Master Gardener FinalStudy Guide

The final exam will include a variety of question types--manytrue/false, somemultiple choice, manymatching (mostly disease/insect/plant/ grass, bulb types), and some fill in the blank. It will cover any information related to the spring semester, as well as questions from the fall semester. Almost all answers can be found in the Maryland Manual, though a few may be from lectures and fact sheets.

You may not bring this study guide or its facsimile to the exam. You may bring the manual and any other printed material you want. There are many questions on this exam, and you will not have time to look up all the answers. Though this is an open book exam, it is not easy. There are no essays, but there are many questions. The matching, especially disease/insect/plant, is usually the most difficult. I suggest you find and tab the answers in your manual before the exam.

SPRING SEMESTER (Final comprises material below and material from Fall semester)

INVASIVE SPECIES (Chap 12)

An invasive species is an exotic or non-native invasive species whose introduction can cause economic or environmental harm. Not all non-native species are invasive species.

Examples of invasive Plants include:

  • Trees – Bradford Pear, Norway Maple, Tree of Heaven
  • Shrubs – Autumn olive, Honeysuckle, Multiflora rose
  • Vines & Groundcovers – English Ivy, Japanese honeysuckle, Mile-a-minute
  • Herbaceous – Purple loosestrife, Bamboo (running, not clumping)

Master Gardeners can help control invasive plants:

  • Do not introduce invasive plants
  • Encourage native plants
  • Educate yourself and others
  • Remove invasive plants

WOODY PLANTS (Chap 16)

Have an overall design plan and evaluate the intended site for:

  • Exposure
  • Soil condition
  • Utility issues

Plant selection criteria:

  • Hardiness
  • Adaptability to site
  • Size
  • Maintenance requirements
  • Susceptibility to pests and diseases
  • Aesthetic qualities

Purchased plant root conditions:

  • Bare root
  • Plant when dormant, keep roots moist.
  • Soak roots before planting
  • Prune off dead, diseased, damaged roots
  • Set roots on top of 3-4” of soil
  • Balled and burlapped (B&B)
  • Plant whenever soil can be worked
  • Keep roots moist
  • Planting hole should be as deep as the ball and twice as wide
  • Remove burlap, string and wire as long as ball does not fall apart; otherwise cut through these materials and remove as much as possible after ball is safely in planting hole
  • Container grown
  • Plant whenever soil can be worked
  • Score root ball if root bound
  • Plant with top of root ball level with the ground

Mulching reasons:

  • Conserve soil moisture
  • Moderate soil temperature
  • Suppress weed growth
  • Reduce soil compaction
  • Prevent soil erosion
  • Protect plants from equipment injury
  • Aesthetics

Mulching tips:

  • Mulch to a maximum of 3” deep
  • Keep mulch away from bark
  • Do not “volcano mulch” and suffocate roots

Fertilization:

  • Newly planted trees, shrubs, groundcover and vines do not benefit from fertilization.
  • In most landscapes, healthy, mature trees and shrubs do not require fertilizers.
  • Maintain the proper pH, generally 5.5 – 7.0 (4.5 – 5.5 for ericaceous/acid loving plants)
  • If a soil test indicates the need for fertilization, never fertilize in late summer or early fall because growth should not be stimulated going into winter.

Transplanting:

  • Transplant trees & shrubs when dormant
  • Start root pruning in early fall, 2 years before transplanting.

Abiotic Problems:

  • Drought – Pay attention to local weather conditions and water plants when rainfall or snowfall is deficient
  • Oxygen deficit – Typcially due to poor soil structure
  • Nutrient deficiency
  • Salt damage – Due to overfertilization or de-icers
  • Low temperature –Due to freezing temperatures in spring
  • Equipment – Lawn mower hits and string trimmer cuts
  • Storm & lightning

VEGETABLES (Chap 17)

Vegetable garden soil should be deep, friable, well drained and high in organic matter. To increase overall garden productivity:

  • Test your soil
  • Add organic matter
  • Keep weeds to a minimum
  • Increase the effective rooting depth. Tilling/Turning, Double-Digging and Raised Beds improved the rooting depth, each method offering advantages and disadvantages.

