May and June Garden News Release 2007Gardeners Checklist - April 29 - May 5 Add 3 to 4 inches of mulch to flower and vegetable beds as well as around established trees and shrubs to keep the ground weed free and to prevent loss of moisture. Check ties and stakes on young trees and rose trees. Replace them if needed. Feed your hanging basket fuchsias, bougainvillea, lantanas and others with a good general purpose fertilizer or fish emulsion once a month. Or use it half strength every two weeks. There's still plenty of time to plant a vegetable garden. Some areas of California have just gotten out of frost danger. Check with the local garden center for seedlings and other supplies. Thin fruit on fruit trees, especially apples. Leave about 5 inches between fruit and get ready for apple pie. Gardeners Checklist - May 6-12 Give your Mom a lasting token of your love for Mother's Day with a blooming gift from the garden center. Choose from roses, hanging baskets of fuchsias, verbena, lantana and more. Mother's Day is Sunday, May 13th. Use tomato cages around tomato plants. These wire cylinders keep the plant off the ground, improve fruit set and ease harvest. Plant perennials like marguerites, geraniums, salvia, lithodora, & coreopsis for months of blooming beauty. This is a terrific month to plant tasty herbs for use in summer BBQ's. Try mint and rosemary for lamb or basil for beef or pork. Water lawns on a rising temperature. Early morning is best. Gardeners Checklist - May 13-19 Feed roses monthly with rose fertilizer. Keep a sharp look out for blackspot, powdery mildew and rust that can develop on the leaves. If you aren't sure of what is damaging the roses bring a sample into your local California Certified Nursery Professional ™ for a quick diagnosis. Stake or cage all vining and tall growing vegetables when you plant the seedlings. This way you will avoid disturbing the root system as the plants mature. It's time to plant summer blooming annuals. Try hot weather lovers: celosia, petunias, marigolds, dahlias, nicotiana, salvias and zinnias to mention a few. Vegetables can be grown in containers as well as in the ground. Container gardening saves water too. Plant a red, white and blue flowerbed this month to celebrate and honor those who have fought to protect our freedom. It will still be going strong to celebrate the Fourth of July. Gardeners Checklist - May 20-26 Install a drip irrigation system in the garden this month. It will save you hours of hose holding and dry plant crisis management during the hot summer months. Drip irrigation has other benefits too. It places the water where the plant needs it and regulates how much each plant gets by the size of the emitter so you don't waste water. May planted tomatoes often produce faster than those planted in March and April. Yellow leaves on camellias and azaleas can generally be corrected with applications of chelated iron. Apply to the soil or to the foliage. Follow directions on the product or ask a California Certified Nursery Professional ™ for help. "Deadhead" all spent blossoms on annual flowers to promote continual blooms throughout the summer. Feed with a good flower food monthly to keep plants healthy and flower production high. Feed your citrus monthly with citrus food to promote good fruit production. Fillers
Articles Mulches Can Save Water Mulches are materials you put on top of the soil around trees and shrubs to reduce water evaporation, prevent weed problems and buffer soil temperatures. Soil amendments, on the other hand, are products mixed into a soil, and should not be confused with mulches. What type of materials can you use as mulch? Backyard compost and decomposed lawn clippings are often recycled into mulch by homeowners. Many products are commercially available and work well also. These include decorative bark, gravel, compost, redwood sawdust, peat moss and composted sewage sludge mixtures. If you decide to use your own yard waste to make mulch, make sure first that it is well composted. Otherwise, you may have to add nitrogen fertilizer to your plantings, since non-decomposed material can rob it from the soil. Fresh lawn clippings may contain herbicides harmful to your trees and shrubs. Mulches should be applied in late spring, when soils are warm. When used around trees, they should begin a few inches out from the trunk and spread outward toward the drip line. Never apply mulch around the trunks of trees; crown rot and other problems can result. In case of shrubs, mulches should cover the soil surrounding the planting to reduce soil evaporation. Mulches can also save lots of water in flowerbed plantings. Add the mulch between plants throughout the bed. Since mulches work by preventing sunlight from reaching the soil, dark products work the best. You need to add two to six inches of mulch (depending on the material) for an effective barrier, or you can use a black plastic underlay. Remember to water through the mulch layer into the soil. Drip systems are very useful in mulched plantings, since they apply water directly into the root zone. Common garden hoses can also be used to water mulched plantings. (reprinted from DRY WIT courtesy of the Cooperative Extension of the University of California). Be Water Aware In the Garden Controlling the use of water in your garden takes just a little common sense. Make a few minor adjustments in the way you do things in the garden and you'll be saving between 15 and 20 percent of your water. Not only does that translate into substantial savings but also a healthier yard with fewer problems.
