Placer County master gardeners also host monthly Open Garden at Loomis Library
See how Placer County master gardeners make “garden gold” at their new demonstration garden at the Loomis Library. This is the “finished compost” bin at the garden, which will be open for visitors July 13. Kathy Morrison
Turn garbage into garden gold; it’s the magic of composting.
Learn how to make your own compost – and help your garden – during a free workshop presented by the Placer County master gardeners at the Loomis Library.
Set for 10:30 a.m. Saturday, July 13, this one-hour hands-on class will tackle the basics of “Compost and Mulch.” No advance registration is necessary.
“Who knew your kitchen scraps and yard debris could improve your soil?” say the master gardeners. “It’s called composting, which not only improves your soil, but helps you save water. Learn about how to set up a system that works for you. Also learn about the different types of mulch and how they protect your garden.”
Master gardeners will explain how compost and mulch work. (What’s the difference? Compost can be mulch, but not all mulch is compost.) They’ll also offer compost recipes for success, mixing kitchen scraps with dried leaves, grass clippings or other garden byproducts.
What to do with all that compost? It’s high-grade fertilizer that will produce bigger blooms and better harvests.
Before or after class, admire the master gardeners’ new demonstration garden outside the library. Master gardeners will be staffing the garden and answering questions from 10 a.m. to noon. Saturday, their monthly Open Garden Day.
“Master gardeners focus on visitor’s education and create enthusiasm for water-wise, environmentally focused, and inspirational ‘Gardening for Today,’” they say. “Our garden is a living classroom for the Placer County community that emphasizes sustainable gardening, integrated pest management and backyard food production.”
See for yourself. Loomis Library is located at 6050 Library Road, Loomis.
Details: https://pcmg.ucanr.edu/.
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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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