January Planting Tips From Agromin

JANUARY: STILL PLENTY OF WORK TO BE DONE IN THE GARDEN

CAMARILLO, CALIF. --Although most local gardens and landscapes are dormant in January, there is still opportunity to plant winter color and cool-season vegetables, say experts at Agromin, a Camarillo-based manufacturer of premium soil products. It's also time to spruce up landscapes so they are ready when spring finally arrives.

Plant cool-season annuals; trees: Winter flower gardens can thrive with cool-season annuals including pansies, violas and primrose. Select already-blooming flowers at garden centers for instant effect. The flowers will bloom well into spring. January is also a good time to plant bare-root trees, shrubs and vines.

Plant quick-growing vegetables: Not all vegetables hit their peak in summer. Vegetables such as lettuce, asparagus, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, carrots, spinach, opinion, potatoes and beets all grow well in winter

Prune and rake: Prune deciduous trees and shrubs including fruit-baring plants. Rake fallen leaves from lawns so grass can soak up winter sun and properly dry from winter rains.

Care for living Christmas trees: Now that the holidays are over, it's time to bring living Christmas trees outside and transplant into the ground. Living trees should stay indoors for as little time as possible. Trees can easily grow 50 feet or higher so select their permanent outdoor location with care.

Extend the Life of Poinsettias: Poinsettias can live a long healthy life after the holidays. Place poinsettias in indirect sunlight at comfortable room temperature. Don't place the plants near doors where they may be susceptible to drafts or near fireplaces or ventilating ducts where they can be subjected to excessive heat. Only water the plants when the soil feels dry to the touch. When the flowers have lost their luster, cut them back to no more than eight inches tall. When the weather warms, bring them outside, transplant into bigger pots and continue to prune until they grow again into thick bushy plants in time for the next holiday season.

Gardening Tips for September

Contributed by Myrtle Creek Nursery


Fall is a great time to plant trees, shrubs, bulbs, perennials, grass seed and sod. Plants that are planted in the fall enjoy cooler temperatures and ideal growing conditions that allow roots ample time to grow into the surrounding soil. Use starter plant fertilizer mix when planting and mulch to control the ground temperature and moisture. Be sure to water newly planted trees and shrubs and add about 3 inches of mulch around the base of each plant.

Plants and trees that provide color and accents in the month of September include Beautyberry, Crape Myrtles, Cottoneaster, Viburnums, Hypericum, Hydrangeas, Potentilla, Pyracantha, Butterfly Bush, Coreopsis, Scabiosa, Ornamental Grasses, Mums, Flowering Dogwood, Red Maple, Red Oak, just to name a few.

Allow your plants to finish the summer growth cycle in the normal manner--that means no heavy applications of fertilizer or excessive pruning. Both heavy fertilization and pruning encourage new growth. Right now the plants are anticipating the cooler weather and going into a natural dormancy, anything that disturbs that will weaken the plants for wintering and for display in the spring. New growth is also susceptible to injury should you experience a sudden freeze.

For every weed you pull now, you will get rids of what will be hundreds in the spring. Remove any diseased or infested plants as well. While doing a general cleanup, save seeds from your favorite self-pollinating flowers. Allow the flower heads to mature instead of dead-heading, collect the seeds and dry them on newspaper. Store them in glass jars in a cool, dark, dry place until spring. This is also a good time to mark where your perennials are so you don't plant over them by mistake.

Make sure you bring your tender plants indoors before you experience a frost. Pot up herbs, chives and parsley, bring them indoors and put them in a sunny window to extend their season. You can also take cuttings from your annuals and over-winter them in a sunny window to have fresh new plants for your spring garden.

Fall is a good time for improving your garden soil by adding manure, compost and leaves to increase the organic matter content. Watch for insect or disease damage and remove.