Shrubs Provide Summer Color For the Garden Memorial Day always signals the beginning of summer, vacations, graduations and barbeques. It also means warmer weather for entertaining outdoors. Is your garden ready to show forth its best flowering self? With a little preplanning this month your yard will have lots of colorful blooming shrubs providing a permanent show year after year. Consider planting hibiscus with its large showy flowers. Hybridizers have found ways to improve the flowers to include doubles and multicolored blooms. Some of the plants grow in a compact manner that makes it easy for small spaces and containers to display their beauty. In coastal and northern areas they should be planted in a protected area. Daylilies are another choice. You can choose maroons, pinks, yellows, oranges and whites to complement your garden. Daylilies will take full sun in coastal areas to partial shade in the hot areas of the state. Star Jasmine will not only add a blanket of creamy white flowers in the summer but also a heavenly fragrance. Plant some near the pool or hot tub and enjoy! And of course if we're talking about fragrance, we should add gardenias, "Mystery" gardenias have the largest flowers. The plant tends to be rangy and reach about 6-8 feet. If you like the idea of gardenias but haven't the room for a large plant, consider the "Veitchii" variety. It is a compact plant reaching approximately 4 foot with lots of 1 ½ inch flowers. And there are lots of other choices: plumbagos, abelias, bougainvillea and viburnums to mention a few. Check with your local garden center to see what's new and in bloom for the summer. Japanese Maples What could be more beautiful than a Japanese Maple unfurling its delicate leaves in the spring? Japanese Maples have enjoyed many years of popularity in our gardens due to the varieties available for our many varied designs and locations. They come in a variety of tolerances for heat. Most of them do best in filtered light throughout the day as well as protection from hot dry winds. Maples are nearly trouble-free. Occasional aphids will attack in early spring, a blast from a hose is all that is needed to dislodge these unwanted guests. Do not use Safers Soap on maples as it will often defoliate them prematurely. Major pruning must be completed during maples dormant period in early spring (late February - mid March) just as buds begin to swell. Any major reductions should be done in stages over years. Maples like to be kept moist and have good drainage. The addition of fir bark or compost to our heavy or clay soil is advisable. Mounding is also advisable to counteract the clay soil. A fine mist spay has been helpful on very hot dry days. Japanese Maples are not heavy feeders when it comes to fertilization. One light application of fertilizer in the spring is all they need. Mulching works best, to protect roots from hot dry conditions. Tapering off the amount but not regularity of water will help your maple 'color up' in the fall. Here are some varieties to consider:
Check with your local California Certified Nursery Professional ™ for the best varieties in your neighborhood. Head Turning Hydrangeas Heirloom garden plants are staging a big come back in this generation's gardens. Not only will these beauties remind you of the hydrangeas that you found at seaside resorts as a child but they bring a breath of unique attractiveness to your shade garden because of the timeless air they carry about them. Hydrangeas make ideal cut and dried flowers. Check with your local garden center to see if they carry some of these or can special order them.
