Sanhedrin Nursery – Garden Blog

• Start seeds of broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower and other cool season crops indoors for planting outside in March.

• Fill your winter garden with color from primroses and pansies.

• Roses should be pruned in February near the end of the dormant season. You can clean them up now, however, by removing all the old leaves on and around the plants.

• Control peach leaf curl by spraying during the next dry spell with copper spray to help prevent this disfiguring disease from attacking your trees this spring.

• Blueberries are a delicious fruit that can be planted now from young plants. Give them a rich, acid bed prepared with lots of peat moss.

Gardening Resolutions for 2016

Rainy winter days make gardeners anxious for the warmer weather that will allow us once again to get our hands in the dirt and watch new life grow. As you look out at the garden, maybe with garden diary in hand, it always feels good to set some goals, to make some resolutions for the season ahead.

This is a good year to build a compost bin to turn kitchen scraps, leaves or yard waste into rich humus. Or vow to change to a more organic style of gardening for truly nutritious produce. Maybe this is your year to double-dig the garden. If so, pick up a copy of John Jeavons’ How to Grow More Vegetables and learn how to do it right.

Grow more food! Rotate your crops from where you planted them last year and practice succession planting with things like peas, lettuce, beets, greens mix, basil and cilantro. Choose at least one new vegetable to plant. Variety adds different nutrients to our diet and is good for the soil. Make a trip to the nursery to shop for seeds so you’ll be ready when the time is right.

Plant more flowers for color, cutting, and fragrance – and also to attract beneficial insects and butterflies. Plant them in flower beds, pots and even the vegetable garden. They are food for the soul.

This is a good year to replace that tired lawn with drought-tolerant shrubs, perennials or even vegetables. Get some help to create a new water-wise plant design for at least part of your yard, and perhaps an irrigation system to go with it. Choose natives and Mediterranean plants that will need little water once established.

Create a relaxing oasis somewhere on your property. Find a place for a bench, surround it with your favorite plants and add a small fountain to enjoy the sound of running water. A recirculating fountain uses very little water and is a place where birds can enjoy a drink of water.

Plant a fruit tree this year. If you haven’t started an orchard, there’s no better time than the present. If you have a tree that isn’t thriving, pull it out and plant a new vigorous one. There are few things so rewarding as harvesting a tree full of fresh, ripe fruit. And there are few taste pleasures as satisfying.

Keep a garden diary. Each of us seems to live in a different micro-climate where temperatures, precipitation, sunlight and winds can drastically vary within a few miles. It’s hard to remember what happened from year to year, and after a few years, you may be able to anticipate the first frost or when the rose weevils arrive.

If you’re not a gardener, become one. You don’t even have to have a yard. Many flowers, herbs and small vegetables can be grown in pots. And the exercise and stress reduction make gardening a healthful pastime.

Share your love of plants and gardening whenever possible. Grow, celebrate, discover and enjoy your garden this year!

• Primroses and pansies will add color to your flower beds and containers all winter.

• Spring bulbs make lovely gifts for friends and relatives. They can still be planted now.

• Stop peach leaf curl by spraying during the dry spells with Liqui-Cop® copper spray to help prevent this disfiguring disease from attacking your trees next spring.

• Wind chimes make wonderful gifts that fill the air with music whenever the wind blows.

• Check your nursery for stocking stuffers: kids’ gloves, watering cans, bonsai figurines, seeds and bulbs.

Living Holiday Symbols

December is a very special time of year. Food and gifts, music and lights, warmth and love surround us. The clans will gather and cherished traditions will be shared.

Some of our traditions go back centuries or even millennia. Two hundred years before the birth of Christ, the Druids used mistletoe to celebrate the coming of winter. They would gather this parasitic evergreen plant and use it to decorate their homes. They believed the plant had special healing powers. Scandinavians also gathered mistletoe and thought of it as a plant of peace and harmony.

The Christmas tree originated in Germany in the 16th century. It was common for the Germanic people to decorate fir trees, both inside and out, with roses, apples, and colored paper. It is believed that Martin Luther, the Protestant reformer, was the first to light a Christmas tree with candles.

