'Mulch Mayhem' returns to Sacramento, Placer counties
Get free mulch for your garden while it lasts! Photo courtesy Placer County Water Agency
One day, it’s feeling like summer. The next, it’s cold and rainy.
What’s a gardener to do?
Try to keep your plants evenly comfortable with a blanket of mulch. This natural insulation not only keeps soil moist but also helps regulate soil temperature – two ways to beat the heat or cold.
Get plenty of free mulch at events on two upcoming Saturday mornings in May.
Sponsored by the Regional Water Authority and local water providers, “Mulch Mayhem” offers free mulch while supplies last from 8 a.m. to noon May 6 and 20 at locations in Sacramento and Placer counties.
“These free events are designed to help local residents get their yards ready for summer,” say organizers. “Mulch slows evaporation, moderates soil temperature, beautifies landscapes and even controls weeds. As it breaks down, mulch also adds helpful nutrients to the soil.”
Mulch also helps save water during the dry months of summer.
“Water managers estimate that residents can save 30 gallons of water for every 1,000 square feet just by adding two to three inches of organic mulch (such as leaves and wood chips) around plants and four to six inches around trees,” say the organizers. When mulching trees or shrubs, take care to keep mulch away from their trunks to avoid crown rot
No reservations are needed. Bring a shovel, containers or tarps and a means to haul your free mulch away. This mulch is for residential use only and not for resale.
On Saturday morning, May 6, get your mulch at these locations:
* Carmichael Water District, 7837 Fair Oaks Blvd., Carmichael.
Information: (916) 483-2452 or carmichaelwd.org.
* Sierra College’s overflow lot, corner of Rocklin Road and El Don Drive opposite the campus, in Rocklin.
Information: (530) 823-4850 or pcwa.net.
* Sacramento Suburban Water District, 917 Enterprise Drive, Sacramento
Information: (916) 972-7171 or sswd.org.
* Sacramento Marina, 2710 Ramp Way (enter from Front Street), Sacramento
Information: (916) 808-5605 or SacWaterWise.com.
On Saturday morning, May 20, mulch will be available at Cokeva Parking Lot, 9000 Foothills Blvd., Roseville. (Enter at 9100 Foothills Blvd.) Open truck and trailer fill only—no shovels required.
Information: (916) 774-5761 or roseville.ca.us/mulchmayhem
More details: BeWaterSmart.info/mulch-mayhem.
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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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