Plant Dahlias, Darling for Summer Bloom! Did you know there are over 3000 varieties of dahlias available? They were first cultivated in the gardens of the Aztecs. When the Spanish arrived in Mexico they brought them back to their king who was instantly captivated by the flower's beauty. The king declared a day of celebration in honor of Spain's claim to this flower. He renamed them in honor of Anders Dahl, a Swedish botanist who had created many hybrid varieties. By the 1830's dahlias were extremely popular in Europe. Today, dahlias can grace your gardens also. You can choose small bedding plant dahlias that make wonderful borders or look great massed together in flowerbeds. Or you can plant tuberous dahlias that come in a variety of sizes, flower forms and heights. If you like small flowering dahlias choose the "Pompom" variety or if you really want to draw attention plant the "Dinnerplate" dahlia. No, it's not an exaggeration; the flowers really do get that large! You probably will want to stake them for support. Check them out at your local California Certified Garden Center. June Garden News Releases June Gardener's Checklist May 27-June 2 For fall bloom, now is the time to plant those dahlia tubers. Introduce quick summer color by planting any one of an assortment of colorful perennials such as daisies, marguerites, or geraniums, all of which are in bloom now. If your vegetable garden includes any large vegetable plants such as tomatoes, don't forget to stake them or use cages to produce better harvest. Mulch heavily around the base of rose bushes and follow up with a regular watering program. Creating a basin around each plant will help. Keep bougainvillea vines on the dry side while they're blooming to ensure the brightest colors. June 3 - June 9 Don't prune severely in summer. Thin plants lightly instead. Camellias, azaleas, rhododendrons and fuchsias all need to be fertilized now. Use a good acid based food. Successive plantings of vegetables will prolong the harvest. Also look into the early and late varieties available. Your blackberries need attention because the old canes that bore fruit last year should be cut off and new growth loosely twined onto the trellis. Watering is important during the summer months, but avoid the mistake of watering in the evening when fungus can attach itself to damp blades. June 10-June 16 Tuberous begonias can give bountiful flower displays in summer and should be fed throughout the hot months. Fallen fruit, vegetables and flowers can play host to various pests such as worms, borers and larvae so be sure to clean up regularly. Vegetable gardens need deep and thorough watering to reach the roots several feet below the soil surface. Marigolds provide a bounty of summer color and you can choose from a variety of colors, shapes and sizes. June 17 -June 23 For different shades of foliage, consider planting the multi-colored coleus, gray foliaged dusty miller, artemisa, parrot's beak and others found at your local nursery. For a splash of red in your summer garden, try salvia. If crabgrass is a problem in your lawn, treat it now with selective controls available at your nursery. Celosia is a plant that you can count on for bright summer bloom in pink, crimson, gold or orange-red in the plumed variety. Frequent trimming of hedges promotes new growth and a full, dense look while infrequent trimming causes a bare woody look. June 24 -30 Plant 4-inch & gallon can vegetable plants and save several weeks of growing time. Remember to protect them from hungry snails and slugs. Check with your California Certified Nursery Professional ™ for a natural solution. Before your cherries and other summer fruit begin to ripen protect them from hungry birds with bird scare tape (shiny tape that moves in the wind), plastic netting, and plastic owls. Hungry tomato hornworms as well as geranium budworms and other caterpillars are ready to munch on your garden. Control them with earth friendly products. Check at your garden center. Spruce up the garden with pots of red, white and blue flowers! Garden centers have lots of colorful blooming plants to make holiday parties and barbeques all the more enjoyable. June Garden Fillers
June Articles Plant a world in a container There's never an excuse to not have some type of greenery or flowers near you even if you don't have space for a garden or a deck. Containers can be filled with foliage and flowers and placed in unexpected places to brighten, draw the eye in and provide drama. Container Basics Creating your container garden can be as simple as a ceramic container and some colorful annuals or it can entail creating an eye catching grouping of different sized containers planted with a myriad of trees, perennials, annuals and herbs and displayed together with favorite pieces of garden art. Start with choosing your containers - glazed pots are a good choice as they help to hold moisture longer but clay, wood, metal work well also. While there are no absolutes in container gardening it's good to think about the balance between the plant and the size of the container - a good rule of thumb is that plants shouldn't be more than twice the height of the container and one and one half times as wide. Small plants potted in large containers suffer an identity crisis of trying to fill in the extra space in the pot while the opposite situation provides a plant that is root bound much too soon and dried out much too often. Once your containers are selected fill them with a well-balanced potting soil. Never use exhausted potting soil. If you are replanting in containers you used last year refresh the soil so your plants will have the best start. Your local garden center can make recommendation on the best soil and fertilizer for your choice of plant material. Now for the fun part - putting it all together! Remember that containers can create a focal point in the garden. Consider a large aqua blue colored Vietnamese urn shaped pot with a black bamboo. Its simplicity can draw attention to a specific spot in the garden or patio. When choosing