Applications close soon for MG training class of 2023
The Fair Oaks Horticulture Center will be open for browsing and inspiration this Wednesday. Kathy Morrison
From the desert willow near the entrance to the grapevines at the top of the hill, the Fair Oaks Horticulture Center is bathed in golden autumn light these days. The UCCE Sacramento County master gardeners will welcome visitors to the entire garden one more time in 2022 during the free Open Garden Day this Wednesday, Oct. 12, from 9 a.m. to noon.
Visitors are encouraged to bring their garden questions, mystery pests or other problems to the “Ask a Master Gardener” table for potential answers or solutions. All areas of the Horticulture Center will be staffed for visitors to wander, ask questions and be inspired.
The FOHC includes the Water Efficient Landscape, the herb garden, the orchard and vineyard, the berry area, the vegetable garden and the compost area. Open Garden Days are informal events, and master gardeners will be available to discuss the fall activities throughout the garden.
The 2023 Gardening Guide and Calendar will be on sale during the event. Just $10, it’s a valuable resource for the year and also makes a great gift.
Anyone who has wondered what being a master gardener is all about should also visit the FOHC this Wednesday. The application period for the next training class is open now, but only through Oct. 17. For more information on applying, visit the Sacramento MG website here.
The Fair Oaks Horticulture Center is at 11549 Fair Oaks Blvd., just south of the Fair Oaks Library at Madison Avenue and Fair Oaks Boulevard. For more information on the program or events: sacmg.ucanr.edu
– Kathy Morrison
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Garden Checklist for week of May 12
Get your gardening chores and irrigation done early in the day before temperatures rise.
* Plant, plant, plant! It’s prime planting season in the Sacramento area. Time to set out those tomato transplants along with peppers and eggplants. Pinch off any flowers on new transplants to make them concentrate on establishing roots instead of setting premature fruit.
* Direct-seed melons, cucumbers, summer squash, corn, radishes, pumpkins and annual herbs such as basil.
* Harvest cabbage, lettuce, peas and green onions. This heat will cause leafy greens and onions to flower; pick them before they bolt.
* In the flower garden, direct-seed sunflowers, cosmos, salvia, zinnias, marigolds, celosia and asters.
* Plant dahlia tubers. Other perennials to set out include verbena, coreopsis, coneflower and astilbe.
* Transplant petunias, marigolds and perennial flowers such as astilbe, columbine, coneflowers, coreopsis, dahlias, rudbeckia and verbena.
* Keep an eye out for slugs, snails, earwigs and aphids that want to dine on tender new growth.
* Feed summer bloomers with a balanced fertilizer.
* For continued bloom, cut off spent flowers on roses as well as other flowering plants.
* Got fruit trees? If you haven't already done so, thin orchard fruit such as apples, peaches, pears, pluots and plums before they grow too heavy, breaking branches or even splitting the tree. Leave the largest fruit on the branch, culling the smaller ones, and allow for 5 to 6 inches (or a hand's worth) between each fruit.
* Thin grape bunches, again leaving about 6 inches between them. For the remaining bunches, prune off the "tail" end, about the bottom third of the bunch, so that the plant's energy is concentrated in the fruit closest to the branch.
* As spring-flowering shrubs finish blooming, give them a little pruning to shape them, removing old and dead wood. Lightly trim azaleas, fuchsias and marguerites for bushier plants.
* Add mulch to the garden to help keep that precious water from evaporating. Mulch also cuts down on weeds. But don’t let it mound around the stems or trunks of trees or shrubs. Leave about a 6-inch to 1-foot circle to avoid crown rot or other problems.
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