The poinsettia is a relatively recent Christmas symbol. Mexican legend holds that these beautiful red flowers, thought to resemble the shape of the Star of Bethlehem, first grew miraculously for a poor child who wanted to bring a gift to the manger scene at the village church but did not have any money. They were introduced to the United States in the early 19th century by Joel Poinsett, the first United States ambassador to Mexico.

Representing immortality and seen as a good omen, holly was considered sacred by the ancient Romans and used as a gift during the festival of Saturnalia. Gradually, holly became a Christmas symbol as Christianity became the dominant religion. Because the holly leaf has sharp, pointed edges, it has come to represent Jesus’ crown of thorns with the red berries representing the blood He shed on the cross.

Jewish traditions give special importance to fruiting plants which gave sustenance to the people. Thus wheat, barley, grapevines, figs, pomegranates and olive trees have special significance. These are plants that come from the dry climate of the Mediterranean region.

Of course, many of the symbols that are part of our traditions at this time of year come from ancient Solstice celebrations. At the Solstice, with the days at last turning a corner towards spring, evergreen leaves long ago took on a special significance. Greenery brought indoors in the depths of winter became a symbol of continuing growth and rebirth. The Yule Log, traditionally oak, acknowledged the return of the sun, warmth and light and the long-burning log would bring good luck if lit on the first try.

This year as we gather together to celebrate the holidays and their symbols of hope and love, let us enjoy the light and warmth that we give to each other at this time and throughout the year.

• Choose living Christmas trees now. Most will be able to be kept in their containers and used for one or two more years as a Christmas tree.

• Wild bird feeders will attract migrating birds so you can enjoy the pleasure of their company.

• Ornamental kale and cabbage make a dramatic planting in flower beds over the winter.

• Prune birches and maples, if necessary, before Christmas to avoid problems with bleeding as the sap starts to rise very early in these trees.

Gifts for Gardeners

This time of year we are all thinking more about our gift lists than our gardens. Just think gardening, and you’ll come up with ideas for gardeners and even non-gardeners.

For the non-gardener, a bowl of potted Paperwhite Narcissus will grow and bloom and add a lovely fragrance to the indoors. Wind chimes are enjoyed by many and will add a musical note to the outdoor living area next summer.

Indoor-outdoor thermometers are handy to have and jumbo rain gauges, that you can read from 50 feet away, are a must for this winter.

Watering cans are available for indoor or outdoor watering. The new, old-fashioned galvanized cans are rust-resistant and strong for a long life in the garden. Their classic shapes include the extra long spout for easy ‘long reach’ watering. Smaller watering cans make nice gifts for the indoor gardener.

For a gardener who starts her own seedlings, an Orbit® coil-up hose will keep the greenhouse tidy. The 6-pattern nozzle will gently water seedlings, or wash off the tables.

Looking toward pruning season, there are few tools more important to a gardener than a good pair of pruning shears. Felco® has long been the leader in pruning shears with a dozen different models to accommodate large hands, small hands, lefties, or equipped with a rotating handle to reduce fatigue. A Felco® pruning saw is a must-have for every orchardist. All Felco® tools come with a lifetime guarantee, and replacement blades, springs, etc. are available to keep them in tip-top condition.

Of course, a good pair of gloves is important to any gardener. The elbow-length, Thorngard gloves are great for pruning rosebushes and dealing with blackberries. The popular Nitrile Touch® gloves are loved by many gardeners. And the leather Bionic™ gloves are great for older gardeners as they give support and reduce fatigue for arthritic hands.

The Garden Bench and Kneeler is an excellent gift for those who find kneeling somewhat difficult. The padded bench can be flipped over to become a kneeling pad with upright supports that serve as handles to get up and down. The cushioned surface is gentle on the knees while working in your garden. The kneeler folds up for easy storage.

One of the most coveted garden tools is a good quality digging fork. Beautiful Spear & Jackson tools from England have a reputation for quality and durability, and are made to be used for a lifetime and passed on to the next generation.

Add a gardening calendar and you and your gardening friends can look forward to another great year of gardening pleasures. The Gardening by the Moon Calendar gives detailed timing for appropriate gardening activities, and the Old Farmer’s Almanac® is a helpful and fun book to have on hand.

We wish you all a very happy holiday season, and hope we can help you be successful gardeners in the year ahead!