your plant material keep in mind the balance of the container. Try to incorporate at least one tall growing plant, one medium and one trailing plant. Foliage can be an attractive focal point as well as flowers. There are bronze colored, striped as well as every shade of green leafed plants available. Texture and leaf size also attract attention to the grouping and are something to consider especially when the flowering cycle is finished. Choose your plant material according to need - if the containers are in the sun then choose material that requires at least six hours of sun and similar watering habits. Containers in filtered light and full shade situation have a different set of flowers and foliage plants to choose from. Fill your container with heaping amounts of potting soil about half way to the top of the container. Add fertilizer according to the direction. Place the largest plant in your container. Make sure it is level in the container and approximately an inch below the edge of the container. Fill the container until it is 4 inches from the top and add the 4 inch sized plant material. Ideas for Containers Try some of our ideas for containers Chartreuse Container Plant Materials This container will add a sparkle to the deck
24-30 inch container in deep green or aqua colors Bronze Plant Material (late summer planting)
24 to 30 inch container (glazed terra cotta, ceramic, bronzed metal) Bronze Plant Material
Terra Cotta Container 24 x 24 inches Shade/Morning Sun Chartreuse Container
24 inch wide and 12 inch deep container Shade Flowering Container
A 24" by 18" deep glazed container in blue or aqua Autumnal Flowering Container
A 24" to 30" Pot (ceramic in brown or rust tones, terra cotta) These containers are only suggestions. Drop by your favorite nursery to pull together some custom containers for your patio or front entryway. Harvest Time's a Coming! The vegetable garden is really just getting into full swing. There are bags and bushels of tomatoes, zucchini, string beans, and peppers to harvest and share with family and friends. For a healthy, thriving vegetable garden follow these tips:
Ferns For Today's Garden Ferns have come a long way from being delicate and exotic houseplants or garden ferns. The days of fern plants coming from someone's visit to a forest glen has long disappeared. Fern production for the home has drastically changed. While it could take up to two years to grow some ferns from spores, culture techniques have improved rapidly through a tissue culture process that produces beautiful ferns for a fraction of the time and enables new and fascinating varieties to be developed. To their surprise many people have found that the fern they treated so delicately in the home does very well with minimal care when placed outside in a protected shade garden. While scale and an occasional mealybug may have been a problem indoors, the pest to look out for when ferns are outdoors is the snail. Since the snail is much easier to control, ferns can bring even more pleasure to their new home. In fact, you will be able to trim a few fronds now and then to add to your flower arrangements showcased in the home. Maidenhair fern and the mother fern are excellent choices for a shade garden in a protected area. The soil should have an ample supply of organic material such as humus mulch but not peat moss. On the contrary, the natural location of these particular ferns is among limestone forests so they can take California's more alkaline soil and water compared to other ferns. If you already have them in peat and would like to encourage them to flourish, apply a little oyster shell to the top of the soil. Another fern that has somewhat the same qualities but needs less alkalinity is the Hart's tongue fern. It resembles the bird's nest fern but the leaves are not divided but rather strap shaped and 9 inches to 18 inches long. There are dwarf, crested, and forked varieties available. It can be grown in any area and in the cooler areas of the state will handle a full sun location while they want more shade if planted inland. It will even do well in the desert if the water is not poor. As a container plant, it enjoys crowded roots so it can be left alone for years. The spreading wood fern is a semi-drought tolerant fern that does the best in the northern part of our state while the royal fern, which can grow six feet does well almost anywhere but likes a great deal of moisture and a really acid soil. The holly ferns do well in a garden setting. They are very tough, make excellent cuttings for floral arrangements and are one of the most useful and frequently planted ferns in the state. It's Head Is In the Sun, But its Feet Are in The Shade Many plants are listed as growing in the sun, yet you might not have had as much luck with them in the sun as you had when they somewhat landed in the shade. In many cases the reason relates to your own particular spot and how hot the roots get. The flowers themselves reach for the sun, and in fact may very well turn to face the sun no matter how they are placed. When they seem to do better in the shade, you will still notice that the flowers are in search of the sun, probably have longer stems and may not have as many flowers per plant though the plant itself seems much healthier and larger. Gerberas are a typical plant that does well in the sun in some regions but really needs a cool root system in warmer areas. This can be obtained in several ways. The use of more humus in the soil creates a slight cooling effect while assuring the plants of very good drainage and air about the roots. On the other hand, the use of suitable breathing mulch above the soil is the best answer as this keeps the ground cooler. Perhaps one of the more practical ways of accomplishing this without covering the plant and therefore smothering it, is to use oak leaf mold or azalea planting mix. On top of that you can dress it with redwood in compost or shredded form, or in the pea gravel size. None of these would be so heavy as to cause problems to a young plant. One vine that