At day-long free event, experts offer advice to inspire spring gardening
Farmer Fred Hoffman will speak on spring gardening at 1 p.m. Saturday. Kathy Morrison
Does spring have your green thumb itching? Or do you need a little inspiration to go along with some expert advice?
Find it Saturday during “Grow Orangevale,” a special event aimed at introducing people of all ages to gardening. Set for Saturday, March 25, the free gardening event will be held at the Orangevale branch of the Sacramento Public Library. As an extra special treat, Farmer Fred Hoffman – host of the popular podcast, “Beyond the Garden Basics with Farmer Fred” – and rose and insect expert Baldo Villegas – Sacramento’s “Bug Man” – will be among the featured speakers.
“There’s no substitute for vegetables harvested from your own yard!” say the organizers. “This will be the topic of the presentations from UC Master Gardeners of Sacramento County. … Whether you have a sunny balcony or a spacious lot, you can enjoy produce grown mere steps from your own back door. Join us for this presentation and other gardening-related programs throughout the day.”
Events will be held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. with something for every gardener from beginner to veteran.
At 10 a.m., start with a community seed and plant swap. Patrons are urged to bring something from their garden – cuttings, seedlings, root divisions, seeds, etc. – and take something home to plant.
At 11:30 a.m., join Jesse Blacksher from the Orangevale Foodbank Farm and Nelson Kirk from the Orangevale Recreation and Park District as they answer your questions about organic gardening and caring for your trees.
That’s followed at noon by a native plant workshop. Colene Rauh from the California Native Plant Society will discuss the ecological importance of native plants in your landscape.
At 1 p.m., Sacramento County master gardener Andi McDonald will discuss the basics of starting and maintaining a home vegetable garden – what, when, and where to plant.
Then at 2 p.m., Farmer Fred – a lifetime master gardener – will present tips on spring gardening. The former radio host also will answer questions.
Rounding out the workshops at 3 p.m. will be Orangevale’s own Baldo Villegas, an award-winning Master Consulting Rosarian. Baldo, who grows thousands of roses at his Orangevale home, will discuss how to grow and care for roses in your landscape. A retired state entomologist, he also will discuss how pests and diseases affect roses and how we can control them.
The Orangevale branch library is located at 8820 Greenback Lane, Suite L, Orangevale.Details: https://sacmg.ucanr.edu/.
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Food in My Back Yard Series
May 13: Your plants can tell you more than any calendar can
May 6: Maintain soil moisture with mulch for garden success
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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
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Garden Checklist for week of May 18
Get outside early in the morning while temperatures are still cool – and get to work!
* Plant, plant, plant! It’s prime planting season in the Sacramento area. Time to set out those tomato transplants along with peppers and eggplants. Pinch off any flowers on new transplants to make them concentrate on establishing roots instead of setting premature fruit.
* Direct-seed melons, cucumbers, summer squash, corn, radishes, pumpkins and annual herbs such as basil.
* Harvest cabbage, lettuce, peas and green onions.
* In the flower garden, direct-seed sunflowers, cosmos, salvia, zinnias, marigolds, celosia and asters. Transplant seedlings for many of the same flowers.
* Plant dahlia tubers.
* Transplant petunias, marigolds and perennial flowers such as astilbe, columbine, coneflowers, coreopsis, dahlias, rudbeckia and verbena.
* Keep an eye out for slugs, snails, earwigs and aphids that want to dine on tender new growth.
* Feed summer bloomers with a balanced fertilizer.
* For continued bloom, cut off spent flowers on roses as well as other flowering plants.
* Are birds picking your fruit off trees before it’s ripe? Try hanging strips of aluminum foil on tree branches. The shiny, dangling strips help deter birds from making themselves at home.
* As spring-flowering shrubs finish blooming, give them a little pruning to shape them, removing old and dead wood. Lightly trim azaleas, fuchsias and marguerites for bushier plants.
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