Sanhedrin Nursery – Garden Blog

• Plant strawberries now for delicious strawberry shortcake this summer.

• 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.

• Blueberries make delicious fruit on attractive plants that you can use in the orchard or the landscape. Choose varieties now.

• Bare root fruit trees are now available. Choose one tree or a whole orchard and get them planted while the weather is good for digging.

Winter-blooming Witch Hazel

Witch hazel is a must-have shrub for fragrance and color in the winter garden. At a time when few plants are blooming, witch hazel adds sparkle to the landscape with its unusual, spidery flowers.

This North American native is very hardy, and can be grown as a single or multi-stemmed shrub. It is vase-shaped, growing 8 to 10 feet tall and spreading about 8 feet wide.

New branches are slightly fuzzy and brown, turning silver-grey as they age. Coppery new growth in spring and attractive gold fall color rounds out this shrub’s seasonal interest.

Witch hazel, Hamamelis vernalis, grow in full sun or partial shade, and, although they can be grown in all kinds of soil, they prefer moist, well-drained conditions. Little pruning is required except to tidy their shape by removing unruly branches during flowering.

The name witch hazel probably originated from the early settlers’ practice of using the plant’s forked branches for water divining and to make brooms. Hazel refers to the similarities between witch hazel and the true hazelnut trees.

Several named varieties are best known in nurseries. ‘Arnold Promise’ has clear yellow, fragrant flowers with petals that look like tiny party streamers. ‘Diane’ is one of the most brilliant varieties with bright red flowers. ‘Jelena’ has coppery-orange flowers and brilliant red fall color. They bloom from late February to March.

Witch hazel can be planted in a mixed shrub border or used for height in the back of a perennial border. It is great as a transitional plant between tended gardens and wilder natural areas. While this plant is not deer resistant, it has evolved along side deer and browsing won’t harm the plant, but can actually create a fuller shrub. Young plants may need to be protected.

Consider planting witch hazel where you can enjoy the fragrance mid-winter, such as in an entry garden or near a path or patio. Plant it with hazelnut, blueberry, huckleberry and hellebores for interest throughout the winter.

Witch hazel extract, taken from the leaves, twigs and bark, is used medicinally. It has been used for centuries to treat skin ailments. It is still a common ingredient in soaps, face washes and shampoos.

Check out this unusual, low-maintenance shrub now, when you can see their unique flowers.

• Pansies, with their bright faces, are impervious to cold weather. They even bloom under the snow. So plant some now for spring color.

• Start an asparagus bed so you can enjoy their young, tender shoots straight from the garden.

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

• Clematis that bloomed last summer can be pruned now. Wait on spring-blooming varieties until after they bloom.

• If you’re short on space in your orchard, you can plant 2 or 3 varieties of the same fruit in one large hole. This will allow cross-pollination among apples, pears, plums, cherries and Asian pears.

Mouthwatering Strawberries

One thing that you just can’t buy at the store is a juicy, mouthwatering strawberry. Yes, they are big and beautiful but there is no comparison, when it comes to flavor, with fresh-picked, homegrown strawberries.

Strawberries are not hard to grow. Plants produce well for three to five years, then it’s best to compost the old plants, dig a new bed and plant fresh, disease-free roots from the nursery. New plants set out in early spring will give you berries this summer.

Strawberries do best in full sun with loose soil and good drainage. Dig in plenty of compost to make a loose, humus-rich soil. Because they multiply by runners, strawberries can be planted up to 18 inches apart and runners will fill in the gaps. They can also be planted on 8-inch centers to harvest more berries sooner.

When planting, dig a hold deep enough so the roots will not be bent, and make a cone-shaped pile of soil in the bottom. Arrange the roots over the soil cone and gently fill the hole with loose soil. It is most important to set the plants at the right height so that the roots are covered but the crown, where the leaves come out, is above the soil line.

Strawberries are divided into three types: Junebearers, everbearers, and day-neutrals. Junebearers produce a single large crop over 3-4 weeks in early summer. If you want to freeze lots of fruit at one time, plant Junebearers.

