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Spring Gardening Tips for a Flourishing Garden
As the vibrant colors of spring burst forth and the air fills with the sweet scent of blossoms, it's the perfect time to roll up your sleeves and tend to your garden. Whether you're a seasoned gar...
Boys and Girls Clubs of Manteca/Lathrop
Listed under: Education Families & Children Parks & Recreation
Placer County master gardeners offer free workshop
Certain varieties of blueberries do very well in our region, with the right location and right soil. (Also protection from wildlife, hence the netting barely seen here.) Learn the specifics in a free class this weekend in Loomis. Kathy Morrison
This free class is a real treat, devoted to one of the most popular edible ornamental plants – blueberries.
Hosted by the UCCE master gardeners of Placer County, “Sweet, Nutritious and Wildly Popular – Grow Your Own Blueberries” will offer a primer on how to start your own backyard blueberry patch.
Set for 10:30 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 10, this one-hour workshop will be held in person at Loomis Library, 6050 Library Drive, Loomis. No advance registration is necessary.
“Imagine waking up during spring and summer and walking out to your garden to pick fresh blueberries,” say the master gardeners. “Learn the basics for planting and caring for delicious blueberries in your home garden.”
Native to the eastern United States, blueberries can be a little tricky for California home gardeners. Most blueberry varieties need a different variety for pollination, but which pairings are most effective?
Blueberries also need “chill hours” – extended time under 45 degrees – to flower and set fruit. Southern highbush varieties such as Misty and Sunshine Blue need less chill than northern highbush varieties – an important factor to consider for Sacramento-area gardeners.
To do their best, blueberries need acidic soil, making them a good companion to azaleas and other acid-loving plants.
Popular blueberry varieties for home gardens are semi-dwarf (under 3 to 4 feet) and often evergreen, making for handsome plants year-round. Their early spring blooms look like little white to pale pink bells. But it’s those delicious blueberries that make this home crop so desirable.
Find out how to get blueberries off to a great start and to keep them producing for years to come.
Details and directions: https://pcmg.ucanr.edu/.
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Garden Checklist for week of May 19
Temperatures will be a bit higher than normal in the afternoons this week. Take care of chores early in the day – then enjoy the afternoon. It’s time to smell the roses.
* Plant, plant, plant! It’s prime planting season in the Sacramento area. If you haven’t already, it’s 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.
* 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.
* Don’t forget to water. Seedlings need moisture. Deep watering will help build strong roots and healthy 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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