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Is your garden throwing shade?

Sacramento Digs Gardening
BY Debbie Arrington PUBLISHED AUG 24, 2018

Tuberous begonias are beautiful additions to shade gardens. (Photos: Debbie Arrington)

Workshop focuses on the brighter side of planting shady yards

We love our trees, but sometimes fret that their leafy branches work too well in blocking the sun. What can be grown in all that shade?

To the rescue come the UCCE Master Gardeners of El Dorado County. On Saturday, Aug. 25, their free workshop, "Shade Gardening," will enlighten gardeners on the joys of plants that thrive in the shade.

As Master Gardener Susan Corey-McAlpine writes in the group's newsletter, "There is possibly no more perfect gardening activity for these hot summer afternoons than planning a shade garden, a haven of private coolness."

She notes that the amount of sun exposure a site receives determines what plants can grow there. Full shade is determined as getting less than 1 hour of sun daily, while part shade is 1 to 2 hours of sun exposure daily. Part sun is 4 to 5 hours daily, and full sun is more than 6 hours daily.

Hydrangeas such as this Incrediball variety
are great for shady areas.

In addition to Corey-McAlpine, the workshop will be conducted by Master Gardeners Merry Campbell, who chairs the Shade Garden at the Sherwood Demonstration Garden, and EJ Kipping.

They will cover topics such as soil content, shade plants with color, and the special attention needed for planting under oaks.

The workshop runs from 9 a.m. to noon at the Government Center, Building C Hearing Room, 2850 Fairlane Ct., Placerville. No advance registration is required.

For more information on the El Dorado Master Gardeners' programs: 530-621-5512 or mgeldorado.ucanr.edu

-- Kathy Morrison

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Keywords:

shade gardening fall planting gardening Master Gardeners Sacramento workshops oak trees begonias El Dorado County perennials

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Garden Checklist for week of Nov. 3

November still offers good weather for fall planting:

* If you haven't already, it's time to clean up the remains of summer. Pull faded annuals and vegetables. Prune dead or broken branches from trees.

* Now is the best time to plant most trees and shrubs. This gives them plenty of time for root development before spring growth. They also benefit from fall and winter rains.

* Set out cool-weather annuals such as pansies and snapdragons.

* Lettuce, cabbage and broccoli also can be planted now.

* Plant garlic and onions.

* Keep planting bulbs to spread out your spring bloom. Some possible suggestions: daffodils, crocuses, hyacinths, tulips, anemones and scillas.

* This is also a good time to seed wildflowers and plant such spring bloomers as sweet pea, sweet alyssum and bachelor buttons.

* Rake and compost leaves, but dispose of any diseased plant material. For example, if peach and nectarine trees showed signs of leaf curl this year, clean up under trees and dispose of those leaves instead of composting.

* Save dry stalks and seedpods from poppies and coneflowers for fall bouquets and holiday decorating.

* For holiday blooms indoors, plant paperwhite narcissus bulbs now. Fill a shallow bowl or dish with 2 inches of rocks or pebbles. Place bulbs in the dish with the root end nestled in the rocks. Add water until it just touches the bottom of the bulbs. Place the dish in a sunny window. Add water as needed.

* Give your azaleas, gardenias and camellias a boost with chelated iron.

* For larger blooms, pinch off some camellia buds.

* Prune non-flowering trees and shrubs while dormant.

* To help prevent leaf curl, apply a copper fungicide spray to peach and nectarine trees after they lose their leaves this month. Leaf curl, which shows up in the spring, is caused by a fungus that winters as spores on the limbs and around the tree in fallen leaves. Sprays are most effective now.

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