‘Sequoia’ is the earliest variety and the sweetest, with exceptional taste, productivity and pest resistance. ‘Chandler’ strawberry plants are very popular with commercial growers because of their high yield, brilliant fruit color, and excellent flavor. ‘Hood’ is another fine berry from the Oregon. It has large berries that are intensely sweet and excellent for jam or fresh use.

Everbearers produce throughout the summer and give you berries for fresh eating all season. They produce fewer runners than Junebearers and so are easier to control.

‘Quinault’ is a great tasting, heavy bearing everbearer that gives high yields of large, deep red, sweet fruit from spring through fall. They are delicious for desserts, preserves and fresh eating. Plants are also very disease-resistant.

Day-neutrals are unaffected by day length and so they bear fruit from June through frost. Unfortunately they require pampering. They are sensitive to heat, drought and weed competition. If you give them the care they need, they will reward you with a generous supply of berries throughout the season from relatively few plants.

‘Tristar’ bears a constant supply of delicious medium sized berries, that are sweet and juicy, throughout the season. ‘Tristar’ has been known to set fruit from June until frost. They flower profusely but make few runners, so they stay compact. ‘Seascape’ is a heavy bearer of high quality, very sweet round berries. Contrary to their name, they grow and fruit well in hot dry climates.

Whether it’s strawberry shortcake, strawberry pie or just red ripe strawberries that you love, there are none better than the home-grown kind.

• It’s bare root season, which means you can save money on fruit trees and roses by planting them now. A wide selection is now available.

• Witch hazels bloom in the middle of winter with their interesting and showy, fragrant yellow or red blooms. One might look good in your garden.

• Asparagus, whose delectable spears are even sweeter when home-grown, are available now for planting. Prepare a fertile bed for these long-lived vegetables.

• Prune fruit trees, grapes, berries, and ornamental trees this month. Take in a pruning class and sharpen your shears before you start.

Grow Goji Berries!

Long cultivated in China and other parts of Asia, Goji berries are a newcomer to the American health-food scene. Their reputation as an “exotic superfruit” is spurring their growing popularity. They are known to be rich in nutrients and high in antioxidants to protect and strengthen the immune system. Goji berries are even being suggested as a powerful anti-aging food.

“Wolfberry” is the most commonly used English name for the berry whose botanical name is Lycium barbarum, while the name, Goji, is close to the Chinese pronunciation for the word. “Tibetan goji berry” is the name used to market the berries.

Goji berry plants produce small, beautiful white and purple trumpet shaped flowers from June through September. As the summer progresses the flowers mature into bright orange-red Goji berries from August to October, depending on your location and exposure. When ripe, the small, oblong berries are tender and must be picked carefully or shaken from the bush into trays to avoid spoilage. The fruits are preserved by drying them in the sun on open trays, or in the oven, or by using a dehydrator.

When dried, they resemble small, red currants. Their taste is unfamiliar but pleasant and dried fruits can be used in trail mix, smoothies, homemade protein shakes, salads, yogurt, cereals, oatmeal and many other snacks or meals. Fresh berries can be used to make healthful tea and juice. Even the young shoots are edible. Goji berries have long been used in traditional medicine and food in Asia.

Choose a location for your plants that receives full sun. Plants require good drainage and do best in rich soil with plenty of organic matter. The more sun they get the faster they grow and the better the berries will be. But Goji berry plants are tough and can survive in just about any climate and soil condition.

They are a deciduous shrub growing 8-10 feet tall and spreading wider. They have a tendency to vine out and benefit from trellising. Bushes will produce berries their second year, but peak berry production occurs in the 4th or 5th year.

Gojis have been grown in China for thousands of years in a wide range of climates. And they have been naturalized as an ornamental and edible plant in the UK for nearly 300 years. These hardy plants can tolerate low temperatures down to –20 degrees F and highs over 100 degrees F. They are commercially grown in China in alkaline soils, although plants seem to tolerate a wide range of soil pH. They are somewhat drought tolerant once established but summer irrigation will promote rapid growth.

Gojis can be successfully cultivated in all temperate regions of North America. Your success may vary depending on your growing conditions.

Enjoy growing this hardy and nutritious plant!