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Business Membership Your business can join KSB for as little as $120 per year. Your dues are used for beautification of the city. When available, Business Members are entitled to the use of a custom-built garbage receptacle to be used at your business' location as long as you are a member. We need to build partnerships with the business community and you can help! Individual Membership Join Keep Saraland Beautiful as an Individual Member for as little as $12 or join as a family for $25. Your dues are used for beautification of the city. We need volunteers to join our organization for the betterment of Saraland!

March 2024 For those of you who grow citrus, unless you protected the tree(s) a few weeks back when we had a major freeze event, the trees suffered some damage ranging from defoliation to stem dieback to total tree mortality. Now is the time to really assess the damage. I examined mine the last week of February and noticed some bud swell on some and new leaves developing on others. That was a welcomed site. I did not have a crop this past season due to the March frost/freeze last year. I don’t expect a crop this year either. I will fertilize them in April and June and make sure they are irrigated during dry periods. I know the warm weather is encouraging gardeners to get active in the landscape. Garden centers are getting new plants in, and advertising is compounding the desire to get out in the yard. If you select and plant sensitive warm-season plants now, have a plan for cold protection in mind. I like to get a jump start on squash plants as soon as the soil temperatures are close to suitable. This allows me to get a head start on squash vine borers. Sometimes I have to replant them due to cold injury. The last week of February, I mowed my lawn. I was mowing weeds and not the turf. The weeds that have become large enough to mow are winter weeds and are approaching or in the reproductive stage of their lifecycle. It is important to keep the weeds from flowing and developing seeds. Using an herbicide now will be a waste, as the weeds will die as the weather continues to warm, but the herbicide will not prevent the production of seeds at this point. Another benefit to mowing the weed is reducing the habitat of the cranefly. Craneflies can be a nuisance, but they are harmless. The larva stage feeds on organic matter in the soil. The adults don’t feed, their sole purpose is to mate and reproduce. They do serve as a food source for other insects, spiders, and birds. No treatment is recommended, just manage the habitat. Remember there are local schools with horticulture programs that need your support, and they have great plants to choose from. They usually have a good selection of ornamental plants and vegetables. Enjoy the outdoors. February 2024 If you have not sat and dreamed up a plan for your landscape, I highly recommend that you take the time to sit and dream. You can even visit some public gardens and landscapes for inspiration. Let’s talk about hydrangeas. You can manipulate the color of the hydrangea flowers by changing the soil pH. Blue hydrangeas need a pH between 5 and 5.5, while soil with a pH of 6 to 6.5 produces pink flowers. Lowering the soil pH is only part of the story. Aluminum is also required to produce blue flowers. To make pink flowers turn blue, dissolve 1 tablespoon of aluminum sulfate in a gallon of water and drench the soil around the plant in March, April, and May. To make blue flowers turn pink, dissolve 1 tablespoon of hydrated lime in a gallon of water and drench the soil around the plant in March, April, and May. A word of caution, do not increase the amounts of the color change additives. Aluminum in high doses will harm hydrangea plants. You can learn more from this Extension publication: http://extension.msstate.edu/.../hydrangeas-for... The middle of this month is the time to start pruning most of our woody plants. Start by pruning out the damaged material, then start thinning cuts. In some instances, you may need to do a renewal prune, cutting plants back close to the ground and retraining the new growth to replace the dead material. As of January 30th, the chill hours are: Brewton, AL – 651 hours Old Model; 575 hours Modified Model Fairhope, AL – 435 hours Old Model; 410 hours Modified Model Moss Point, MS – 500 hours Old Model; 434 hours Modified Model February is the month to apply pre-emergent herbicides for warm-season weeds. Make sure the product you select is labeled for the type of turfgrass you have. Also, avoid “Weed & Feed” type products as it is too early to fertilize. Enjoy the outdoors! January 2024 Happy New Year! It appears that we are on course to match the long- range weather forecast. From December through February, NOAA predicts wetter-than-average conditions for northern Alaska, portions of the West, the southern Plains, Southeast, Gulf Coast, and lower mid-Atlantic and drier-than- average conditions across the northern tier of the U.S., especially in the northern Rockies, High Plains and near the Great Lakes. “An enhanced southern jet stream and associated moisture often present during strong El Nino events supports high odds for above-average precipitation for the Gulf Coast, lower Mississippi Valley and Southeast states this winter,” said Jon Gottschalck, chief of the Operational Prediction Branch of the Climate Prediction Center. NOAA forecasters, in collaboration with the National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS), continue to monitor extreme, ongoing drought conditions that have persisted through the southern and central U.S. and worsening drought in Hawaii. Temperature • Equal chances for below-, near-, or above- average seasonal mean temperatures. Precipitation • Wetter-than-average conditions are most likely along the Gulf Coast and the Southeast. Drought • Drought conditions are expected to improve across the Southeast and the Gulf Coast (including the lower Mississippi Valley due to the expected wetter-than-average forecast. As of Dec. 30th, our local chill hour numbers are: Pascagoula: Old Model - 210 Modified Model - 201 Fairhope: Old Model - 172 Modified Model - 147 Brewton: Old Model - 343 Modified Model – 267 If you plan to plant Irish potatoes and sugar snap peas, you have all of January to prep the area you intend to plant. Rough out existing plants, add the desired soil amendments, etc. February is the month to plant them, but you must plan and prep the area ahead of time. Potatoes and other root crops need a loose high organic matter soil for the best production. Sugar snap peas need the same, but they do not need as much nitrogen as other vegetables, so limit the amount of nitrogen in the fertilizer you use on them. As I drove through town the last couple of weeks of December, I noticed several landscapes where folks have started pruning. It is still too early to prune. Pruning now will reduce the cold tolerance of your plants and possibly result in cold damage during the next frost or freeze. Hold off until mid-February. In the meantime, stock up on alcohol to sterilize your pruners, sharpen, and oil your pruners so you will be ready when the time comes. Start looking for new varieties to try in your landscape. I like to try something new every year. That something new can be a totally new to you plant, category, or new varieties of plants you’ve planted in the past. One suggestion is to keep good notes on how they perform and pest problems. Apply lime according to your soil test results now. Here’s to a prosperous gardening New Year! Enjoy the outdoors!