Soil improvement is the key to successful vegetable gardening. The key to soil improvement is the continuous addition of organic matter, especially compost.

  • New gardens need 4-8 inches of organic matter the first 2 years, afterwards 1-2 inches per year
  • Aged animal manure should comprise no more that 25% of organic matter applied to the soil surface in any one year

The advantages of planting a cover crop are:

  • Prevents winter erosion
  • Adds organic material when incorporated in the spring
  • Improve soil tilth and porosity
  • Adds valuable nutrients

Seeding & Transplanting

  • Hybrids result from the cross breeding of two distinct, inbred, open-pollinated cultivars.
  • Heirlooms are open-pollinated, true to type
  • Direct Seeding – Seeds are sown directly into the soil
  • Transplants – Most warm season crops (tomato, pepper, eggplant) must be started indoors, and most cool season crops benefit from an early start indoors
  • Hardening Off – Transplants should be gradually acclimatized over a period of a few days before exposing them to the relatively harsh conditions in the garden

Fertilizing

Even in gardens thoroughly amended with organic matter, it is likely that insufficient nutrients, (especially nitrogen) will be available, requiring the application of fertilizer.

Watering

  • Optimum vegetable growth requires 1” of water per week (65 gallons/100 square feet).
  • Water infrequently and deeply to encourage deep root growth.
  • Avoid overhead watering late in the day to avoid disease.

Mulching

Organic mulches, ideally 2-4” deep:

  • Prevent weed growth
  • Moderate soil temperature
  • Conserve soil moisture
  • Add organic matter to the soil when they rot

FRUIT TREES (Chap 19)

Home fruit production is time-consuming and demands year-round commitment.

Tree fruits suited to the mid-Atlantic regions are:

  • Pome fruits
  • Apples
  • Pears
  • Stone fruits
  • Peaches
  • Plums
  • Apricots
  • Nectarines
  • Cherries

Pollination:

  • Bees pollinate fruit trees.
  • Cross-pollination by movement of pollen between two different cultivars is necessary to produce good crops of apple, pear, most plum, sweet cherry an apricot cultivars.

Peaches, figs, nectarines, some European plums and sour cherries are generally self fruitful.

Site Section:

  • Slope - North-facing slope is ideal to avoid frost damage and winter injury due to sun heated trunks (frost cracking).
  • Exposure – Foliage and fruit dry faster in full sun, reducing disease infection, and fruit will color better and ripen more evenly. However avoid a direct sourthern exposure as fruits may bloom early and subject to frost.
  • Soil – Deep, well-drained soil is necessary for most fruits.

Disease:

There are many insect and disease pests of tree fruits so that it is very difficult to grow quality fruit in New Jersey without some use of pesticides, especially apple and peach. Purchasing quality stock can reduce the number of times pesticides are applied. Under normal conditions you may need six to ten pesticide applications to produce fruit of reasonable quality, less with disease resistant varieties.

Planting:

Know the parts of a fruit tree

  • Scion
  • Interstem
  • Graft union
  • Root stock

Planting is best in early spring. The graft union should be two to four inches out of the ground after the ground settles. (Other aspects of planting are similar to recommendations for ordinary tree planting.)

Pruning:

Understand the terms used in fruit-tree pruning

  • Terminals
  • Central leader
  • Thinning-out cut
  • Heading-back cut
  • Spur
  • Weak narrow-angle branch
  • Strong wide-angle branch
  • Water sprouts
  • Heading height
  • Scaffolding (from lecture)

Understand the reasons behind the recommendations for pruning apple trees and stone fruits:

  • Apple Trees
  • Stone Fruits

Rootstock:

  • Rootstocks influence:
  • Size of the tree
  • Age of bearing
  • Winter hardiness
  • Susceptibility to some diseases
  • Trees on dwarf and semi-dwarf rootstocks are ideally suited for home fruit production:
  • Earlier bearing
  • Harvest without ladder
  • Less pesticide used; better coverage
  • Improved air circulation
  • Requires less space

Fig trees – are very popular in our area, and are relatively easily grown by the home gardener. (See also Fact Sheet.)

