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Learn new garden skills in cool indoors

Sacramento Digs Gardening
BY Debbie Arrington PUBLISHED JUN 25, 2019

This is a kokedama, a hanging plant in a soil ball covered with moss.
Learn the technique at a July 14 workshop. (Photo courtesy The Secret Garden)

The Secret Garden hosts summer workshops including kokedama, terrariums

Learning a new skill is fun. Combine that with gardening and you can count on more enjoyment to come.

The Secret Garden in Elk Grove offers a summer full of workshops for both beginning and experienced gardeners. Mindful of the summer heat, these workshops will focus on indoor gardening fun.

* Thursday, June 27, learn how to create a closed terrarium. This course ($45) includes an 8-inch-tall glass container with lid, rocks, soil and plants. Crystals, geodes and miniature accessories will be available at a discount. Take home your planted terrarium along with the skills to create more.

This 6 p.m. workshop is part of Secret Garden’s “Thirsty Thursday” series. Bring the beverage of your choice (including wine, cider, beer or non-alcoholic refreshment) for personal consumption. Light appetizers will be served.

* Next in the Thirsty Thursday series will be houseplant propagation. Set for 6 p.m. Thursday, July 18, that class ($35) will cover the basics of how to create more plants via cuttings. Learn how and when to make cuttings, keys to success as well as common mistakes. Participants will make their own hanging rooter as well as receive two cuttings to take home.

* Not into planting? How about painting? Local muralist Macy Martinez, whose work is seen by thousands each summer at Music Circus productions, will lead a class in how to paint succulents. Participants will learn her techniques for capturing these sculptured plants on canvas as well as tips for creating outdoor garden art. Each attendee will paint their own 12-inch all-weather artpiece to take home. This course ($59) is set for 10:30 a.m. Saturday, July 13. Fee includes all materials plus coffee, tea and doughnuts.

* Learn the secrets of kokedama, the Japanese technique of hanging (and living) arrangements. In kokedama, a soil ball covered with moss hangs from a string and is planted with ornamental or tropical plants such as ferns. This unusual method for hanging plants is popular in Japanese gardens and catching on rapidly with California gardeners, too. Set for 10 a.m. Sunday, July 14, this two-hour workshop ($45) includes the makings for two kokedama gardens including plants, soil, moss and string. Prepare to get messy! (It’s not as easy as it looks to get that soil ball on a string and covered with moss.)

Registration is now open for all of these workshops. Sign up early; space is limited. The Secret Garden is located at 8450 West Stockton Blvd., Elk Grove.

Details and registration: www.secretgarden-online.com or call 916-682-6839 .

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succulents gardening Sacramento workshops Elk Grove propagation events houseplants container gardening indoor plants summer

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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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