Showing all posts in August 2019

The American Southwest is a vast Place, covering Most of Arizona and New Mexico as well as Elements of California, Nevada, Texas and Utah. The areas of the Southwest are diverse and include low deserts, high deserts and mountainous areas, covering USDA zones 5 though 9.

The browns of winter have given way to bright green. Leaves are emerging on trees, shrubs and more. April is a superb time for desert anglers to add plants to the landscape and container plantings that are reimagine. With the warmer weather, irrigation controllers will need to get checked, weeds pulled and any residual frost-damaged plants pruned.

Gardeners in upper elevations can sow cool-season vegetable seeds outside, plant bare-root roses and lean fruit as it appears on trees.

Noelle Johnson Landscape Consulting

All Desert Regions

Adjust the irrigation schedule. As temperatures rise, so do the water requirements of crops. Watering schedules will need to change with the season. How deeply you water can be significant. Water to a depth of 3 ft and shrubs to 2 feet, allowing the soil dry between waterings.

A simple method to ascertain how deeply you’re watering would be to take a piece of rebar and stick it in the soil once you have watered. The rebar should go down smoothly until it hits dry soil. Pull it out and then measure just how deep the water has penetrated; fix how long you water until you get to the perfect depth.

Revealed: The Living Desert in Palm Desert, California

Noelle Johnson Landscape Consulting

Low, Mid- and High Deserts

Warm up landscape color for spring by planting yellow flowering plants such as angelita daisy (Tetraneuris acaulis), desert marigold (Baileya multiradiata), feathery cassia (Senna artemisoides) and damianita (Chrysactinia mexicana).

Revealed: Angelita daisy

Noelle Johnson Landscape Consulting

Grow vines as ground covers. Vines aren’t just for climbing up walls and fences. They make great ground covers. Consider growing Carolina jessamine (Gelsemium sempervirens), purple lilac blossom (Hardenbergia violaceae), Lady Banks (Rose banksiae) or trumpet vine (Campsis radicans) on the ground.

Revealed: Purple lilac blossom

Noelle Johnson Landscape Consulting

Plant herbs in containers. Can you love fresh herbs? Plant a collection of your favorites, including basil, rosemary, sage and thyme.

Employ a slow-release fertilizer when planting your herbs, which is all the fertilizer they’ll need for your season. Additionally, herbs don’t like too much water. A simple method to ascertain if your herbs want water would be to stick your finger into the soil until it reaches to your next knuckle. Water when it’s dry.

Revealed: Basil, purple basil, rosemary, sage and chamomile

Noelle Johnson Landscape Consulting

Attempt a succulent as a container plant. Containers aren’t only for flowering annuals. Succulents make great container plants. They’re low maintenance and supply great feel by using their columnar, spiky contours.

Agave, barrel cacti and columnar cacti are good options for containers. Set them against a wall or flanking an entryway for greatest effect.

Well-drained soil is a must for succulents, so be sure to use a soil mix that’s specially formulated for succulents. Ensure that your pot has holes for drainage also. Water every one or two weeks in summer, depending on your succulent’s water needs and the weather.

Revealed: Smaller succulents flank a potted Mexican fence post cactus.

Noelle Johnson Landscape Consulting

Plant warm-season annuals. Increasing temperatures mean it’s time to switch out of your cool-season annuals for the ones that will flourish in our warm desert summers.

Celosia, blue salvia (Salvia farinacea ‘Victoria Blue’), red salvia (Salvia splendens), moss rose (Portulaca grandiflora) and vinca (Catharanthus roseus) are great options for a beautiful bed of flowering annuals that can take care of the desert heat.

Before planting, amend the soil with 2 to 3 inches of compost and then add a slow-release mulch, which will help keep annuals flowering throughout the summer. You can also add liquid fertilizer every other week, but you should be cautious to not get fertilizer on the leaves, because it can burn off them during warm weather.

Revealed: Blue salvia

Noelle Johnson Landscape Consulting

Upper Elevations (over 6,000 ft)

little fruit trees. After fruit begins to form in your trees, it’s time to thin them by eliminating excess fruit. Apple, apricot, peach and plum trees have a limited number of resources to devote to fruit production. Selectively removing fruit can help to channel the sources to the remaining fruit, which will grow bigger. Thin the fruit in your trees so there is approximately 6 inches between each fruit.

