The 96th Washington Parish Free Fair is right upon us. Let me share something with you that many of us just take for granted. The fair does not just happen by itself. It takes a tremendous amount of time, work, effort and other activities by VOLUNTEERS to make the fair the great event that it is.

Follow these tips to toughen your lawn for the winter. In additon, there are a few suggestions about plants that can be grown for fall production.

Liven up your landscape by putting some color in it.

Begin making cuttings of some of your favorite plants. Make cuttings 5 to 6 inches of tip growth, leaving from 3 to 4 leaves of each cutting.

I constantly get calls about how to control moles in the lawn and flower beds. Unfortunately, you won't have too much success unless you use the mole trap, and that is a very slow process.

It's not too early for coaches and athletic directors to be thinking about the control of fire ants on the playing fields, espcially when the football season is right upon us.

Has your lawn recovered from the stress of the past several weeks?

The Daily News and LSU AgCenter are sponsoring this contest with production hopefully ready for year's Washington Parish Fair.

With the adverse weather conditions many gardeners experienced this spring -- hot, dry conditions -- our attention now turns to possibly planting a garden or vegetables for the fall. Generally, the same good cultural practices need to be followed.

Blueberry plants will put on a second flush of growth in August, so a final fertilizer applicatin is needed now.