Annuals

September into October is a good time to plant mums and pansies. They both love the cooler weather and can survive light frost. Most will come back in early spring to bloom again, depending on your part of the country. They appreciate some shade in the warmer regions, and remember that some of your trees will be bare of leaves, letting in a lot more sun than normal--so choose your locations wisely. Mums like a little more sun than pansies.

Perennials and Bulbs

Plant spring-flowering bulbs now for the best chance of a brilliant spring display. Irises like to be planted now, daffodils towards the end of September and Tulips in early October as the weather cools. Make sure you mulch to insulate the soil and keep the ground temperature warm enough for roots to establish themselves. As the weather cools, you will want to pull back the mulch at the end of winter to discourage premature growth as the sun will warm the soil.
If you dig up up bulbs to separate them into more plants, or to protect the more tender bulbs from harsh winters, it should be done before your first frost.

Vegetable Gardens

During Fall you can still plant beets, radishes, turnips and leaf lettuce. Root crops can be left in the ground in the cooler climates, be dug up as needed--just apply mulch to prevent ground freeze.This is an excellent time, after harvesting your summer crops, to plant a cover crop of clover, soybeans or vetch to be dug under next spring. These plants produce nitrogen providing good organic matter and food for your next spring crops, and they help control winter weeds as a bonus.

Lawns

This is the best month to reseed your lawn. For best results, soak the lawn a day or two before you aerate or de-thatch your lawn. Then you can lime, fertilize and seed your lawn all in a day. If you are planning to use any weed killers, you cannot seed for at least three weeks after applying the killer.

House Plants

If you have taken houseplants out for the summer, it is time to bring them back in--check for bugs first! It's a good time to re-pot those that need it, then fertilize through November and stop until spring.

Begin conditioning your Poinsettias and Christmas cactus to get them ready for the upcoming holiday season. For more information about this, click here.

Shrubs and Trees

Prune evergreens lightly now if you need to shape them, but save major pruning until early next year. Pruning stimulates new growth which may not have time to harden off before winter.
Stop fertilizing your trees to allow this years growth to harden off before winter.

On Dry Land

How to plant a drought-resistant garden.

By Constance Casey



On these hot, dry days, your plants may look as though they're pleading for water. You used to be able to just haul out the hose and soak every wilted thing. Now, though, in many parts of the United States and more and more places around the world, water is limited. Snow cover has diminished in shorter winters, reservoir levels are sinking, and many parched Western states keep adding more water consumers.



Over the past decade, we've been advised by garden writers and garden centers and environmentalists that the way to go in a hotter and drier world is to buy and use drought-tolerant plants. When home gardeners began including more drought-resistant plants, it was certainly a good change from green lawns in Phoenix and hydrangeas in El Paso, Texas. Those resinous water-storing plants harmonize with what's left of the surrounding landscape. But some drought-resistant combinations have become tiresome clichés. Look at the planting around almost any North American airport. You'll see Russian sage, yellow "Stella d'Oro" daylilies, sedum "Autumn Joy," and prairie grasses.



The gray leaves of Russian sage, the deep roots of prairie grasses, and the succulent water-holding leaves of sedums are evolutionary adaptations to arid environments. For the nonarid parts of the country, though, drought is a relative and temporary condition. Meanwhile, the yucca and sage you plant today could be drowning in the next rain. I'm haunted by the words of the meteorologist who predicted a future of "more rainfall, in fewer events." Where are the gentle showers of yesteryear?



A good response to longer periods of dryness broken by more violent rainstorms is to make your soil drought-resistant. What you want is a way for your valuable plants to survive a temporary water deficit, without having to use a lot of water and perhaps pay a fine to your municipality. So, make sure that the water from a deluge doesn't run off. Make the water percolate down to plants' roots. Don't till the soil; bare plowed soil loses water to evaporation. Leave organic material lying on the soil surface or plant groundcover (a cover crop like clover or alfalfa in the case of farmers). Midwestern farmers are now leaving corn plants up after harvest to catch the snow and protect the soil. Encourage worms, whose tunnels, about the diameter of a pencil, direct water down to root level.