Revealed: Apricots before thinning

Noelle Johnson Landscape Consulting

Sow cool-season vegetable seeds. It is time to get into the vegetable garden and begin sowing your favorite cool-season vegetables. Broccoli, carrots, chard, lettuce, radishes and lettuce can be directly sown from seed in your garden.

Before planting, work 2 to 3 inches of compost into the soil. It’s also wise to incorporate blood meal and bonemeal (after the package instructions), which are natural sources of phosphorus and nitrogen.

Whenever it’s still too early to plant tomatoes outside, it’s the right time to start them from seed indoors.

Revealed: Radish seedlings

Noelle Johnson Landscape Consulting

Plant bare-root roses. Can you envision a garden full of fragrant roses? Select tier 1 roses, which have three large canes (branches), whenever possible. Soak your roses for at least 24 hours prior to planting.

Amend the soil with compost; mix it with the existing soil so you have 50 percent compost and 50 percent native soil.

Don’t fertilize newly planted roses; they need time to grow roots until they can encourage a good deal of new growth. Wait before adding fertilizer until the first flowers have surfaced.

Prepare for May. The temperatures are heating up quickly. The cacti are starting to flower, meaning that it’s time to heatproof your garden for the summer.

Revealed: Medallion hybrid tea rose

More regional gardening manuals

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River birch (Betula nigra) is a one of the best trees for year-round interest. Using its multicolored papery bark which peels away from the trunk, this North American native species is an excellent selection for a driveway entrance, backyard habitat or woodland edge. And the way it can flourish in moist conditions makes it particularly valuable where drainage is a concern.

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Botanical name: Betula nigra
Common names: River birch, black birch, water birch
Source: Native to the eastern United States
USDA Islands: 3 to 9 (find your zone)
Water requirement: Moderate to wet soil; adheres to flow banks (because its common name implies) and poor lands
Light requirement: Full sun to partial shade
Mature size: 40 to 70 feet tall
Benefits and tolerances: Fast-growing, disease-resistant Pick for riparian buffers to curtail stream erosion and improve biodiversity; foliage are a larval food source for swallowtail butterflies and other insects; seeds bring numerous birds and other wildlife
Seasonal interest: Year-round; beautiful yellow fall color
When to plant: Early spring to late autumn

Distinguishing traits. With lustrous 3-inch leaves, slender catkins and bark, river birch creates dappled shade that is easy to plant beneath.

Its foliage color in autumn is a medium yellow. Throughout the winter, with a new blanket of snow, the bark is a welcome sight; it looks especially good against a background of cedar, pine or hemlock.

Disease-resistant ‘Heritage’ is a patented choice named by Earl Cully of Heritage Trees; it’s an outstanding cultivar that is less likely to leaf spot than other birches and is more resistant to the bronze birch borer. It’s also more compact than the typical species — reaching about 40 feet tall when mature — and has a deeper saturation of bark colors.

ADRIAN SMITH – Landscape Architecture

How to use It. Grow it as a specimen or in a grove to create a pragmatic buffer in full sunlight; combine it with native foamflower (Tiarella cordifolia), woodland phlox (Phlox divaricata) and inkberry holly (Ilex glabra).

Fast climbing, multistemmed trees in clump form include visual punch and are good for screening, while single-trunk specimens offer architectural formality.

Liquidscapes

Planting notes. Trees want acidic soils with a pH of 6.5 or lower, so amend if necessary. All these are large trees, so allow lots of room to grow and water during dry spells, especially in warmer zones.

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When I worked for a California magazine business, the business people believed that February was the opportunity to invite potential clients to the home office, a place with a big garden and patio for outdoor fun — an ideal setting to get a small brainwashing about various ways people lived on the West Coast. East Coast clients would arrive using raccoon coats (perhaps it wasn’t actually that long ago), runny noses and frostbitten fingers from shoveling snow off their drives. They would be served orange juice from fruit plucked from trees from the garden, so the story went. Camellias, daffodils and magnolias were prospering. The yard was green — anybody for volleyball? Brainwashing accomplished; ad pages sold.

