Sanhedrin Nursery – Garden Blog

• Pansies, snapdragons, stock, calendulas and primroses can be planted now to replace summer annuals.

• Plant cover crops in areas of the garden that have finished producing for the summer. Crimson clover and fava beans will grow over the winter and enrich the soil for next year.

• Choose chrysanthemums in a variety of colors now. They are hardy perennials which will brighten your garden each fall.

• It’s time to divide overgrown perennials that bloomed in the spring or early summer. It’s also a good time to choose and plant some new varieties.

• Lettuce can be planted from starts for a quick fall crop.

The Fall Planting Season

Here in California, we are lucky to have two planting seasons: spring and fall! Though we don’t get spring fever this time of year, fall is a much better time to plant, especially if you’re tackling major projects like putting in a new flower bed or border. Transplanted now, plants ease into the garden naturally. Trees, shrubs, lawns, ground covers and spring-blooming bulbs will all get established over the winter and be ready to survive their first hot summer more easily.

In the fall the soil is still warm and roots begin to grow rapidly as soon as they are planted. Cooler air temperatures put less stress on newly planted trees and shrubs, and watering needs are less. Once the rains begin, the plants receive plenty of water encouraging deep rooting as the roots continue to develop through the winter. These plants will be much more drought tolerant and not need to be watered as often next summer.

Fall is the ideal time to plant a tree — both for the gardener and the tree! The weather is cooler, so it is more enjoyable working outdoors. The tree also benefits because the soil is better able to retain moisture now than during the hot days of summer, so it becomes established easily. Trees and shrubs will show no growth above ground, but by having time to develop a strong root system over the winter, they will be ready for a major growth spurt next spring. Studies have shown that trees and shrubs planted in the fall will grow between one-and-a-half and two times as much next summer as the same tree or shrub planted next spring.

Lawns and ground covers do best when planted in the fall. The cool season grasses, which do best in this area, are most vigorous in fall and spring. By the time next summer rolls around, your lawn will be well-established and ready to enjoy.

Ground cover plants need to establish strong roots before they can begin top growth. This is the ideal time to plant them to get the most growth next spring and summer.

Perennial flowers like Shasta daisies, coral bells, columbine and lupines need to live through a winter before they will bloom. When you plant them in the spring, you have to wait a whole year to see them bloom. But if you plant them in the fall, they will bloom next spring.

Daffodils, tulips, hyacinths and other spring bulbs must be planted in the fall to enjoy their beauty next spring. They need several months to develop roots before they can bloom. By choosing different varieties, you can enjoy spring flowers from late winter through spring. Bulbs will brighten your spring garden with their lovely colors each year and need very little care.

Fall is almost here, so get ready for the best planting season of the year.

• Pansies and snapdragons can be planted now to replace summer annuals. They will give you color this fall, winter and next spring.

• Cool season vegetables should be planted right away to insure good crops this fall.

• Take house plants outside and wash down dusty leaves. Let them dry in the shade before bringing them back inside.

• Lilac bushes will bloom better next spring if you cut back on the watering now.

• Keep apples picked up from under the trees to help control the spread of codling moths, which make wormy apples.

Fire Safe Landscaping

If you live in a hilly, rural area of Mendocino County, fire protection is a major concern, and landscaping around your house is an important factor in fire safety. Landscape design, plant selection and maintenance of landscaping immediately around a home are critical considerations.

First of all, clear all brush, dead leaves and debris at least 30 feet from your home, and at least 150 feet if you’re on a hill. Dry grass should be mowed within 100 feet of structures.

A fire safe landscape doesn’t mean a ring of bare dirt around your home. When establishing your landscape, keep trees furthest from your house, shrubs can be closer, and bedding plants and lawns are nearest the house.

Landscape with fire resistant plants that are strategically planted to resist the spread of fire to your home. Develop a greenbelt of well-watered landscaping around the house for at least 30 feet. Lawns or low-growing groundcovers provide good protection. Add color with flowering annuals and perennials. Keep this landscaped area maintained with regular irrigation, pruning and cleanup.

