Timely Tips for Gardeners

Fruit Tree "Flu Season" comes with late rains.

Water born diseases spread in fruit trees with late season rains. We need the water for roots to grow, but at the same time, diseases spread. Expect Cherries fruits to have cracks. Expect leaves of Peaches and Nectarines to get Peach leaf curl even if you have sprayed. Expect the spread of Fire Blight in pears and apples. Expect Brown Rot fungus on Citrus fruit and stone fruit. To treat most of these use fungicides and bactericides. Organically, use Micronized Copper mixed with a Spreader-Sticker (to keep the copper on the tree trunks, branches and twigs. Spreader-Sticker also helps the Copper penetrate cracks in the bark and adhere to more effectively smother the fungal spores and eliminate them.

The trouble with spraying pesticides during flowering or right after, is that spraying may hinder fruit set. Late rains cause farmers to make compromise choices, so as home "farmers", you too will have to make compromise choices. I say sacrafice some of the crop for the health of your trees for one year and spray. Be sure to fertilize to help your trees out grow the diseases.Use balanced fertilizers that contain hearty doses of Nitrogen- the first of the three numbers on the fertilizer label. By the way, the three numbers you read on a fertilizer package always represent N-P-K which is the percentage by weight of  (N)itrogen, (P)hosphorous- and (K) Potassium. Micronutrients are listed seperately after these. Usually Iron is listed as Fe. Ferrous. Commonly, Iron is micronized or, the most available to the plant is chelated iron which is taken up right away and used immediately by the plant. Chelated form is a little more expensive to buy, but well worth the cost. You will see a dramatic difference in the plant's greening color and vigorous growth. all of the

Early season Weeding

Keep your spring garden weed-free. It is easier to hoe small weeds than try to pull large, deeply rooted weeds. If you are fighting Bermuda grass, you may have to resort to treating individual clumps with a paint brush or cotton gloves that have Round-up on them when the Bermuda shows green leaves in early summer. If you wear Roundup wet cotton gloves, you must protect your skin by wearing long, waterproof gloves under the cotton gloves. Wash your hands thoroughly with soap and water after using chemicals and always wear protective eye equipment, long sleeve shirt, long pants and clothing that will minimise skin exposure. Remember- you can't spray Roundup in vegetables and harvest in the same year. The waiting period is one year between spraying and harvesting.The paint brush or cotton glove method puts Roundup on the Bermuda grass blades only and does not contaminate the ground. Always read entire label when using pesticides and follow all precautions. I don't know of an organic way to garden in a Bermuda grass infested area. I'd like to receive comments from readers.

Water-wise Yards

It was in the daily news, on the radio, TV, grocery line conversations, barber shops, prayers, the dreaded word "drought". Back in the 1970's, I was interviewed on TV and for the newspapers about the 7 year great drought. Will we all shrivel up and die? Will our yards all be dead; our lawns, shrubs, trees, flowers and vegetable gardens?

Flash forward to today. We have beautiful landscapes. Our brown lawns came back and we made them smaller. We lost some ill-suited plants and shrubs and replaced them with water-wise plants. We switched to better watering systems and stopped rotting out our plants with too much water. Less water runs down the gutters and we save money. Drip systems and mulch have become the norm. Fertilizer run-off and pollution is reduced. In other words, we were forced into plant education and ecology. We became greener. We saved water, became cleaner, healthier and worked less by working smarter. We became careful to choose plants that worked successfully.

Another drought reminds us of natures lessons. We are in a part of California that is always considered in need of more water, so our ways must permanently change. Use a broom instead of hosing down the driveway. Spot water the lawn only where it's dry instead of flooding everywhere with sprinklers every third day; by the way, watering lawns every other day is too ofter for most grasses and soils, the exception being sandy soil. Plant smaller lawns and increase shrub beds. Use water wise shrubs. If possible, plant in the cooler seasons. In summer plantings, cover new plants with shade cloth for a week or two as they get established.

Roots grow when the soil is 50 degrees F. or more. By planting now, the root system will be large and the top will explode with growth in spring and summer, making the most efficient use of precious water. In Februaary and March, nurseries will have staff available to spend time with you to give you lots of advice and help you plan your landscape in detail. Many Mediterranean plants are water-wise because they are similar to central and central coast California natives, so find a professional nursery with staff that can give you lots of choices. Some Australian, New Zealand and other hot, dry continent plants also will grow here as water-wise plants. A good list is at:

Monterey Bay Nursery catalog list of Plants

Nurseries have lists and books dedicated to water-wise plants and planting methods. Remember that success starts with soil preparation and healthy plants of the right choice.

Healthy Gardening,

Ken Brizzi

Garden Activity January 29, 2012: Ken Brizzi Community Garden

Impromptu Class on:

*Pruning and Grafting Fruit trees. Grafting safety.

*Identifying Fruit trees by their dormant wood and bud identification.

*How to get Fruit trees to produce more fruit lower in the tree to make picking easier.

*How to get Fruit trees to produce more fruit at a younger age.

*How to grow Fruit organically.

*Identifying Shot Hole Borer.

*Identifying Gumosis.

*Identifying Fruiting spurs and determining production life spans of spurs for Cherries and other species.

*Winter Harvesting Broccoli.

*Successful winter vegetable crops for Sacramento Gardens.