Somehow February over any other month reflects just how identifying California’s gardening stinks are. We’ve got so much to respect and to plant life. Consider the five under California classics — favorite plants which glow this season, defying winter with vibrant color, sexy fragrance and, sometimes, mouthwatering flavor.

More regional garden guides

Monrovia

Meyer lemon. Apparently forever that was the ultimate California backyard fruit. It was in each garden, a handsome evergreen shrub with fragrant flowers and abundant fruit. Was it ever abundant! Our one tree created a lot of lemons that we could not give them away, and our golden retrievers munched about the dropped lemons (fine breath!) .

Then a couple of things propelled Meyer lemon into a new level of desirability. In the 1970s plant breeders developed ‘Improved Meyer’, immune to the virus which had led to a ban on interstate transport of Meyers. And Alice Waters got hold of those lemons and made the most of their juiciness and lower acidity.

I remember the first time I tasted a wine spritzer created with Meyer lemon that the restaurant Chez Panisse functioned from the 1980s. In 1987 The New York Times published a recipe for Chez Panisse’s Meyer Lemon Meringue Pie.

It’s easy to discover a spot for Meyer lemon in just about any garden. Plant one near a patio, in a border or trained as an espalier on a fence or wall. It will produce fruit all year, such as in winter and early spring, when it is most welcome.

Botanical name: Citrus meyeri ‘Improved Meyer’
USDA zones: 9 to 10 (find your zone)
Water requirement: Moderate and routine. Do not allow the soil dry out.
Light requirement: Full sunlight; a little shade is OK in warm climates.
Mature dimension: 8 to 10 feet tall and 12 feet wide. Dwarf types are available.
Growing tips: Prune in spring to control both the size and shape. Fertilize regularly with a particular citrus food. Yellowing leaves often indicate deficiency in iron or nitrogen; correct that using products especially for those ailments.

Monrovia

Saucer magnolias. Also referred to as tulip trees, all these are varieties of Magnolia soulangeana, a deciduous small tree with supersize flowers on bare branches in late winter and early spring. Colors vary from pure white to purple — a few are so amazingly dark that they look black. Shown here is ‘Black Tulip’.

Contemplating their great looks, saucer magnolias are amazingly easy to grow in almost all California gardens. They make great yard trees. Smaller varieties can fit to a border or elevated bed of spring-flowering annuals and perennials. Wherever you put the tree, then make certain it’s a focal point at the time of year.

Botanical name: Magnolia soulangeana
USDA zones: 5 to 9
Water requirement: Moderate to more
moderate requirement: Total sun
Mature size: 15 to 25 feet tall and 6 to 15 feet wide, depending on variety.
Growing tips: Provide rich soil, with lots of alterations at planting time. Do not allow the soil dry; watch for sogginess. Prune only to restrain size, after the spring bloom.

The New York Botanical Garden

Artichoke. This Mediterranean delicacy is ideal for eating in late winter and early spring along the foggy California shore. Now is also a good time to begin your own. Away from the shore, expect your chokes to earn tough and dry eating, however, the plant is, shall we say, an interesting addition to a vegetable garden or perhaps a flower border. It grows to a striking, if sprawly, gray-green plant at one growing season.

The New York Botanical Garden

Even if your artichoke plant doesn’t do much for the dinner plate, it can produce striking purple thistles to use as cut flowers.

Botanical name: Cynara scolymus
USDA zones: 8 to 9
Water requirement: Moderate
moderate requirement: Full sun to light shade
Mature dimension: 4 ft tall and 6 to 8 ft broad
Growing tips: Start with roots, accessible summer time, or young plants at nursery containers, accessible all year. Keep the soil moist, especially if you want to have an edible crop. Fertilize monthly. Harvest chokes for eating whenever they’re tight, fat and glossy. If you leave the chokes on, they will develop into eye catching purple thistles; reduce them just before they completely open and then use them as cut and dried flowers. In the end of the year, cut the entire plant near ground level; it ought to resprout next year except in cold climates.

Monrovia

Daphne odora. A total diva. Has the most evocative fragrance of any plant (yes, that is subjective). Doesn’t deign to have a frequent name. Will sulk and die for no apparent reason. But try daphne at least one time. Find a place in semi shade and well-drained dirt, where it is possible to see and smell the small pink winter flowers, and give it a go. If it dies, try again someplace else. Try it in a pot.

