Open Garden should be buzzing with spring activit
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Lots of green, lots of blooms will be on display at the
April 13 Open Garden. (Photo: Kathy Morrison)
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It's spring and a great time to see what’s popping at the Fair Oaks Horticulture Center. The April Open Garden will be held midweek, from 9 a.m. to noon on Wednesday, April 13.
Open Garden days are free, informal events where the entire Horticulture Center is open to the public. Each area of the garden is staffed with master gardeners who are ready and eager to answer gardeners' questions.
The Wednesday events gives anyone home for spring break or who usually works weekends an opportunity to enjoy the FOHC while it’s in the full flush of spring growth. The orchard area and the Water Efficient Landscape gardens are particularly interesting as summer pruning begins on the fruit trees and pollinators visit the WEL's many blooming perennials.
Plenty of activity also will be evident in the center's other areas: the Vegetable Garden, the Herb Garden, the Vineyard, the Berry Patch and the Composting area.
The Ask a Master Gardener table will be staffed, so bring samples of problem plants or unknown pests for the master gardeners' examination and advice.
The Fair Oaks Horticulture Center is at 11549 Fair Oaks Blvd., Fair Oaks, just south of the Fair Oaks Library. Madison Avenue is the closest cross-street.
For more information, call (916) 875-6913, or go to https://sacmg.ucanr.edu/
-- Kathy Morrison
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Garden Checklist for week of April 21
This week there’s plenty to keep gardeners busy. With no rain in the immediate forecast, remember to irrigate any new transplants.
* Weed, weed, weed! Get them before they flower and go to seed.
* April is the last chance to plant citrus trees such as dwarf orange, lemon and kumquat. These trees also look good in landscaping and provide fresh fruit in winter.
* Smell orange blossoms? Feed citrus trees with a low dose of balanced fertilizer (such as 10-10-10) during bloom to help set fruit. Keep an eye out for ants.
* Apply slow-release fertilizer to the lawn.
* Thoroughly clean debris from the bottom of outdoor ponds or fountains.
* Spring brings a flush of rapid growth, and that means your garden is really hungry. Feed shrubs and trees with a slow-release fertilizer. Or mulch with a 1-inch layer of compost.
* Azaleas and camellias looking a little yellow? If leaves are turning yellow between the veins, give them a boost with chelated iron.
* Trim dead flowers but not leaves from spring-flowering bulbs such as daffodils and tulips. Those leaves gather energy to create next year's flowers. Also, give the bulbs a fertilizer boost after bloom.
* Pinch chrysanthemums back to 12 inches for fall flowers. Cut old stems to the ground.
* Mulch around plants to conserve moisture and control weeds.
* From seed, plant beans, beets, cantaloupes, carrots, corn, cucumbers, melons, radishes and squash.
* Plant onion sets.
* In the flower garden, plant seeds for asters, cosmos, celosia, marigolds, salvia, sunflowers and zinnias.
* Transplant petunias, zinnias, geraniums and other summer bloomers.
* Plant perennials and dahlia tubers for summer bloom.
* Mid to late April is about the last chance to plant summer bulbs, such as gladiolus and tuberous begonias.
* Transplant lettuce seedlings. Choose varieties that mature quickly such as loose leaf.
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