Also on tap: Guided tour of Capitol Park trees
Look up and learn! The Sacramento Tree Foundation offers free guided tours of Sacramento trees, including a June 3 tour of Hollywood Park via bicycle.
Kathy Morrison
It’s time to appreciate the trees in the City of Trees. The Sacramento Tree Foundation offers some fun and informative opportunities to get better acquainted with our urban forest.
On Saturday, June 3, take a guided, tree-centric bike tour of Hollywood Park with SacTree experts.
“Join us for the annual Hollywood Park CommuniTree Bike Tour!” SacTree posted in its description of the event. “Grab your bike and join your neighbors in Hollywood Park to learn about our local trees and see different species in person. Afterwards, we’ll gather at Two Rivers Cider and support the local business.”
Check in at 11:30 a.m. Bring a bike helmet, sunscreen and water. The tour will reach Two Rivers about 1 p.m. Families with children are welcome.
This event is free but advance registration is a must. Sign up here: https://sactree.org/event/hollywood-park-bike-ride-tree-tour/.
This bike tour isn’t the only tree-friendly upcoming event hosted by SacTree. At 6 p.m. Thursday, May 25, take a guided walking tour of Capitol Park and meet the historic trees that call it home. Local arborists will lead this special 90-minute tour, noting the many important and significant trees that grow in this unique collection.
This tour is free but space is limited. Advance registration is a must and, at time of this writing, the foundation is taking names for a waiting list. After signing up, participants will receive an email with details including where to meet your guides. It’s a big park; Capitol Park stretches from 10th to 15th Street and L to N Street. To register: https://sactree.org/event/capitol-park-tree-tour/.
“Walk the grounds of our State Capitol with two of SacTree’s arborists and learn about the historic, unusual, and beautiful trees in the park,” say the organizers. “Did you know that Capitol Park has a tree who traveled as a seed aboard the space shuttle Apollo 14, and boasts many state and national champion largest trees?”
(Yes, those stately palms are the biggest of their kind.)
Home to several monuments as well as hundreds of trees, Capitol Park holds a special spot in state history. “In 1863, California Governor Leland Stanford envisioned a Victorian garden ‘with a beauty and luxuriousness that no other capitol can boast’ surrounding the California State Capitol,” says its official website. “Well over a century and a half later, California’s Capitol Park has a luxuriousness and beauty that few capitols can compete with.”
Among the early groves in Capitol Park were saplings from 40 Civil War battlefields as a memorial to California’s veterans. Now, the 40-acre park spans 12 city blocks and features trees and plants from almost every continent, including several endangered species.
More details on upcoming Sacramento Tree Foundation events: https://sactree.org/.
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Dig In: Garden Checklist
For week of June 4:
Because of the comfortable weather, it’s not too late to set out tomato and pepper seedlings as well as squash and melon plants. They’ll appreciate this not-too-hot weather. Just remember to water.
* From seed, plant corn, pumpkins, radishes, melons, 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.
* Let the grass grow longer. Set the mower blades high to reduce stress on your lawn during summer heat. To cut down on evaporation, water your lawn deeply during the wee hours of the morning, between 2 and 8 a.m.
* 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.
* Mulch, mulch, mulch! This “blanket” keeps moisture in the soil longer and helps your plants cope during hot weather.
* Thin grapes on the vine for bigger, better clusters later this summer.
* Cut back fruit-bearing canes on berries.
* Feed camellias, azaleas and other acid-loving plants.
* 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.
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