Placer County master gardeners welcome public to experience their growing resource, now in spring bloom
It was late March when the Demonstration Garden first opened at the Loomis Library. Guaranteed there will be more blooms, bigger plants and plenty of sunshine this Saturday for the Spring Open House. Kathy Morrison
On Saturday, June 1, Placer County master gardeners will host their first Spring Open House at their new Demonstration Garden at Loomis Library. Admission is free.
From 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., dozens of master gardeners will be on hand to show visitors what they’ve been working months to create – a total transformation. What was originally 11,000 square feet of unused turf is now a vibrant water-wise garden packed with California natives, pollinator-friendly flowers and edible plants.
“The garden provides an educational environment with areas devoted to pollinator-friendly garden, HOA-friendly garden, rain garden, compost demonstration area, California native woodlands, a lawn-alternative meadow, hedgerows, an edible garden, straw-bale alternative and an orchard,” explain the master gardeners. “The plants and fruit trees are all small but have labels, and the labels have QR codes so visitors can learn more about them.”
Opened earlier this year on the library grounds, the garden will be bursting with spring color, as well as activities for all ages and all levels of gardeners.
“There will be kids activities, information tables staffed with experts in various gardening topics, live music and more,” say the hosts. “Experts will be on hand to answer questions about tool care, irrigation – we will have an expert from Hunter Industries on hand – ‘Ask a Master Gardener’ and vermiculture. Master gardeners will be present to answer questions about the garden and the various beds. We will have experts on California native plants and pollinators as well.”
Loomis Library is located at 6050 Library Drive, Loomis.
For more on the Demonstration Garden: https://pcmg.ucanr.edu/Demonstration_Garden/.
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Garden Checklist for week of Jan. 12
Once the winds die down, it’s good winter gardening weather with plenty to do:
* Prune, prune, prune. Now is the time to cut back most deciduous trees and shrubs. The exceptions are spring-flowering shrubs such as lilacs.
* Now is the time to prune fruit trees. (The exceptions are apricot and cherry trees, which are susceptible to a fungus that causes dieback. Save them until summer.) Clean up leaves and debris around the trees to prevent the spread of disease.
* Prune roses, even if they’re still trying to bloom. Strip off any remaining leaves, so the bush will be able to put out new growth in early spring.
* Clean up leaves and debris around your newly pruned roses and shrubs. Put down fresh mulch or bark to keep roots cozy.
* After the wind stops, apply horticultural oil to fruit trees to control scale, mites and aphids. Oils need 24 hours of dry weather after application to be effective.
* This is also the time to spray a copper-based fungicide to peach and nectarine trees to fight leaf curl. (The safest effective fungicides available for backyard trees are copper soap -- aka copper octanoate -- or copper ammonium, a fixed copper fungicide. Apply either of these copper products with 1% horticultural oil to increase effectiveness.)
* When forced bulbs sprout, move them to a cool, bright window. Give them a quarter turn each day so the stems will grow straight.
* Browse through seed catalogs and start making plans for spring and summer.
* Divide daylilies, Shasta daisies and other perennials.
* Cut back and divide chrysanthemums.
* Plant bare-root roses, trees and shrubs.
* Transplant pansies, violas, calendulas, English daisies, snapdragons and fairy primroses.
* In the vegetable garden, plant fava beans, head lettuce, mustard, onion sets, radicchio and radishes.
* Plant bare-root asparagus and root divisions of rhubarb.
* In the bulb department, plant callas, anemones, ranunculus and gladioli for bloom from late spring into summer.
* Plant blooming azaleas, camellias and rhododendrons. If you’re shopping for these beautiful landscape plants, you can now find them in full flower at local nurseries.
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