The mid zone, 30 to 70 feet from the house, should contain mostly low-growing, fire-resistant plants. Shrubs should be planted in clumps or islands with walkways between to provide fuel breaks. Keep the landscape clean: remove litter under trees and shrubs, prune out deadwood, and remove dead and dried portions of ground covers.

Layers of flammable material that allow a fire to move from the ground to the tree canopy create a “fire ladder.” Pine needles on the ground can ignite and burn shrubs which carry flames into the tree canopy. Use only small shrubs beneath trees to lessen this danger. Keep tree foliage at least 10 feet away from buildings.

In the outer zone native vegetation can be maintained though dense brush must be cleared and crowded trees thinned. Trees should be spaced so that fire cannot travel across tree canopies.

In many cases, water shortages do not allow for well-watered landscapes, but leaving the existing, natural growth can be very dangerous. Unwatered chaparral plants become highly flammable under summer drought conditions. They should be removed and replaced by low ground covers that will produce less fuel.

Some plants which are far more fire retardant than most include rockroses, California lilac (Ceanothus), oleander, Santolina, Echinacea and woolly yarrow. Italian buckthorn, native oaks and maple trees are good choices. Heavenly bamboo, pineapple guava, Escallonia, daylily, cotoneaster, and star jasmine are just a few of the plants to choose from.

It is worthwhile to install an irrigation line that will operate sprinklers to wet down surrounding vegetation in an emergency. Such a system can be operated from a single manual valve.

Remember, all plants will burn if there is enough heat and if other conditions are right. But following these suggestions will make your home a safer place.

• Fall vegetables can be planted now for a fall harvest of broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, chard and lettuce.

• Pansies and snapdragons can be planted now to replace long, leggy annuals. They will give you color this fall, winter and next spring.

• Cut off the flower stalks of foxgloves, lupine, and delphinium after they bloom and you will get a second wave of flowers.

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

• Mums are the beauties of the fall garden. Choose plants now in a wide variety of colors.

Summer Fruit Tree Pruning

For many years pruning of fruit trees has been a winter activity. Pruning books tell us to prune when the trees are dormant, usually in January or February. But there is a new understanding of how trees respond to pruning that makes summer pruning the best way to control the size of your trees.

Winter pruning stimulates new growth because in spring the food stored by the tree over the winter bursts forth in a flush of growth. Pruned branches will burst out from many dormant buds. This works well with roses, for example, because the flowers are borne on new growth. So proper winter pruning will give you a healthy plant full of flowers.

In summer, food is made by the leaves through photosynthesis and this food is taken down into the roots and main branches and stored for next year’s growth. So summer pruning does not usually result in new growth.

There are two main kinds of pruning cuts used to prune fruit trees: heading cuts and thinning cuts. A heading cut is made to the middle of a branch, usually just above a leaf or bud, leaving a stub or short branch. Heading cuts are used to improve the shape of the plant by refocusing growth in a different direction. Winter pruning involves a lot of heading cuts to the tree.

A thinning cut removes an entire branch down to where it connects to another branch. So thinning cuts reduce the bulk of the tree and result in minimal regrowth. This is the kind of pruning best used for summer pruning.

Summer pruning can be spread out over July and August. It’s a little tricky because it’s harder to see the branch structure, but most summer pruning is done for size control. An apple tree cut all summer to a height of 7 feet tall will only grow, flower and fruit at that height or less. So next summer it can be maintained at that height without sacrificing any of the current crop.

Summer pruning can also be used for thinning the tree. Thinning cuts can be used to remove rampant growth and to let more light in through the canopy. More light to the interior branches will result in more fruit on the tree. Always leave enough foliage to protect the trunk and main scaffold branches from sunburn.

Watch your trees carefully and remove the “weedy” growth of suckers and watersprouts  as soon as they appear. Suckers are rampant growth that comes from below the graft and watersprouts are vigorous, upright branches that appear along the main branches of the tree. Both take energy away from the healthy growth of the tree.

It is recommended that apricot and cherry trees be pruned only in the summer. They are quite susceptible to disease when pruned during cool, rainy weather.

August is the last month to do summer pruning, so check your trees this week and make thinning cuts as needed to keep your trees under control.