato. Probably one of the most common insect problems on the tomato is the tomato hornworm. Hornworms are in the larval stage now and might be found while you are looking for ripe tomatoes. They can get quite large (3 to 4 inches) and are pale green. They can easily blend into the foliage.

While the larvae might look like it will devour your plant, don't do anything until you take a close look at it. If you see white projections from the hornworms body, then just leave it on the plant. The white projections are parasites of the hornworm and were laid by a very small wasp. The eggs hatch out and the wasp's larvae feed on the hornworm and kill it. The new wasps from the larvae will seek out other hornworms to lay eggs on them.

If they don't have any white projections and they are eating a lot of leaf material, you can pick them off and drop them in soapy water. If you have a large number of tomato plants that have hornworms, you can spray with carbaryl (Sevin).

EARLY BLIGHT OF TOMATOES AND POTATOES

This year's weather has been ideal for disease problems on our plants because of the rainy periods and the high humidity in between. Early blight is a disease that will become a problem on both potatoes and tomatoes and if left untreated, it can be very destructive to your crop.

It shows up on the bottom leaves of the plant first. You will start to see small irregular shaped brown spots on the leaves. These will continue to get bigger and you might see the formation of a bull's eye pattern to the disease portion of the leaf.

The disease can also affect the ripening fruit and create a leathery dark spot on the tomato, especially on the stem end of the fruit.

The fungus is spread to the leaves and fruit by spores from the soil and from old plant tissue. It can also be on the potato and seed piece. The spores are easy to spread by wind, splashing soil and rains. It will develop rapidly in very hot humid conditions like we have had this summer.

When the disease gets established on your plants, you will see yellowing leaves that will dry up and then fall off the plant. This starts at the bottom of the plant and works upward. The loss of leaves affect the plant by the loss of food production and the fruit is exposed to the sun, which can result in sunscald injury.

Early blight on both potatoes and tomatoes can be controlled by using a fungicide containing chlorothalonil (Bravo, Daconil). You will need to spray every seven to ten days to keep it controlled. If you have the disease this year, be sure to clean up all plant debris at the end of the season and do not put either potatoes or tomatoes back in that area again the next two to three years.