Sanhedrin Nursery – Garden Blog

• Fragrant daphne is an early-blooming shrub that will delight you with its strongly scented blooms each spring. Plant it in well-drained soil.

• Prune Hydrangeas now by removing old flower heads down to the first new leaves. Don’t prune stems which have no old flowers, and they will bloom first this summer.

• Apple trees are still available as bare-root trees, but only for a short while longer. Start your orchard now!

• Forsythia, with its bright yellow flowers, is one of the first shrubs to bloom in the spring. Plant one in a sunny spot where you can enjoy its cheery flowers.

• Last chance for asparagus roots this year. Prepare a fertile bed for these long-lived vegetables.

Time to Plan the Garden

With the drought crippling some of the main agricultural areas of California, the state that produces a third of the country’s fruits and vegetables, this may be the year to plant your own vegetable garden. Mendocino County has a fairly good water supply with recent rains, and with food prices on the rise, now is a the time to get started.

Start with a plan, whether a simple one or a complex diagram, so that you’ll be ready to begin planting when the weather permits. You need to decide what you are going to plant and when you are going to plant it.

Vegetables can be divided into warm season crops and cool season crops. Cool season crops include broccoli, cabbage, Swiss chard, spinach, lettuce, peas, carrots, onions, beets and potatoes. Some warm season crops are tomatoes and peppers, squash, cucumbers, melons, corn and beans.

Cool season vegetables can be planted directly into the garden in March. These hardy plants can stand the frosts that continue through March and April.

Warm season vegetables can be planted in the garden beginning in May. The average date of the last frost in Willits is May 12th, and sometimes there are killing frosts through the month of May. So you need to be prepared to protect young transplants and seedlings until summer arrives.

You can also plant some of the cool season vegetables for a fall crop, but these must be set out in August in order to fruit before the very cold weather arrives in mid-November. Part of your garden plan should leave room for these fall vegetables. In our climate, if you wait until the summer crops come out before you plant the fall crops, it will be too late.

First decide which vegetables your family eats and have some idea of how much. Do you eat one head of lettuce a week or three? Then determine how much produce you want to can, freeze, dry, or store. Successive plantings of certain crops, such as beans, will give a longer harvest period and increase your yield.

Try not to plant vegetables from the same family (peas and beans or squash and pumpkin) in exactly the same location in the garden more often than once in three years. Rotation prevents the buildup of insects and diseases. Use your previous years’ plans as guides for rotating crops.

A good vegetable garden must have at least 6 hours of full sun each day. Eight to 10 hours a day is ideal. No amount of fertilizer, water, or care can replace needed sunshine.

An area that gets less sun can successfully grow beets, chard, carrots, radishes, cabbage, spinach and lettuce.

Once you have a plan laid out, visit your local nursery to choose seeds from the seed racks and you will be ready to plant. You will also find transplants there in season and plenty of help for new gardeners. Happy gardening!

• Last call for bare root fruit trees. This is the most economical way to plant an orchard, so choose your trees now.

• Lily of the valley is a sweet, shade-loving perennial that can be planted now from “pips” available at the nursery.

• Mouth-watering strawberries should be planted now for delicious berries this summer. Plant them in a sunny, well-drained bed.

• Summer flower bulbs can be planted now. Choose from gladiolus, dahlias, begonias, lilies and more.

• Broccoli, cabbage, lettuce and peas grow best in the spring and don’t mind a little frost. Set out plants now and grow your own!

Ornamental Crabapple Trees

Crabapples are some of our most ornamental flowering trees. They offer striking spring bloom, healthy leaves and colorful fruit that hang on the tree through the fall and winter months. They are small-to-medium-sized trees that are easy to grow in this area.

Just as the leaves start to emerge, the colorful flowers of crabapple trees burst out in clouds of fragrant white, pink or red blossoms, hiding the small leaves beneath. As the season progresses, the fruits develop and take on color. By fall they dangle from the branches like red, orange or yellow baubles. On some varieties, the fruits persist into winter and are attractive to birds. Beautiful golden leaves brighten the fall landscape with some varieties.

In the spring, crabapples are in their glory. ‘Snowdrift’ has red buds which open to single white flowers that bloom over a long period. It has a rounded crown that is very symmetrical and bright green, glossy leaves. Small orange fruit hang on the tree into the fall.

‘Floribunda’ is pink in bud, opening to a profusion of pale pink flowers, followed by small yellow-red fruit. This spreading, irregularly shaped tree has a fine winter silhouette. It is an old variety which has proven over the years to be one of the best.

‘Radiant’ has red buds which open to deep pink flowers. The new foliage is purplish red, turning more green in summer. Bright red 1/2-inch fruit adorn the tree in the fall. The broad, rounded tree reaches 20 feet tall and wide.

