Sanhedrin Nursery – Garden Blog

• Paint trunks of young fruit trees with Tree Trunk White. This will keep the soft bark from sun-burning which leaves cracks for borer insects, the most common cause of death of young apple trees.

• Earwigs are out and about and hungry. Control them with the new “Sluggo Plus”, which has the natural, bacteria-based spinosad added to the original iron phosphate formula.

• Spray roses every two weeks with Neem oil to keep leaves free of black spot and mildew.

• Finish planting the summer vegetable garden. Seeds of early corn, and beans can go directly in the soil and plants of tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, melons, squash, cucumbers and basil can be set out.

• Set out zinnias, cosmos, impatiens and begonias for lots of colorful flowers all summer long.

Lovely Lavenders

Lavenders are a favorite group of ornamental herbs native to southern Europe and the Mediterranean. They are sun loving plants that thrive in hot weather and grow well in California. Their gray or gray-green, aromatic foliage contrasts nicely with the lavender or purple flowers.

Known and admired for their fragrance, lavenders are used in dried or fresh bouquets, potpourri, lavender wands, oil and perfume. Most lavenders dry beautifully for bouquets and attract bees and butterflies. They make fine landscape plants in perennial gardens or mixed with other Mediterranean plants, like rockrose, sunrose, catmint, rosemary and germander.

English lavender is the best known for the fragrance of its flowers. Its oil is used in perfume, potpourri and soaps and aromatherapists use it for its healing qualities. The whole bush, however, is fragrant and it make an attractive 3-4 foot shrub.

Cultivars come in a wider range of colors than other lavenders: white, pink, the familiar blue ‘Munstead’, and the darker purple ‘Hidcote’. They’re particularly suited to small flower beds and containers, growing to about 18 inches tall.

When French lavender growers crossed English lavender with the longer-stemmed spike lavender, they created hybrids which were larger and produced more oil. These are known as lavandins and they now dominate the world’s lavender oil industry. They also are the best plants for lavender wands because of their long stems. ‘Provence’, ‘Grosso’, and ‘Fred Boutin’ are three fine varieties.

The Spanish lavenders are the show-stoppers in the garden. They are the first to bloom in the spring and their flower petals look like “rabbit’s ears” rising above the large, dark purple spikes. They make small evergreen shrubs about 30 inches tall and grow very well in containers. Cut off faded flowers to keep new blooms coming.

French lavenders are evergreen shrubs to 30 inches tall and 6 feet wide. They have condensed spikes of purple flowers that bloom for many months. Their leaves are indented and green or gray depending on variety. Plants are hardy to about 20°F.

Give lavenders an open exposure with as much sunlight as possible to promote flowers. They require well-drained soil and hate wet feet in the winter. In the summer, established plants need little water. Lavenders in the ground require no fertilizing, but container plants should be given a light feeding in the spring. Enjoy lavenders in pots or in the landscape.

• The “Wave” petunias make wonderful hanging baskets for full sun. They come in purple, bright pink, reddish-purple and pale “misty lilac.” They can also be used for a colorful summer ground cover.

• Hang codling moth traps in apple trees to reduce the number of wormy apples in your harvest this year. Be sure to use a fresh pheromone (attractant).

• Attract hummingbirds to your patio this summer with hummingbird feeders, so you can enjoy their iridescent beauty and charm.

• Thin fruit trees now while fruits are still small. Thin apples to 6 inches apart and peaches to 4 inches apart. On Asian pears leave 1 fruit per spur.

Tomato Troubles

As this very unseasonable weather continues into the first week of June, you may be finding that your tomato plants are showing signs of distress.

Tomatoes are warm season vegetables and they do not like damp, cool soil. They are injured at 41° F, and the ideal temperature range for tomatoes is 65 to 70°F. However, tomatoes will give acceptable results when the temperature ranges from 50°F at night to 85°F during the day.

The combination of wet soil or compost and cold temperatures, give tomato plants a hard time. If they are subjected to frost, it can damage the cell walls of growing tomato plants and may cause wilting and death of the plants.

Phosphorus deficiency is also a problem with cold weather on young tomato plants. Tomatoes need phosphorus for healthy development. Phosphorus is abundant in our soils but may be unavailable to the plant when the soil is too cold. When this happens, the leaves of tomato plants may turn purple and have purple veins.

