Sacramento County master gardeners host midweek Open Garden
While the front part of the Fair Oaks Horticulture Center is always accessible during daylight hours, the area beyond the gate will be be open to visitors this Wednesday from 9 a.m. to noon during Open Garden Day. Kathy Morrison
Is it too late to plant veggies? Can herbs survive over winter? What happened to my tomatoes this year?
Who doesn’t have garden questions right now? Here’s a place to find answers – and NOT on the weekend. Instead, it’s midweek – on a (hopefully) beautiful fall Wednesday morning.
Fall weekends are busy enough, so the Sacramento County master gardeners will host their October Open Garden on Wednesday, Oct. 16. It’s their final Open Garden of 2024.
From 9 a.m. to noon, the gates of the Fair Oaks Horticulture Center will be open as the public is invited to come see the master gardeners at work. Admission and parking are free. (No pets, please.)
“Open gardens are informal free events where you roam the gardens, watch what we are doing, see what we are growing and ask questions,” say the master gardeners. “Bring samples of your problem plants, mystery pests and questions to the ‘Ask the Master Gardeners’ information table. Get one-on-one advice supported by the most recent research-based sustainable practices.”
Pack any samples in zipped plastic bags. Photos are handy, too.
The Hort Center is looking spectacular, as always. Enjoy the garden while you learn.
“Immerse yourself in nature as you stroll through calming paths of Water Efficient Landscape plants," say the master gardeners. Visitors can smell fragrant pelargoniums in the Herb Garden, check out the ripening pomegranates and persimmons in the Orchard, and learn how to prepare raised beds for fall planting in the Vegetable Garden. In the Berry Patch, find out how to prune berry vines for production. Visit the composting area and the nearby row of citrus trees.
The master gardeners will present three mini-talks or hands-on demonstrations:
9:30 a.m. – “Preparing Your Garden for Winter: Think Tiny.” How fall leaves provide nesting places for beneficial insects. Meet at the Round Patio in the Water-Efficient Landscape Garden.
10 a.m. – “What Types of Bedding do Worms Like?” The secret to successful worm composting. Presented at the Kiwi/Grape Arbor.
10:30 a.m. – “Garlic Planting Demonstration.” Watch and learn at the Kiwi/Grape Arbor.
Fair Oaks Horticulture Center is at 11549 Fair Oaks Blvd., Fair Oaks, in Fair Oaks Park, south of Madison Avenue.
Details and directions: https://sacmg.ucanr.edu/.
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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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