‘Hopa’ has large, fragrant, rosy red single flowers, with a white star shape in the center. They are followed by colorful, orange-red fruit. The tree is upright, broadening with age, and has dense, dark green foliage that turns yellow in the fall.

‘Bechtel Klehm’ has large, very double fragrant pink flowers that almost resemble small roses against the soft green, disease-resistant foliage. This round-headed tree blooms later than the other varieties and produces few fruit. In fall, the golden leaves light up the landscape.

‘Prairifire’ is one of the best red leafed crabapples, and makes an impressive statement in the landscape. The long-lasting bright red flowers are followed by dark red 1/2-inch fruit. It has attractive reddish bark and excellent disease-resistance.

Most crabapple trees range from 15 to 25 feet tall and wide. Prune them when young only to build a good framework; annual pruning is not necessary. Fruit ranges in size from 1/2 to 1 inch on most ornamental varieties. Some, like ‘Hopa’, bear fruit which is good for crabapple jelly. All crabapples can be used as pollenizers for fruiting apple trees.

Crabapples make fine lawn trees and are very showy planted in rows along driveways or walks. Plant primroses, spring bulbs and shade-loving summer bedding plants underneath for color throughout the season.

• Cabbage, broccoli, lettuce and other cool season vegetables can be started now from seed. There are many wonderful varieties available on seed racks.

• Roses should be pruned if you haven’t done so already. Remove all old leaves on and around the bushes and spray with Neem oil to prevent early pest and disease problems.

• Deciduous Clematis vines can be cut back to about waist height, to encourage bushiness, more flowers and a nicer looking vine. Do this now before the new growth starts.

• Asparagus, horseradish and rhubarb are perennial vegetables that are planted now during the dormant season.

• Last chance to spray peach and nectarine trees for peach leaf curl before the buds break open. Use copper spray for the best results.

Mouthwatering Peaches for your Orchard

Nothing compares to the taste of tree-ripe peaches. Like ripe tomatoes, you just can’t buy them in the market. Peaches originally came from China where they have been cultivated for over 3000 years? Today, in China, there are more than 1000 unique types of peaches!

We grow from 100-200 different cultivars of peaches in the United States. They can be divided into two types, the freestones and the clingstones. In freestone types, the flesh separates readily from the pit. In the clingstone type, the flesh clings tightly to the pit. Freestone types are usually preferred for eating fresh or for freezing, while clingstone types are used primarily for canning. Fruit may be either yellow or white-fleshed.

The main challenges to growing good peaches in our area are late spring frosts and a disease known as “peach leaf curl.” Selecting varieties that are both late-blooming and resistant to peach leaf curl will result in the best crops. ‘Frost,’ ‘Q-1-8’ and ‘Indian Free’ are excellent choices.

‘Frost’ is a delicious yellow freestone that bears heavily. ‘Elberta’ is an old-time favorite with classic, rich peach flavor. ‘Reliance,’ which is both cold-hardy and frost-hardy, has sweet, flavorful, yellow freestone flesh.

White-fleshed peaches have long been savored by home growers and connoisseurs for their sweet, luscious flavor, tantalizing fragrance and novel color. The flat ‘Donut’ peach, has caught the eye (and taste buds) of today’s white peach fancier. It is self-fruitful and produces a tremendous amount of fruit by the second or third year. These unusual fruits are flat and round, with a sunken center. The flesh is sweet and juicy, often described as having overtones of almond.

For some tastes, the unique red-and-white-fleshed peach ‘Indian Free’ is still unsurpassed among the white peaches. The intense aroma and sweet-tart flavor of a fully tree-ripened ‘Indian Free’ has to be experienced to be believed. It requires another peach or nectarine as a pollinator.

‘Q-1-8’ is a sweet and juicy white peach with a sprightly flavor from a peach-leaf-curl resistant tree and ‘Sugar May’ is also white and is very juicy with fine sweet flavor.

Standard trees grow 15 to 25 feet tall if unpruned, but can be kept to 10 to 12 feet with consistent pruning, especially summer pruning. The best standard rootstock for our area is Lovell, which has a vigorous root system that is tolerant of wet soil or heavy soil.

Peach trees require full sunlight. If possible, select a site with a raised elevation or on a slope, so that cold air can drain away from the tree on a cold night during bloom. Trees need well drained soil. Mounding can help if you have heavy soil.

A young tree will need only 5-10 gallons of water a week. Mulch around the tree and you should be able to meet its water needs with grey water from the house.

Peaches seldom a crop every year in our climate, but when they do a single tree can produce 200 pounds of luscious, juicy fruit. Let them ripen to peak perfection before picking them and enjoy their exquisite, mouthwatering flavors.