Once the soil warms up, phosphorus is available to the plants and the problem corrects itself. You can use plastic mulch to warm the soil or other types of row covers or “Walls-O-Water”. Wet and cold soil makes it difficult for plants to absorb nutrients, so they may turn yellowish as well.

Tomato plants do not like rain on their leaves – especially when the weather is cold. The combination of low temperatures and wet conditions will cause problems such as fungal disease including tomato blight, or at the very least, lower the resistance of your plants so that they are vulnerable to many of the problems that cause poor results.

Most of the non-pest problems caused by cold, wet weather include rolled and deformed leaves, especially the lower ones, and yellowing leaves with reddish veins.

Cold weather will often stunt tomato plants, as well as other summer vegetable plants, so keep them indoors when it is wet during the day. Set plants outdoors on warm days but don’t leave them out at night until the weather warms up a bit.

Once warm weather arrive, many of these problems will correct themselves. So don’t despair, but do take care of your plants so they will be ready to go when the weather straightens out.

• Impatiens come in a wide variety of colors. Mix them or make mass plantings of different colors for bold statements in shady borders.

• Cage or stake tomatoes while still small so that you can train them as they grow.

• Asparagus plants should be fed with good, rich compost when you have finished cutting spears. Keep the bed mulched and weed-free all summer, and the soil moist.

• Ladybugs are a big help with aphids in your greenhouse or garden. Release at dusk in problem areas.

• Earwigs are out and about and hungry. Control them with the new “Sluggo Plus”, or diatomaceous earth sprinkled around the plants, or go out after dark with a flashlight and a spray bottle of Safer’s Insecticidal Soap. One squirt will put an end to the spoiler.

Don’t Forget the Beans!

Green beans are a dependable vegetable that should be part of every garden. They are very productive even in poor soil and are ready for the table in 7-8 weeks. You can expect about 15 pounds of beans from a single 30 foot row of bush beans.

Your choice of bush or pole beans and how many to plant depends on the size of your family and whether you intend to preserve or freeze the beans or just eat them fresh.

Bush beans take up more space but require less work planting, staking, weeding and watering. They produce most of the crop all at once, which is great for freezing.

Pole beans are space savers and you don’t have to bend over to harvest them. They mature later than bush beans and bear small amounts each day but will keep producing all summer long if you keep the mature beans picked. Pole beans are best for those interested in having a pot of beans on the table every 3 or 4 days rather than those interested in preserving their beans.

Pole beans, of course, require something to climb on. You can plant the seed in rows 3 to 4 feet apart, thinning the plants to 6-inches apart. Then put up a trellis for them to climb on.

Another method is to take three six foot long wooden poles (don’t use metal) and place them in a tee-pee arrangement, tying them together at the top. Plant 3 seeds around the base of each pole. You can put two of them in a six foot plot which will produce enough beans for a family of four.

To plant seed directly in the garden, prepare the soil by adding compost or well-aged manure as soon as you can work the soil. Beans love the sun so be sure to plant your beans in a spot that gets at least 6-8 hours of direct sun each day.

As the beans send out long shoots, train them to climb the poles or trellis if they do not do it own their own. Keep them watered but not soaked and fertilize when the plants start climbing the poles.

For bush beans, plant the seed about 1 to 2 inches apart in the row. The rows should be 2 to 3 feet apart. After the beans are up, thin the plants to 3 to 4 inches apart. If you are growing beans in a new garden spot, it may be worthwhile to purchase a seed inoculant to make sure the symbiotic bacteria are present.

Green beans can actually be green, yellow, or purple-podded, and they come in different shapes: long, short, flat, round, broad. For green bush beans, ‘Bountiful’, ‘Tendergreen’ and ‘Blue Lake’ good varieties to try. For yellow ones, grow ‘Golden Wax’, and for purple-podded beans, a good one is ‘Royal Purple Burgundy’. The purple pods are flavorful, and turn green when cooked.

Pole beans have a more distinct and nuttier taste than bush types. ‘Blue Lake’, ‘Kentucky Wonder’ and ‘Romano Italian’ are the most popular varieties.

Be sure to include this important staple crop in your garden plan and start planting now!