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Lawn replacement workshop uses great example

Placer County master gardeners show how they turned unused turf into their new demonstration garden at Loomis Library

Here's the end result of the Placer master gardeners' lawn replacement project: their demonstration garden at the Loomis Library. This photo is from the grand opening in March; the garden has filled in since then.

Here's the end result of the Placer master gardeners' lawn replacement project: their demonstration garden at the Loomis Library. This photo is from the grand opening in March; the garden has filled in since then. Kathy Morrison

Tired of the same old boring (and thirsty) lawn? Now is the time to envision the possibilities, then do something about it.

Learn how during a free workshop offered by the Placer County master gardeners – at an example of recent lawn conversion.

At 10:30 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 10, “Lawn Replacement Loomis Library” will be held (as the name suggests) at Loomis Library, which just experienced an 11,000-square-foot lawn-to-wonderland makeover. The former turf area outside the building is now home to the UC Master Gardeners of Placer County Demonstration Garden, studded with pollinator islands and raised beds. It also serves as a living outdoor classroom for master gardener presentations.

Loomis library lawn before removal
Here's a "before" image of the Loomis Library lawn
in September 2023 at the garden's groundbreaking.
The area is roughly the same as the photo at top,
from the opposite direction.

It’s your turn to go “from blah to beautiful,” say the master gardeners. “Learn the best way to get rid of your high maintenance lawn and create a pollinator paradise! Save water, too!”

This one-hour workshop will be held inside the library (with air conditioning) before moving outdoors and seeing examples firsthand.

No advance registration is necessary. This workshop is open to the public (not just Placer County residents).

In addition, Saturday is also Open Garden at the demonstration garden, which will be staffed by master gardeners from 10 a.m. to noon. Stop by with garden questions or just to see how the garden is flourishing in its first year.

Loomis Library is located at 6050 Library Drive, Loomis.

For details and directions: https://pcmg.ucanr.edu/.

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Garden Checklist for week of June 8

Get out early to enjoy those nice mornings. There’s plenty to keep gardeners busy:

* Warm weather brings rapid growth in the vegetable garden, with tomatoes and squash enjoying the heat. Deep-water, then feed with a balanced fertilizer. Bone meal or rock phosphate can spur the bloom cycle and help set fruit.

* Generally, tomatoes need deep watering two to three times a week, but don’t let them dry out completely. Inconsistent soil moisture can encourage blossom-end rot.

* It’s not too late to transplant tomatoes, peppers or eggplant.

* From seed, plant corn, melons, pumpkins, radishes, squash and sunflowers.

* Plant basil to go with your tomatoes.

* Transplant summer annuals such as petunias, marigolds and zinnias.

* It’s also a good time to transplant perennial flowers including astilbe, columbine, coneflowers, coreopsis, dahlias, rudbeckia, salvia and verbena.

* Feed camellias, azaleas and other acid-loving plants. Mulch to conserve moisture and reduce heat stress.

* Cut back Shasta daisies after flowering to encourage a second bloom in the fall.

* Trim off dead flowers from rose bushes to keep them blooming through the summer. Roses also benefit from deep watering and feeding now. A top dressing of aged compost will keep them happy. It feeds as well as keeps roots moist.

* Pinch back chrysanthemums for bushier plants with many more flowers in September.

* Tie up vines and stake tall plants such as gladiolus and lilies. That gives their heavy flowers some support.

* Dig and divide crowded bulbs after the tops have died down.

* Feed summer flowers with a slow-release fertilizer.

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