Sanhedrin Nursery – Garden Blog

• Sow lettuce seeds now for a fall crop. Set out broccoli and cabbage plants too.

• Wisteria trees need to be trimmed throughout the summer. Keep long tendrils trimmed back to maintain the shape of the tree.

• Feed fuchsias, begonias, summer annuals, hanging baskets and container plants to keep them green and blooming right up until frost.

• When lily flowers fade, remove the flowers but don’t cut back the stems until leaves have yellowed in the fall.

• Plant beets now for fall harvest. They will have a deeper red color than beets planted for spring harvest, and tend to have higher sugar levels too.

Summer Fruit Tree Care

Summer is the time when fruit trees grace us with their abundance of sweet, juicy fruit. It is also the time when fruit trees need your care and attention. This year may not be a very good fruit season, but you need to keep your trees healthy and strong so they will produce well for you in years to come.

Young fruit trees need particular attention. The most important cultural practice during the first year is watering. No other single element of plant care causes more problems or failures than over or under-watering. Water supply must be consistent. Drought followed by flooding can cause trees to stop growing due to the shock of these extremes conditions.

Check the soil weekly. A new tree needs approximately 10 gallons a week during the hot summer months. A tree two years old may need 20 gallons a week. A mature fruit tree can use 50 gallons a week or more. Fruit trees need water to size up their fruit properly. It’s best to water deeply and infrequently rather than shallowly and frequently. Water trees on clay soils, water every 2 to 3 weeks. For young trees, make a moat around the base of the tree so the water stays in the root zone. On older trees, water at the drip line of the tree.

Keep the base of your fruit trees weed free. Spread a 2- to 3-inch thick layer of organic mulch, such as pine straw or bark mulch, over the root zone but keep it a few inches away from the trunk. Organic mulch also breaks down gradually, providing organic matter to the soil.

Inspect your fruit tree bark, branches, leaves, and developing fruits often. Look for signs of insects and diseases and apply the appropriate organic controls. It’s usually easier to control pests if you act before or just as they are getting established, than to control them after they have caused lots of damage.

Paint trunks of young trees with white latex paint or Tree Trunk White to prevent sunburn which causes the bark to crack. This leaves openings for boring insects to enter. They can cause serious damage and even death in young trees.

While most pruning of fruit trees is done in the late winter, some can be done in the summer as well. Summer pruning can eliminate any dead, diseased, or broken branches. prune off any new branches that are growing from the base of the tree (suckers) or straight up from horizontal branches (water sprouts).

Keep your fruit trees healthy and they will give you many years of abundant harvests.

• Japanese maples may be pruned now in order to shape them.

• Mottled leaves are often a sign of spider mites. Check for them with a hand lens or bring a leaf to your nursery in a plastic bag for identification and treatment options.

• Feed rhododendrons, azaleas and camellias with 0-10-10 fertilizer to encourage flowers for next spring.

• Keep flowers and vegetables in peak condition by giving them a midsummer feeding with a fertilizer that is high in phosphorus.

• Roses have more flowers all summer long than any other shrub. Plant them in a sunny location and feed monthly for continuous blooms.

Best Vegetables for Fall Growing

When the days grow shorter and the night air has that crisp chill of fall, it’s nice to be able to walk out to the garden and harvest a bunch of fresh broccoli, or a head of cabbage or lettuce. But to make this happen in Willits, you need to start planting the fall garden now, in the middle of summer.

We have a short growing season here, and when fall arrives, it is too late to start planting since cold weather generally comes on rapidly in November. Broccoli, cabbage and cauliflower take 60 to 90 days to mature from transplant size, so it’s important to set plants out soon. They will grow vigorously in the warm summer weather. Then, when they begin to head up, the weather will be cooling down so that they can develop properly.

Though many of the same crops are planted for the fall as for the spring garden, fall vegetables will hold for harvest much longer without bolting to seed. Many crops, like Oriental greens, radicchio, leeks, spinach, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, collards and kale will actually get sweeter when touched by light frosts.

