Stiltgrass: Barbarian at the Garden Gate cont.

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What are the steps I need to follow to become a garden judge?

1) You must have been an AHS Member for at least 12 calendar months to begin training. (When you send in an application to become a judge at the end of your training, you must have been an AHS member for 24 calendar months.) **Eligibility will be determined before admitted.

2) * Very important: Before you take any workshops, read Chapters 1 and 2 of the Garden Judges’ Handbook Judging Daylilies in the Garden. Need the FREE PDF of the Garden Judges Handbook? Download it from the
Portal here:
www.daylilynetwork.org/page/GardenJudgesHome

3) Take Garden Judges Workshop I (approx. 2 hrs.) This is taught by instructors using a Power Point. Students must pass written, timed, open book, online exam with at least 70% to receive credit.

4) Take Garden Judges Workshop 2 (approx. 2 1/2 hrs.) This part of the class is taught in a garden, and students learn to evaluate registered cultivars and seedlings with accredited instructors. These workshops are offered at Regional Summer meetings and National meetings and at times, are sponsored by daylily clubs.

5) After completing both workshops, you must fill out and send an “Application for Appointment as a Garden Judge” to your RP (Regional President). Your RP will send the form to the Garden Judges Records chair, who will notify you of your appointment for a five-year term as a garden judge.

Mechanical Removal:
Stiltgrass can also be cut using a weed whacker, mower, or scythe from mid-August through September to prevent it from going to seed. Because stiltgrass is an annual, cutting LATE in the summer when you see the thin flower heads forming on the end of the stalks stops the seeding process and doesn’t give the plant enough time to regrow. Do not cut it earlier in the season because stiltgrass then responds by regrowing, flowering and dropping seed sooner than normal and it’s how people end up with a lawn full of short stiltgrass >>>>>>So the best prevention is a combination of hand pulling when it emerges followed by a timely cut back of larger populations.<<<<<

What Happens if the grass starts to go to seed?
If you miss getting the grass earlier and it starts to go to seed you can solarize it by pulling it and putting in a CLEAR plastic bag. Put the bag in the sun for a few days and it will get hot enough to kill the seed or any seedlings that start to germinate. Even then do not put this in a compost but rather make an area on your property where you can dump the cooked plant materials and keep the vegetation covered with a tarp until it breaks down completely.