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Sacramento County master gardeners' tips debut on YouTube


Andi MacDonald
Master gardener Andi MacDonald shows how to grow veggies in containers in one of the new videos filmed by the UCCE master gardeners for Virtual Harvest Day.
(Screenshot from YouTube)

Videos filmed for Harvest Day now available for viewing


Gardeners don't have to wait for (Virtual) Harvest Day to view all the helpful new videos filmed by the UCCE Sacramento County master gardeners.


The topics range all over the Fair Oaks Horticulture Center, from the compost area to the Water Efficient Landscape, from the vegetable garden to the orchard.

For my money, the most immediately useful video features master gardener Bill Black showing how to clean and sharpen pruning shears . I have several pairs that need this help. Also, Dan Vierria explains how soil solarization can eliminate soilborne pests from a planting bed, a method that works beautifully with our summer heat.

"What's Wrong With My Tomatoes?" with Joeana Carpenter should be required viewing for any and all new vegetable gardeners; she focuses on environmental (aka abiotic) factors.  And Andi MacDonald offers a concise guide to growing veggies year round in containers .

Several videos focus on specific pruning chores: woody sages, rosemary, ornamental grasses, and summer pruning of fruit trees. There are also tips on setting up a compost bin, putting netting over blueberries, growing herbs in containers and identifying pests on grapevines. And plenty more.

Videos are coming from the two Harvest Day speakers, Karrie Reid and Ed Laivo. On Harvest Day itself, Saturday, Aug. 1, live Q&As will be shown with the two speakers and with a panel of UCCE master gardeners. Send questions in to mgsacramento@ucanr.edu

For more on plans for the 2020 Virtual Harvest Day, go to http://sacmg.ucanr.edu/Harvest_Day/


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Garden Checklist for week of April 27

Once the clouds clear, get to work. Spring growth is in high gear.

* 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. Late April is about the last chance to plant summer bulbs, such as gladiolus and tuberous begonias.

* Transplant lettuce and cabbage seedlings.

* Weed, weed, weed! Don’t let unwanted plants 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.

* 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.

* 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.

* 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.

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