also requires a cool root system yet remains so very popular is the clematis. The plant can be planted in the shade as long as it'll begin to pick up the sun when it grows several feet. You will see a tremendous difference in its growth once it does reach the sun. You may be aware of other plants in your garden that perhaps haven't thrived when planted in the sun as stated. Try them in semi shade or in the sun with the cooling of the roots. For further information on other plants that will benefit from root protection, please check with your local California Certified Nursery Professional. Dry Them On Purpose Right now the flowers in your garden are looking mighty good. You have enough to not only brighten the yard but the house as well. Have you given any thought to drying some of them so you can use them in the fall and winter in dried flower arrangements? What would be nicer than to be able to decorate with things from your own yard at Thanksgiving time? After all, it all started out as a truly thankful celebration for the bounties of the land. You still have time to plant a package of seed for the ornamental squash and gourds that grace the tables and mantles.Take a look about the yard. If you have either the annual form of statice or the perennial, they can be dried and used as filler in arrangements. The perennial is the blue to purple color with a white edge (commonly called Sea Lavender), while the annuals are pink, white, blue, and occasionally yellow. Another great plant commonly grown for just such a purpose is the strawflowers. With its lovely shades of yellow, orange, red, pink and white it certainly is a winner. However, there are other flowers you should look into. How about the yarrow family? Queen Anne's lace and baby breath are very popular as is the Chinese lantern plant. A surprise is the hydrangea, which dries with some beautiful subdued colorings. Air drying the flowers is really a very simple thing. It is wise to harvest the flowers for drying just before they are fully open. All of the leaves should be removed from the stalk and the flowers left. Then carefully plant the flowers together in small groups, being sure that the flowers don't touch each other's blossoms. They should then be hung upside down in a cool but dry location in order that they neither mold nor are crushed during the drying process. For most plants this operation will last two to three weeks. When the flowers have dried, store them in a dry, out of the way location where they will not be battered about. For these and other easy plants that make excellent flowers for drying, visit your local California Certified Nursery Professional. Back to the Pool When you have a pool, there seems to be nothing as wonderful as hanging just the right plants to enhance the pool. Heavily chlorinated water that is splashed everywhere can be fatal to some plantings. Other plantings seem to be great for color but even greater for bees. The use of palms, along with other greenery, can be a problem if located too close to a walkway because their sharp edges can cause injury. Plants close to a pool simply cannot be prickly, sharp or thorny, nor should they shed small, fine material into the pool unless it is large enough to be easily removed without getting into the filter system. What does that leave us? Shrubs are really great and depending upon the amount of light you have and the size of finished growth you desire you can certainly include some favorites. The camellia does well and the flowers are not too prone to visiting bees. A beautiful green shrub with glossy leaves that maintains its growth is the pittosporum tobira "Wheelers Dwarf". Raphiolepis, (India Hawthorne) gives color and freshness with very dark leaves and pink to white flowers. Junipers survive anything you dish out and the ternstroemia blends well with its relative the camellia in light shade spots. Beds of gazanias always give color in sunny spots. The use of the white or blue agapanthus mixed with them or even the Aloe saponaria with its red flowers make brilliant splashes against the shimmer of the pool. Cannas, daylilies, liriope and the mondo grasses all bring a uniform look and give a finished planting to your design. For these and many more, visit your local member of the California Association of Nurseries and Garden Centers for the help you deserve and the service you want. WHY GARDEN? The National Garden Bureau's Top Ten Reasons Cell phones, PDA's, and MP3 players have become the tools of our modern lives. But it wasn't that long ago that a shovel, a patch of soil and a bag of seeds were the only tools needed to provide sustenance and satisfaction. Gardening was a part of daily life. Ask any gardener today why they garden and you'll get a variety of reasons why it's important to them.
The National Garden Bureau encourages you to discover your own reason to become a gardener. And forget that excuse about not having enough time. Gardening takes less time than that new television show and is much easier than getting a new video game to work on your computer. Whatever reason appeals to you, gardening is a satisfying activity that provides a lifetime of benefits. We credit Janis Kieft as the author of this article and thank The National Garden Bureau for permission to reprint the article. For more information on The National Garden Bureau visit www.ngb.org An Herb Garden Adds Another Dimension To Your Cooking! One of the most consistent summer time activities is firing up the bar-be-que! And this year you can tie in some yummy marinades by simply planting a variety of herbs in the garden. One thing that will spice up your summer fixins is an herb collection. Try grilling chicken with an oregano, chive and basil marinade or fill a roasting chicken with rosemary, garlic and oregano. Potatoes take on an entirely different flavor when roasted with a basting of olive oil and rosemary or chives. Yum, yum! So take a few minutes and add herbs to the vegetable or kitchen garden. You'll find that their magic can add savory taste to all your cooking!
|