Plants are, in a sense, cannibals. They thrive when they have partially decomposed plant material—little bits of bark or crumbly leaves—to consume. (Though they'll also happily take up the minerals in decomposed animal material.) Little bits of bark or crumbly leaves work like sponges, holding moisture in the soil.



Instead of being burned by drought, home gardeners, track the conditions in your area here and here, and check out these suggestions of plants that can thrive in gardens wanting for water. There's nothing wrong with praying for rain, but consider how nature keeps the soil moist—plenty of mulch, no bare earth.

Summer Maintenance for a Healthy Garden

Garden Clean-Up

• Cut back foliage of spring bulbs once it begins to yellow.


• Prune broken, dead, and diseased branches.


• Deadhead shrubs and perennials to focus plant energy on root growth instead of seed production.


• Deadhead annuals to promote more flowers.


• Clean tools after each use.
  

Fertilizing

• Annuals, vegetables, and container plants need regular applications throughout the summer.

Mulching

• Apply mulch to conserve water and reduce weeds.


• Good options include wood chips, pine needles, straw, cocoa shells, compost.
  

July Planting for Late Summer and Autumn Bloom

• Tender perennials: potted begonias, dahlias, canna lilies


• Hardy perennials: mums, Japanese anemones, asters
  

Caring for Lawns

• Raise lawnmower blade to a height of 3 inches because longer grass is healthier and shades weeds.


• Don't fertilize turf in the heat of summer unless it's routinely watered.
  

Visiting Public Gardens

• Visit gardens, parks, and forest preserves to view summer displays and get ideas.

Give Your Garden a Fresh Look for the Summer

• A new layer of mulch will give your yard and gardens a fresh look for the summer.

• If you are mowing on a regular schedule, there is no need to bag grass clippings. They do not add to the thatch layer as commonly believed, and they will add nutrients to the soil as they decay. Be careful not to allow clippings to get into street gutters and storm sewers.

• Finish pruning spring-flowering shrubs in early June. This gives the plants plenty of time to develop flower buds for next spring’s display.

• When your pond water reaches 70 degrees, it is time to add tropical water lilies, marginal plants, floating water hyacinths, or water lettuce.

• Enhance morning or evening relaxation next to your water garden with added color. Tropical night-blooming water lilies actually bloom starting at dusk through the mid-morning hours and come in a variety of colors.

• Established trees need little watering—water every two weeks during dry periods.

• If possible, do not use overhead sprinklers to water gardens, especially late in the day. Tomatoes and roses are especially prone to disease if their leaves are wet at night.

• Remove the flowers on annuals (“deadheading”) as they fade. Pinch or cut the flowering stem back to the first set of leaves or flower buds. Use a knife or garden shears to make a clean cut. This improves the plant’s appearance and encourages continual bloom.

• Dig and divide overgrown perennials. Dig a hole slightly larger than the plant. Lift the plant out of the hole. Cut it into several smaller pieces. Replant one of the divisions in the original hole and use the other pieces to fill in voids, start new gardens, or share with friends. Amend the soil with organic matter before planting.

• Apply slow-release fertilizer in midsummer to provide good plant performance until frost.

Web-exclusive Tips:

• Plant marigolds, sunflowers, asters, columbine, and coneflowers to attract birds.

• Mulch your garden after the soil has warmed up later in June.

• Mulch tomato plants, as they need consistent moisture to do well. Begin leaf-spot control on tomato plants and stake young tomato plants; late staking contributes to blossom end rot.

• Not all annuals need deadheading, however: Ageratums, Cleomes, Gomphrenas, Impatiens, narrowleaf zinnias, New Guinea impatiens, wax begonias, and Pentas are self-cleaning. These drop their dead blooms and do not need deadheading.

• Prune and shape new growth on arborvitae, junipers, and yews. The new growth will generally emerge a lighter green; trim this back a third or more for shearing. Be careful of more dramatic pruning—it will generally grow back, but it may take a long time.