*Terms: Cambium, V-graft, Whip-graft, Cleft-graft, grafting rubber, latex paint, Elmer’s glue, latent bud, Summer pruning.

Garden members, please call or email me or use the comment section of my blog for class suggestions, and questions.

Healthy Gardening,

Ken Brizzi

Timely Tips "Pruning"

 
Ken Brizzi Garden Newsletter - Pruning

Happy New Year, everyone! To help you in your home garden, I’d like to address winter pruning. This includes trees, roses and more.

  

The reasons to prune are to:

1. Maintain a healthy plant

2. Maximize production of flowers and fruit

3. Reduce overall plant size

4. Correct dangerous growth that is weak and lopsided that could potentially injure a person or property 

 

Common Myths about pruning:

#1 Prune in the winter, only. Winter pruning came about based on the idea that the farmers had “down” time in winter and trees were dormant and less likely to be injured by pruning since the sap was not actively flowing in the canopy. Recent research shows that trees heal faster from light spring through fall pruning and are less likely to get diseased. An advantage for summer pruning of fruit trees is that the wood that is left matures at a younger age resulting in a young tree producing fruit abundantly. I’d like to give a demonstration on Saturday February 6, 2010 at 10:00am American River Community Church Garden corner of Walnut and   North, Carmichael, CA. for everyone interested. I’ll show what to prune, how and why. Please confirm your attendance through the "comments" box.

 

#2 Tar, latex sealers or Elmer’s glue is healthy for fresh pruning cuts. Not necessarily. Unlike a Band-Aid that keeps out germs, sealing a cut limb can actually create a pocket of humidity that can grow bacteria and fungus. This is another advantage of summer pruning- the tree’s sap becomes the Band-Aid. In the case of roses that are susceptible to cane borers, a freshly cut older cane can be an open wound that attracts the female boring insect to lay her eggs at the wound site and then they hatch and bore into the rose cane, killing it. It was thought that sealing the cane tip would prevent cane borers, but this works minimally. If you have had past problems with cane borers, use a daub of glue with an insecticide mixed in.

 

#3 Prune when transplanting established plants in your yard. The thought behind reducing foliage is that leaves respire and release water to the air. The water has to come from inside the plant, which has just lost part of its root system in the transplanting process and therefore diminished its ability to draw up water from the ground. So to avoid stressing the new transplant, cut back the leaves. Leaves provide shade and nutrients to the plant and can be an advantage to newly transplanted plants. In the winter, on evergreen subtropical plants, the foliage provides several degrees of warmth which protects the small limbs from freezing. So, don’t over-prune the limbs and leaves when transplanting bushes or little trees. The most common cause of death of new transplants is keeping the ground and roots too wet. Without oxygen in the root zone, plants die. Water takes the place of oxygen in a soggy soil. People often water plants thinking they are providing drinks as needed. But we drink more often than plants and our schedule of drinking is way too much for plants. If the idea of how often to water doesn’t make sense to you, you are not alone. Please call or email me. Improper watering is the primary cause of death for plants. I’ll be glad to explain the interaction of water, oxygen, soil types, plant types, season and temperature.

#4 Never prune a plant that is in bloom. Ironically, Camellias are dormant when in bloom and it is an excellent time to prune them. Timing is critical for Azaleas since next spring’s flower buds grow and develop in the preceding summer and fall. A good rule is not to prune Azaleas after July 4^th. Exceptions to the Azalea rule are the Encore Azaleas, which can have more than one blooming cycle per year and could benefit from a light pruning after the first crop of spring flowers. Other plants that are confusing for pruning time include Hydrangeas and Spiraeas, both of which require pruning based on the specie, so know your variety before pruning. Timing for them is explained in Sunset’s Western Garden book. Citrus has its own set of preferred pruning techniques and timing. Annual flowers will repeat blooms if the spent blooms are kept pruned off.

I hope this information has given you confidence and helped you think about specific plants you own and how best to prune them.  An old time nurseryman once told me to always carry pruning shears every time I go into my garden because there are always old flowers to get rid of and crooked branches to remove. To summarize, prune now to shape plants and get rid of dead and diseased wood and leaves and dangerously precarious branches. Remember that you can always take more wood off this summer, so don’t over prune. Sub tropical plants like citrus need to keep their leaves on top to protect the small branches from freezing weather. But on roses, strip leaves off since they carry disease into the coming spring season. Use dormant oil and dormant spray on deciduous fruit trees, roses and plants that had scale or other insect problems this past summer. Don’t prune plants that will bloom in the spring unless you don’t mind loosing the flowers and fruit that follows. Certain diseases are spread with pruning shears so you must pay attention to what you are pruning. Pyracantha, apples, pears, quince and others of the rose family are susceptible to fire blight and you must dip your shears in isopropyl alcohol or Lysol between every cut. Japanese maples look best when layered. This is also a good time to divide perennials and make more plants for your yard for free.

Timely tips for January: Plant bare root fruit trees now. Also, if you would like to graft several varieties on one tree, now is the time to graft. See me for instructions. You can view varieties and make comparisons at a great web site called www.davewilson.com. This is the largest fruit tree grower in the U.S. and the finest. Their website has photos and descriptions of many varieties. I have grafted 6 apple varieties onto one tree and 4 varieties of Pluots on one tree. By carefully selecting varieties that ripen at different times, I have been able to harvest over several months in a small space. You can, too.

“Healthy Gardening!” Ken Brizzi