Placer master gardeners present free in-person session
Trees in neighborhoods and other urban areas take many forms and require different levels of care. The Urban Forestry workshop on Saturday focuses on the best practices for growing urban trees. Kathy Morrison
Collectively, humans get urban trees all wrong. They plant them too close to houses, or in tiny strips next to concrete, or tied forever to nursery stakes. They want tall trees instantly, for shade, not realizing that fast-growing trees also can be brittle. They complain about leaf litter. Or bird droppings from the local wildlife that nest there. Or that an older tree is now “blocking the view” and cut it down. Sheesh.
Among other benefits, trees naturally capture and lock up carbon dioxide through photosynthesis, but they're also victims of climate change-caused heat, wildfires and drought. Recent amendments to California’s Urban Forestry Act (which became law in 1978) aim to increase the tree canopy in the state. California also recently was granted nearly $102 million by the federal government to combat extreme heat and climate change, plant and maintain trees, and create urban green spaces.
It's no wonder the UCCE master gardeners of Placer County have dedicated this month’s free public workshop to trees. Their Urban Forestry workshop is scheduled for 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. this Saturday, Oct. 14, at the Loomis Library, 6050 Library Drive, Loomis.
“We will explore how gardeners can make this goal (of increasing the tree canopy) a reality," the master gardeners note. "Tree cover is vital in the built environment for shade, habitat, air quality and general well-being. We can have trees and eat our cake too!”
For other workshops and events on the Placer master gardeners' calendar this fall, go to https://pcmg.ucanr.edu/
The former lawn at Loomis Library, incidentally, is soon to be the site of the Placer master gardeners' demonstration garden. Work is already in progress -- check it out when attending the workshop.
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Food in My Back Yard Series
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 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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