• Prune your pines, spruce, and fir trees in June. These trees will send out new growth called candles; trim them back by one third to help maintain the tree’s present size. These species usually do not require pruning unless their space is limited.

• June is a good time to fertilize your azaleas and rhododendrons. After they flower, prepare them for the upcoming season of vegetative growth.

• It is time to start fertilizing your hostas. Do monthly feedings with a 10-10-10 granular fertilizer around only the outside of the plant. One way to avoid getting the fertilizer into the middle of the plants that are sprouting, and to avoid stepping on new eyes, is to cover the plant with an inverted flowerpot while distributing the fertilizer.

• Fertilize trees and shrubs before the Fourth of July.

• Do last picking of rhubarb at the end of June to allow roots to store energy for next season.

Extra Pond Tips for Summer

• Use floating plants and water lilies to cover at least 40 percent of the water surface of your pond to help eliminate algae.

• Continue regular fertilization of all your water lilies and lotus plants in your water garden or bog. These plants require lots of energy to be consistent bloomers.

• If green water plagued your pond last summer, add bog plants to your streambed or reservoir now. Leafy plants with lots of stems and roots provide your best water filtration. A bog area between 10 and 25 percent of the surface area of the pond you want to keep clean will do the trick.

• If your water lilies have outgrown their pots, consider repotting in a wider container or splitting the plant. Whenever possible, enlarge the container to enable the plant to be lush with leaves and many blooms. Shallow, round containers are best.

Why Raised Beds?

Raised bed gardening is gaining in popularity, and for good reason. Raised beds have several advantages over regular "flat" garden beds.

1. They allow soil to warm up and dry out faster in spring.
2. By not walking in them, you prevent soil compaction.
3. Instead of spreading amendments in a garden, tilling them in, then creating beds and paths, you can focus your improvement efforts in the planting areas only.
4. They're often decorative.
5. It's easier to train pets to keep out of gardens.
6. There's less bending to tend plants. Taller beds allow you to sit while you weed.
7. You can get a larger harvest out of a smaller space, since raised beds are often planted more densely than garden beds laid out in rows.
8. They reduce the need for tilling. Repeated tilling damages soil structure which can lead to compaction.

You can make a raised bed by simply raking soil up into flat-topped beds that sit higher than surrounding soil. Or you can make or purchase permanent beds made from a variety of materials.

May Planting Tips From Agromin

MAY MARKS START OF THE YEAR'S BUSIEST GROWING PERIOD

May signals the beginning of the year's peak garden growing period. It also ends the rainy season, so flowers, plants and vegetables need to be surrounded by mulch to better hold in water and prevent erosion, say experts at Agromin, a Camarillo-based manufacturer of premium soil products. Significant rainfall isn't expected until October or later.

Time to Prune Shrubs: Prune (thin and shape) spring blooming shrubs as soon as the blooms are finished.

Thin Fruit Trees: Fruit trees produce more fruit than can grow to maturity. Some of the immature fruit will fall naturally during May. Thin the remaining smaller fruit from the branches. That way, stronger fruit will grow larger and tastier and smaller fruit won't weigh down tree branches.

Watering Your Lawn: As the weather warms, water-loving lawns will need at least an inch of water each week--more when the weather turns hot. Soil should be moist at least six inches into the ground. If the soil is not moist to that level, the result will brown patches and thin cover. The best time to water is in the early morning. Watering at night encourages fungus growth.

Watering Your Flowers: Water only the soil around your flowers, not the flowers themselves. Watering flowers can lead to fungus diseases. Every so often, however, lightly water your flowers to remove dust or mud.

Experiment with Vegetables: Besides the standard tomatoes, zucchini, peppers and corn, try planting new vegetables in your garden. Be creative and plant such items as beans, garlic, lettuce, sunflowers, basil and cilantro.