'Habitat Gardening' is the theme for the latest publication
The 2024 Gardening Guide & Calendar debuts Saturday at Harvest Day. Kathy Morrison
The Sacramento County master gardeners' Harvest Day event not only is a celebration of the current gardening year, it also brings a subtle reminder that the 2024 gardening year is not that far off.
That's because the next Gardening Guide & Calendar goes on sale for the first time during Harvest Day, this Saturday, Aug. 5, from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. The new price for this invaluable publication is $12, slightly higher than in previous years to cover increased costs. But it's still a bargain, stuffed with monthly gardening tips, a Sacramento planting guide and lists of websites to UC research-based gardening information.
The theme of the 2024 publication is " ... into the wild ... Habitat Gardening," defined as plantings that feed, shelter and otherwise benefit insects, birds and other wildlife. Each month's calendar pages features information on important plants for wildlife -- from oaks in January to winter berries in December -- while the back section goes into more detail on how to "habitat garden." Here's a sample:
"Creating a habitat garden can be as simple or as complicated as you want, and can be done on any size lot. Convert a traditional landscape to attract and support wild creatures. All, like us, need food, shelter and water to survive. Habitat gardening will provide all of those whether we have a large garden, a strip of yard or a sunny porch."
The Gardening Guide & Calendar features gorgeous plant pictures, many by local master gardeners Jan Fetler, Roxie Jones, Greta Lacin, Pam Bone and Pat Schink. Edited by Laura Cerles-Rogers, it's written by Sacramento master gardeners for Sacramento-area gardens. (Full disclosure: I'm also a contributor to the publication.)
As usual, the Gardening Guide & Calendar will be available soon at area retailers and online, but the debut sale is always at Harvest Day -- with the added incentive of no tax or shipping costs.
Harvest Day takes place at the Fair Oaks Horticulture Center, 11549 Fair Oaks Blvd. in Fair Oaks, just south of Madison Avenue. For more on Harvest Day, which has both free admission and parking, see our other blog posts this week or go to https://sacmg.ucanr.edu/Harvest_Day/
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Food in My Back Yard Series
June 17: Help pollinators help your garden
June 10: Battling early-season tomato pests
June 3: Make your own compost
May 27: Where are the bees when you need them?
May 20: How to help tomatoes thrive on hot days
May 13: Your plants can tell you more than any calendar can
May 6: Maintain soil moisture with mulch for garden success
April 29: What's (already) wrong with my tomato plants?
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 June 22
Mornings this first week of summer will remain comfortably cool – just right for gardening!
* Water early in the morning to cut down on evaporation. Check soil moisture and deep water trees and shrubs. Keep new transplants and veggies evenly moist. Deep water tomatoes to encourage deep roots.
* 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.
* 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.
* Avoid pot “hot feet.” Place a 1-inch-thick board under container plants sitting on pavement. This little cushion helps insulate them from radiated heat.
* 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. 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.
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