Sanhedrin Nursery – Garden Blog

• Impatiens will give you instant color in shady areas and continue blooming right through the fall.

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

• 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.

• Feed rhododendrons, azaleas and camellias with a “bloom” fertilizer to encourage flowers for next spring.

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

Fruit Harvesting Time

Fruits of all kinds must be harvested on time, at the proper stage of maturity in order to maintain their nutrients, quality and freshness. Harvesting should be done early in the day, when possible, and fruits should be handled gently so as not to bruise it.

Only apples and pears are suitable for long-term storage, and some varieties of those store better than others. Other kinds of fruits, like peaches, apricots and plums, can only be stored for short periods of time. They can be preserved for winter use by canning, freezing or drying.

To decide when to harvest apples, watch for the fruit to begin to change color and then sample a fruit or two to check for characteristic flavor and smell. Yellow or golden varieties change to a golden surface color when ripening.

Some varieties of apples release easily from the tree as they begin to ripen, and should be picked right away. Other varieties mature over a long season and should be picked as they mature. Apples will continue to ripen after picking. Separate varieties in storage as some will store for several months and others for less time.

Cherry season is over for this year, but cherries should be picked when the fruit is juicy, rather soft and full-flavored. They hold their best quality if picked with the stems on. Cool the fruit immediately after harvesting and they will store for up to two weeks.

Peaches should be taste-tested for ripeness. The fruit softens and becomes juicy and luscious as it ripens. When the fruit is easily pulled off the twigs then it is probably ripe. Peaches will not ripen any further though they may get softer. If you pick it too soon, it will never develop sweetness and flavor. Handle fruit carefully to avoid bruising, and cool it immediately after harvesting.

Pears must be picked before they are tree-ripe. Test a fruit for ripeness and harvest just as the pear flavor and aroma can be detected. If harvested too soon, they will have poor flavor and shrivel in storage. If harvested too late, they will likely be rotten at the core. Fruit continues to ripen after picking and can be stored for one to three months.

Plums soften and develop their delicious flavors as they ripen. Their color is not a particularly good guide to ripeness, so sample fruit to decide when best to pick. Handle fruit gently and cool after harvesting. Fruit will continue to ripen after picking and can be stored for a week or two.

Check Asian pear trees weekly until the fruit begins to change color. Some varieties change from green to yellow and others change from yellow to brown. If the Asian pears started out green on the tree, pick them when they turn yellow, and if the unripened pears were yellow, harvest them when they turn brown. They should feel slightly soft when pressed, but taste one to be sure it’s sweet and juicy. Wait until pears are fully ripe before picking.

Learn when to harvest home-grown fruit and enjoy their sweet, delicious flavors.

• 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.

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

• 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 into your nursery for identification and treatment options.

• First-year fruit trees need to be well-watered through the dry weather. If they are neglected the first year, they may never be strong, productive trees.

Silk Trees for Summer Beauty

One of the prettiest summer-flowering trees is the silk tree or mimosa. A native of many parts of Asia, this tree goes by the botanical name Albizia julibrissin. It is known as mimosa because its leaves resemble those of the sensitive plant which is the true Mimosa. It is called the silk tree because it comes from that part of the world where silk is made.

This tree has very dainty foliage. The leaves are made up of many leaflets and they do curl up on cool evenings, like the leaves of a sensitive plant do when you touch them. The flowers are very showy and look like pink powder-puffs resting on top of the fern-like foliage.

The silk tree is used in parking lots, in lawns and parks and can be grown in large containers. It is popular for use as a patio or terrace tree for the filtered shade that it provides and the tropical effect. The flowers are most attractive when viewed from above, so it is nice when planted on a slope below the house.

This fast-growing, deciduous tree has a low-branching, open, spreading habit. It is often grown with multiple trunks which make a nice pattern when the lower branches are removed.

Albizia are generally tough trees. They take a wide range of soils including wet soils and poor, dry, gravelly soils. They can withstand summer drought, once established. They are fast-growing to 25 feet or more, spreading to 35 feet wide, but are easily kept to 15 feet tall with annual pruning.

Silk trees are considered to be messy trees. After they bloom they shed their flowers and then produce numerous seed pods that resemble wisteria pods. These will also fall in time. In autumn, the leaves fall at the first frost, having no fall color.

Each winter, Albizia trees should be pruned to remove dead branches, which always occur, and to thin out the tree, removing poorly attached branches. Other than that, they require little care.

The summer beauty and versatility in size of the silk tree makes it a good choice for many landscape situations.

• After the June crop of raspberries is finished, remove canes that produced fruit leaving new green canes, which can then be trained on trellises.

• 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.

• Penstemon are bushy, evergreen perennials that attract hummingbirds with their red, pink, lavender or purple trumpet-shaped flowers all summer and fall.

• Shade-loving begonias will add color and beauty in both planters and flower beds. Choose from large flowered Non-Stop begonias or smaller flowered bedding or fibrous begonias.

Choosing Bamboo for your Landscape

Bamboos are evergreen members of the grass family and they range from petite miniatures to massive giants with heights ranging from 2 to 100 feet tall. The beautiful canes can be a slender 1/8-inch or as large as 12 inches across. There are over 100 species of bamboo, found from the tropics to the mountaintops. While most bamboos are tropical or subtropical, there are hardy bamboos that can survive temperatures of –10° to –20°F.

When used properly, few plants are more effective in creating a subtropical mood in the landscape. All species of bamboo are superb soil stabilizers, and the medium or large-sized species can make a durable, fast-growing hedge in places where few other plants would thrive.

Bamboo “canes,” known as culms, grow from a branching underground root structure called a rhizome. The branching habit of the rhizome determines the growth habit of the bamboo.

There are two main types of bamboos: running and clumping. Running types send out spreading rhizomes and can colonize large areas. Clumping types stay in tight clumps that slowly increase in size. Running bamboos are hardy to frost while clumping types are not as hardy.

As they grow, bamboos store food and energy in their roots and rhizomes. When growth begins in the spring, the canes shoot out of the ground and reach their maximum height within a month. Young bamboos are usually slow to establish, but established plants grow very quickly.

Bamboos like full sun or partial shade. They tolerate a wide range of soil conditions as long as moisture is present. They will grow faster and taller with frequent watering and fertilizing. To control their growth, water and feed less.

Golden bamboo, black bamboo and giant timber bamboo are all running types. Golden bamboo makes a good screen or hedge and does well in containers. The canes of black bamboo turn black their second year and are very attractive against the green leaves. Give them some afternoon shade. Timber bamboo makes huge canes 6 inches in diameter. They make beautiful groves if the lowest branches are trimmed off.

Golden Goddess bamboo is a clumping type with graceful, arching growth. It makes a good container or screening plant. Dwarf white pinstripe bamboo makes a fine groundcover, growing 1-3 feet tall. Is is a running bamboo that is a fast spreader. The light colored leaves are attractive in light shade.

‘Giant Leaf’ bamboo has the largest leaves of any bamboo, up to 24 inches by 4 inches. It adapts easily to growing in pots and does best in a shady location out of the wind.

Choose bamboo carefully and you will find that it can be a beautiful addition to any garden.