The newest series of crape myrtles are the 'Razzle Dazzle' series. There are hybrids and are dwarf in form. Landscape performance evaluations are underway at the LSU AgCenter.

Landscape evaluation observations were taken on new plants from Ball Seed, Pan American Seed and Ball Flora Plant in 2007. Here is the completed report from LSU AgCenter work at Burden Center and the Hammond Research Station.

Nursery and Landscape Notes is a quarterly newsletter for Louisiana's green industry professionals. It includes production information for nursery growers and cultural practice recommendations for landscape contractors. New plant information is also included.

On the last couple years, a number of new Liriope muscari and Liriope gigantea cultivars have been released. These are being evaluated in landscape performance trials at the Hammond Research Station.

(Distributed 10/09/07) Nearly 200 lawn and garden professionals were on hand for an ornamental horticulture and turfgrass field day Oct. 9 at the LSU AgCenter’s Burden Center in Baton Rouge. The morning featured plot tours and presentations by LSU AgCenter researchers, extension specialists and graduate students.

Weeds compete with nursery crops for water, nutrients and light and can potentially harbor insects and diseases. They are common in all container nurseries and can cause significant losses in product quality and quantity.

Traditional pot-in-pot production in a nursery attempts to combine field and container-growing techniques and offers advantages over both production systems.

This guide for 2008 contains suggestions for management of the most important or more prevalent diseases of Louisiana plants. It includes information on fungicides, bactericides and nematicides, as well as safety precautions for using them.

Studies of water distribution uniformity and fertigation uniformity with sprinkler irrigation were conducted in a commercial container nursery. The first phase of the study consisted of determining water uniformity for two sprinkler heights. The second phase consisted of determining fertilizer application uniformity.

Application of herbicides formulated on granular carriers is a common practice in container nurseries. Depending on the container arrangement and plant species, a high percentage of the material applied may not be retained in the containers - particularly when the material is applied with a broadcast rotary spreader, as is a common practice.