  • Select a sunny, protected location for planting in the ground. Next to a south-facing wall is ideal. Figs need full sun.
  • Cut back the top of your new plant to force lateral growth.
  • Fruits for on current year’s growth, usually the second or third year after planting.
  • Protect the fig tree in winter to avoid winter kill:
  • Figs grown to a bush or shrub form are easier to protect than a tree form
  • Wrap the tree in burlap or a wire cage and fill with insulating material,l such as dry leaves or straw, then cap with a plastic tarp to shed rain and snow.

PLANT PROPAGATION (Chap 23)

Sexual propagation – The union of pollen from the male with the egg of the female to produce a seed

  • Seed – Use high quality seed stored in a cool, dry location
  • Germination Factors – Water, oxygen, light and heat, and a healthy seed
  • Breaking Dormancy:
  • Stratification – Place seeds between layers of a moist medium such as sand, peat or paper towels and keep in a cool place for a few weeks to 6 months depending on species
  • Scarification – Rub seed with sandpaper or a file, soaking in hot water for a few hours before sowing

Starting seeds indoors:

  • Sow seeds so that they are ready for transplanting by the time the weather is appropriate.
  • Containers should be clean. Used containers should be free of debris and dipped in a solution of bleach and water.
  • Recommended media is a soilless mix
  • An adequate and continuous supply of water is essential. Once the absorption process has begun, a dry period will cause the death of the seed embryo.
  • Depending on seed type:
  • Plant seeds at the proper depth
  • Germinate and grow at proper temperature
  • Provide adequate light

Asexual Propagation – is the best way to maintain some species, particularly an individual that best represents that species.

  • Cuttings are a vegetative plant part that is severed from the parent plant to form a new plant.
  • Layering is a process by which roots form on a branch or stem while still attached to the parent plant, most often through the process of simple layering where the stem is bent to the ground and part of it is covered with soil, leaving the last 6 – 12 inches exposed.
  • Division is cutting the plant into segments, usually practiced on herbaceous perennials.
  • Separation is the practice of separating bulbs, corm or rhizomes

WATER QUALITY & CONSERVATION (Chap 25)

  • The Hydrologic cycle (water cycle): Water travels through the atmosphere into or onto the ground and back into the atmosphere, traveling through solid, liquid, and gaseous states, in a never-ending cycle.
  • Infiltration: Water that flows through the soil
  • Runoff: Occurs when the rate of precipitation exceeds the infiltration rate into the soil. Disturbed soil (urban/suburban development) destroys the surface-connected pores, so water moves more slowly into the soil and more rainfall becomes surface runoff rather than infiltration.
  • Pollutants: Water that runs across the earth’s surface picks up nutrients, sediment, toxins and heavy metals.
  • Evapotranspiration: Water is returned to the atmosphere from the soil surface, surface waters, and plants
  • Evaporation: Water escaping as vapor from the soil, water, and leaf surfaces.
  • Transpiration: Water moving up through plants and out through their stomata into the atmosphere.

Groundwater

  • Water Table: Water infiltrates and moves through the root zone and percolates to the upper zone of groundwater called the water table.
  • Aquifers: The uppermost section of saturated soil in the water table is the aquifer. Generally this water moves laterally to streams or rivers.

Nutrients

  • In a balanced system nutrients are consumed by algae.
  • In highly populated areas runoff which includes fertilizer, wastewater and other organic materials overload the water with too many nutrients, leading to an overpopulation of algae. Excess, dying algae consumes large amounts of oxygen killing off aquatic life.

Sediments & Toxins

  • Runoff pollutes the surface and ground water, killing off aquatic life and promoting algae bloom, and can persist in the groundwater and soil as a toxin.

Water conservation and stormwater management methods include:

  • Plant selection
  • Rain Barrels
  • Gray Water
  • Watering properly
  • Slowing water flow
  • Rain Gardens
  • Preventing erosion

WETLANDS (Chap 27)

A wetland is a transition zone between terrestrial and aquatic systems where the water table is at or just below the soil surface.

Wetland characteristics:

  • Hydrologic conditions
  • Hydric soils
  • Hydrophytic plants