Daphne is a good-looking evergreen with dense foliage, shiny green leaves (there’s a variety with variegated leaves). It seems great in a mixed border, at a raised bed and at a container.

Botanical name: Daphne odora
USDA zones: 7 to 9
Water requirement: Moderate. Do not allow the soil dry out.
Light requirement: Partial color, especially when there’s midday sunlight
Mature size: 3 to 4 ft tall and broad, and larger
Growing tips: Requires perfect drainage. Amend the soil thoroughly with compost; don’t bury the top of the root ball. To control the shape and size, you can sew, even shear back, a few inches after bloom.

Camellia. Here we’re talking about Camellia japonica, the astonishingly sturdy evergreen shrub with stupendous flowers that we take for granted. It can grow in many California gardens, in the shore to the foothills, in areas as warm as Sacramento or Arcadia, as trendy as San Diego as well as San Francisco.

Shown here is ‘Guilio Nuccio’, which, as stated by the Sunset Western Garden Book,is “considered by many to be the world’s greatest camellia.” Produced by Nuccio’s Nurseries, of Altadena, it’s a vigorous, upright tree that generates great large rose-colored flowers.

Botanical name: Camellia japonica
USDA zones: 8 to 10
Water requirement: Moderate
moderate requirement: Partial shade
Mature dimension: 6 to 12 feet tall and broad, and larger, depending on variety
Growing tips: Plant it in well-drained soil, kept moist. Mix in organic matter at planting time. Fertilize with special camellia food after bloom. Prune after bloom as needed to control the size and promote bushiness. Always pick up dropped blossoms to prevent spread of this illness called petal blight.

Choosing a camellia. Hundreds of types have been developed since the introduction of Camellia japonica into California from the 19th century. Flowers vary in color (white to pink to red plus variegated) and shape (single to double or more complicated). When deciding upon a specific kind, keep a couple of things in mind along with the flowers.

When would you need blooms? Varieties are categorized by bloom time: early (October to December), midseason (January and February) and late (March and April).

Also, study variety descriptions to observe how the plant fits into your landscape. Plants are explained in terms such as “upright,” “tall,” “distributing,” “compact” and such. It’s possible to use a camellia as a single specimen shrub, as a container plant, to get a hedge or screen, even as a little woods. The ‘Guilio Nuccio’ revealed here serves as a background tree at a raised border; about 15 years old, it’s 12 feet tall and 7 feet wide, with at least 50 blossoms open in late January.

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What Else to perform in February in Your California Garden

based on how fast your climate warms up, there’s a lot you can do this month — such as winter pruning and planting of spring flowers and veggies, which can be hauled up by the warming effect of a raised bed, as revealed.

Deal with frost damage. If winter frosts hit a few of your crops, wait till after this month to prune off the harm.

Get conventional winter plantings from the ground. Now’s time to plant bare-root roses, fruit trees, berries, even color trees. Keep the roots moist until you’re ready to plant. Do not buy deal plants with dried-out roots.

Plant cool-season yearly flowers. They should peak in midspring and last until hot weather: calendulas, dianthus, Iceland poppies, pansies, snapdragons, violas and more. Provide the sunniest spot you can find in your own garden.

Set out cool-season vegetables. These include lettuce, broccoli, spinach and more. Swiss chard is actually simple.

Prune roses. End pruning this month except at cold-climates such as the large mountains. Generally, cut hybrid buds by about a third, and abandon three to five canes sprouting out of the foundation. Shrub roses require less exact pruning — essentially, shear them to restrain the size and shape. Fertilize all roses after pruning.

Prune fruit trees. Spray and exfoliates deciduous fruit trees, such as apple, cherry, apricot and pear. Check about the how-to with specialist books or consultants at your local nursery.

Plant summer-blooming bulbs. In per month full of daffodils, consider planting bulbs to bloom in late spring and summer: tuberous begonias, gladiolus, tigridias and more.

Snails and slugs. February could be declared California Snail Month. They like it moist and warmish (but not hot). Watch for telltale signs of chewed leaves or the creatures themselves, and scatter pet-safe lure.

More:
More regional garden guides
direct to growing cool-season crops
Step-by-step guide to pruning roses

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