Transplant seedlings into well-prepared moist soil in the evening, so they have the cool night temperatures to settle in and minimize shock. In hot weather it is best to shelter newly transplanted seedlings for a few days with shade cloth or row covers.

You can start seeds of leaf lettuce, bok choy, spinach, Swiss chard and roquette or arugula now. These are fast-maturing crops that will be ready before frost. Although most seeds will germinate quickly in the warm summer soil, some, such as lettuce and spinach, will not germinate well if the soil temperature is above 85°F. Shading the soil with a board or a light mulch will keep the soil cooler, enhancing germination. Remove the temporary shade when you see sprouts emerging.

There are many kinds of lettuce to choose from on seed racks that will give you color and variety in your salads. Swiss chard comes in green, red or “rainbow”, a mixture of colored stalks.

Root crops, such as beets, carrots, parsnips, rutabagas and turnips, can be left in the ground through the fall. Green onions and radishes can also be planted for harvest in the fall.

It is important to rotate your crops from year to year. Do not plant the same crops in the same place that they were planted in the previous year because the soil will be weakened through continual loss of the same nutrients and the plants will also attract the same insects and diseases to that part of the garden.

A major benefit of a fall garden is that it gives you fresh vegetables long after most of your summer crops have been harvested and killed by the frost. So start your fall garden now to extend the productivity of your garden.

• Set out starts of broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage and lettuce for a fall harvest. Spray weekly with BT to keep the cabbage worms at bay.

• Dig and divide crowded spring-flowering bulbs and tubers including daffodils, scillas, muscari, and bearded iris.

• Take care of your roses: feed, water, weed, mulch and remove faded blooms regularly. Spray if necessary at first sign of insect or disease problems.

• Check for squash, or “stink”, bugs on squash and pumpkins. Hand-pick grey-brown adults and destroy red egg clusters on the leaves. Use pyrethrins to control heavy infestations.

• Keep flowers and vegetables in peak condition by giving them a midsummer feeding with a fertilizer that is higher in phosphorus than in nitrogen.

Taking Care of Houseplants in the Summertime

Houseplants love summertime. During the summer months, the light is strong, the days are long, the air is warm and plants are eager to show new growth. But sometimes they need your help to do their best.

Summer is the best time to fertilize your houseplants. If you have never fertilized your houseplants, then summer is a great time to start. Look for a general, well-balanced fertilizer and follow the directions for mixing and frequency of application. Proper fertilization will help give your plants the nutrients they need for proper growth during the summertime.

Summer is a good time to go through your houseplant collection, and re-pot any houseplants which are root-bound. Choose a container that is only slightly larger than the one it is in and use a good quality potting soil. Firm the soil gently around the root ball, but do not press so hard that the soil becomes compacted.

Give shiny-leaved plants a good cleaning. If you can, take your plants outside in a shady place, and hose them off. Then take a soft cloth and wipe down the leaves to leave them clean and shiny again. Take this time to trim off brown leaves and look for pests. Treat for insects as soon as you see them, as they multiply rapidly during the warm summer months.

Often during the summer, plants will dry out faster, and need to be watered more frequently than at other times of the year. Be sure to keep an eye on your plants’ watering needs (especially during very hot days), and be prepared to water more frequently if need be.

Summer is also a great time to propagate new houseplants. Cuttings taken during this time will root and become established quickly. Root them in water and as soon as they have sufficient roots, plant them into a container with good, fresh potting soil.

If you have a shaded porch or a safe place under a large tree, most houseplants will benefit from spending part of the summer outdoors. Remember that most houseplants are shade-loving, low-light plants, and they should not be placed in direct sunlight. Many houseplants can be revitalized by growing them outside during the summer. Plants with large leaves should be placed where they get good wind protection, since their leaves are easily torn.

Plants summering outdoors are exposed to summer heat, and brighter light, so they will dry out faster than if they were indoors. Be sure to keep plants properly watered while they are outdoors. Plants receive more light when they are outdoors which stimulates growth and sometimes stimulates plants to bloom. Houseplants should be brought back indoors by mid-September, before the weather turns cold.

Houseplants add so much to our indoor environment. Take this time to give yours a summer vacation, or to add to your collection with a new plant.