Find out how to transform houseplants into living art at Green Acres in Elk Grove
These dwarf umbrella trees, aka scheffleras, are of the plants that can become bonsai during a workshop Saturday at the Elk Grove Green Acres store. Kathy Morrison
Learn the basic techniques of bonsai during a beginner’s class at Green Acres Nursery & Supply’s Elk Grove store on Saturday, Nov. 9.
Set for 10 a.m. Saturday, “Bonsai 101” will introduce the concepts and skills of this age-old gardening skill. Through thoughtful pruning and root constriction, plants that would grow several feet tall can be artfully kept small and tidy for years, even decades – while displaying their mature form in miniature.
For this class, participants can choose from three different indoor plants – Ming aralia (aka Polyscias fruticosa), Ficus benjamina (weeping fig) or Schefflera (umbrella tree). The workshop includes a 6-inch specimen plant plus potting material, 10-inch bonsai pot, soil, moss, decorative rock and a must-have tool, curved razor snips.
“Our experienced garden gurus will lead you through the process of potting and pruning an indoor bonsai plant,” says Green Acres. “Whether you come as a novice or expert, you’ll leave with the tools and knowledge to tend and shape your bonsai into a beautiful piece of art as it ages.”
Course fee is $55 and the workshop is limited to 20 participants. Sign up here:
https://idiggreenacres.com/products/create-class-elk-grove
Green Acres’ Elk Grove store is located at 9220 E. Stockton Blvd., Elk Grove.
For directions and more details: https://idiggreenacres.com/
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Food in My Back Yard Series
April 22: Should you stock up on fertilizer? (Yes!)
April 15: Grow culinary herbs in containers
April 8: When to plant summer vegetables
April 1: Don't be fooled by these garden myths
March 25: Fertilizer tips: How to 'feed' your vegetables for healthy growth
March 18: Time to give vegetable seedlings some more space
March 11: Ways to win the fight against weeds
March 4: Potatoes from the garden
Feb. 25: Plant a fruit tree now -- for later
Feb. 18: How to squeeze more food into less space
Feb. 11: When to plant? Consider staggering your transplants
Feb. 4: Starting in seed starting
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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.