Let 2021 be the year of building on 2020's lessons
Ed Laivo gives advice on choosing a bare-root fruit tree in a Dave Wilson Nursery video, one of many videos linked on the Sacramento County master gardeners'
website
. (Screenshot)
Experience is a great teacher, and judging from social media posts, this year a lot of gardeners -- beginners and veterans -- received a lot of schooling on growing food and ornamentals.
We all were home more, with more time to nurture plants and see our gardens develop. Or not.
The "I'll throw some seeds in the ground" crowd learned that preparing the soil first would have helped those seeds germinate better and develop as strong seedlings. Good chance they're working on a compost pile and already may have done a soil test for missing nutrients.
The "why grow 5 tomato plants when I can grow 25" folks learned about keeping up with a large crop -- and the importance of strong support for all those plants. They're already planning stronger cages or better stakes. And maybe fewer tomatoes.
The "I'm not getting any squash" group learned that not all plants develop the same way. Squash, pumpkins and melons require both male and female flowers to pollinate -- and those flowers may not develop at the same time. These gardeners may have bought a paintbrush to transfer pollen themselves. And are likely planning more pollinator plants to entice more bees.
The "but it said full sun!" gardeners learned that this note on a plant or seed package doesn't mean Sacramento sun in July or August. They're already investing in shade cloth. Lots of shade cloth.
The large "what's eating my plants?" crowd learned that growing food can mean having to share with the local wildlife. They're researching greenhouses, plant cages and motion-operated sprinklers.
There were a lot more lessons, of course, depending on one's garden size, location, contents and personal experience.
Many fine sources of information are out there to help gardeners build on their experience/education. I recommend starting with the UCCE Sacramento County master gardeners' website , which is packed with information, charts and references for year-round gardening.
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Master gardener Pat Schink demonstrates hard winter
pruning of a blooming salvia plant in one of the
Sacramento County master gardener videos. (Screenshot)
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Sharpening hand pruners with Bill Black of the Sacramento master gardeners
Composting: Getting started with Susan Muckey of the Sacramento master gardeners
Shopping for bare-root fruit trees with Ed Laivo of Dave Wilson Nursery
Grafting fruit trees with Tom Spellman of Dave Wilson Nursery
Identifying and removing suckers on citrus trees with Kerry Beane of Four Winds Growers
Seed-starting with Ruth Ostroff of the Sacramento master gardeners
Pruning woody sages with Pat Schink of the Sacramento master gardeners. This video includes growing season and dormant season (winter) pruning of salvias.
With the outdoor world mostly resting, winter is the perfect time to read up on gardening topics, watch videos, and prepare for 2021 gardening.
Happy new year!
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Food in My Back Yard Series
April 15: Grow culinary herbs in containers
April 8: When to plant summer vegetables
April 1: Don't be fooled by these garden myths
March 25: Fertilizer tips: How to 'feed' your vegetables for healthy growth
March 18: Time to give vegetable seedlings some more space
March 11: Ways to win the fight against weeds
March 4: Potatoes from the garden
Feb. 25: Plant a fruit tree now -- for later
Feb. 18: How to squeeze more food into less space
Feb. 11: When to plant? Consider staggering your transplants
Feb. 4: Starting in seed starting
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Garden Checklist for week of April 20
Before possible showers at the end of the week, take advantage of all this nice sunshine – and get to work!
* Set out tomato, pepper and eggplant transplants.
* From seed, plant beans, beets, cantaloupes, carrots, corn, cucumbers, melons, pumpkins, 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.
* Plant summer bulbs, such as gladiolus and tuberous begonias.
* Transplant lettuce and cabbage seedlings.
* 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.
* 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.
* Spring brings a flush of rapid growth, and that means your garden is really hungry. Give shrubs and trees a dose of a slow-release fertilizer. Or mulch with a 1-inch layer of compost.
* Start thinning fruit that's formed on apple and stone fruit trees -- you'll get larger fruit at harvest (and avoid limb breakage) if some is thinned now. The UC recommendation is to thin fruit when it is about 3/4 of an inch in diameter. Peaches and nectarines should be thinned to about 6 inches apart; smaller fruit such as plums and pluots can be about 4 inches apart. Apricots can be left at 3 inches apart. Apples and pears should be thinned to one fruit per cluster of flowers, 6 to 8 inches apart.
* Azaleas and camellias looking a little yellow? If leaves are turning yellow between the veins, give them a boost with chelated iron.
* Pinch chrysanthemums back to 12 inches for fall flowers. Cut old stems to the ground.
* Weed, weed, weed! Don’t let unwanted plants go to seed.
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