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Learn how to make your own garden gold

Zoom in for workshop on compost and mulch

Sacramento Digs Gardening
BY Kathy Morrison PUBLISHED APR 14, 2021

These are successful types of compost bins used at the Fair Oaks Horticulture Center. Learn the ins and outs of composting during the Placer County master gardeners' Zoom class Saturday. (Photo: Kathy Morrison)

Garden like nature does and your plants will be healthier and happier. You’ll save money, too.

What’s nature’s secret? Compost and mulch.

Both involve turning what may be considered waste material – such as fallen leaves – into something your plants can really use: Organic fertilizer with added benefits.

Learn how via a free virtual seminar, hosted by the UC Cooperative Extension Master Gardeners of Placer County.

“Composting and Mulch Zoom Workshop” will be held online at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, April 17.

“Learn the basics of backyard composting and how it can improve your soil,” say the master gardeners. “You will learn how to get started and keep your compost pile healthy. We will also discuss the benefits of using mulch to help keep your soil healthy and happy. “

Mulch in particular may be very important this summer. It helps maintain moisture in the soil (so you lose less water to evaporation) and keeps roots cooler. Mulch also feeds microorganisms in the soil, in turn benefiting plants.

No advance registration is required. The full Zoom link and password is available here: http://pcmg.ucanr.org/?calitem=495624&g=123640

Placer County master gardeners have a busy spring schedule of virtual workshops with upcoming seminars on propagation, pollinators, succulents and native plants.

For more details: http://pcmg.ucanr.org/

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UCCE master gardeners Sacramento garden waste Placer County online class soil moisture gardening workshops mulch spring garden basics compost

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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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