Sacramento, Placer master gardeners stuff these guides with useful information
Great minds think alike! The two gardening guides both have 2024 covers with bees and native flowering plants. But the content is different -- and tailored for each growing area. Kathy Morrison
We have just one month until the 2024 gardening season begins. And there's even less time to shop for holiday gifts for gardener friends and relatives.
Here's my best suggestion to cover both situations: Get yourself -- and those gardening gift recipients -- a 2024 Gardening Guide and Calendar. Both the Sacramento and Placer counties' master gardener groups produce stunning and incredibly useful versions, tailored to the gardens in our region. (Full disclosure: I'm one of the contributing writers to the Sacramento version.)
The price is right, just $12 each including sales tax, and available online or at area nurseries/retail outlets. Sacramento's can be ordered here; the retail sellers are listed on the same page. Placer's order page is here, which also includes a link to the retailers carrying it in Placer, Nevada and El Dorado counties.
Prices for calendars purchased at retailers may be slightly higher; online orders include postage costs.
Both gardening guides are fundraisers to support these busy master gardener programs, which rely tremendously on volunteers and donations.
If you want to order online, I would hurry and do it before Dec. 8. I've heard though the grapevine that UC Agriculture and Natural Resources -- the UC Cooperative Extension's umbrella department -- will be moving its servers to a new data center Dec. 8-10, so the websites will be down for that period.
So what's in these calendars? The Sacramento guide for 2024 focuses on "Habitat Gardening, " with calendar pages devoted to plants that benefit wildlife. January, for example, focuses on native oaks, a "keystone species" for California birds, butterflies and other insects. Behind the calendar pages is essentially a mini course on habitat gardening, discussing plant families, beneficials, local habitats to visit and bird-friendly practices. The Sacramento month-by-month planting chart is a standard part of the annual guide.
The Placer master gardeners in their Valley- and foothills-tailored guide suggest "Try Something New." February's article, for example, looks at "Redefining Your Garden," perfect for the time of year when planning rather than planting is a gardener's primary activity. April's page discusses "Succulents in Small Spaces," certainly a great topic for folks with limited growing space.
Both guides are like having a master gardener in your back pocket, plus an at-your-fingertips place to record weather notes, monthly reminders and quarterly garden duties. (Sprayed your peach trees yet?) I really couldn't garden without mine!
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Garden Checklist for week of April 21
This week there’s plenty to keep gardeners busy. With no rain in the immediate forecast, remember to irrigate any new transplants.
* Weed, weed, weed! Get them before they flower and 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.
* Smell orange blossoms? 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.
* Spring brings a flush of rapid growth, and that means your garden is really hungry. Feed shrubs and trees with a slow-release fertilizer. Or mulch with a 1-inch layer of compost.
* 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.
* From seed, plant beans, beets, cantaloupes, carrots, corn, cucumbers, melons, 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.
* Mid to late April is about the last chance to plant summer bulbs, such as gladiolus and tuberous begonias.
* Transplant lettuce seedlings. Choose varieties that mature quickly such as loose leaf.
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