Advice for the Home Gardener from the Help Desk of the
UC Master Gardener Program of Contra Costa County
Client's Request: I'm new to home gardening and I've planted many new fruit trees and other plants. Something underground appears to be is eating up and/or disturbing my plants, including my newly planted fruit trees. I don't see anything but maybe some dirt mounds near the plants. My neighbor tells me I've got a gopher(s) in my garden. What can I do to get rid of it (hopefully) or them (for sure).
MGCC Help Desk Response: Thank you for contacting the Master Gardener Help Desk desk with your question about gophers. Welcome to Contra Costa County where gophers are indeed a problem for many of us.
Your new fruit trees would certainly be on a gopher's menu. I've seen the results of gophers chewing all the roots off a newly planted fruit tree and it isn't pretty nor did the tree survive. Since you apparently have a large gopher presence in your neighborhood, planting new trees and shrubs in wire baskets (usually made with hardware cloth) is recommended to protect the young trees' roots. Once the trees are more established, they can usually tolerate some gopher grazing. You can make the baskets yourself or purchase them commercially. Install them when you plant the trees. Galvanized baskets gives the longest-lasting protection. Make sure they are large enough to give the roots room to grow.
You can protect raised vegetable beds by lining the bottom of the bed with the same wire (hardware cloth, often sold at hardware stores by the foot). Planting unprotected vegetables in the ground in gopher country is more difficult. You would need to make a large underground "basket" to contain the soil where the veggies will grow. You should also extend the wire above ground a few inches, as gophers can travel above ground to collect vegetation.
You might also consider trapping gophers to reduce their population. There are several different types of effective traps on the market, but we have found that the cinch trap is one of the easiest and most successful. There are several good videos on YouTube that demonstrate how to set cinch traps.
The following link will provide even more information on trapping and habitat modification to manage gophers in your landscape. http://ipm.ucanr.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn7433.html. There are also YouTube videos by UC on finding gopher tunnels and trap placement that may help you as well.
Please let us know if we can answer any other questions. Good Luck and Happy gardening!
Help Desk of the UC Master Gardener Program of Contra Costa County (SEH)
Note: The UC Master Gardeners Program of Contra Costa's Help Desk is available year-round to answer your gardening questions. Except for a few holidays, we're open every week, Monday through Thursday for walk-ins from 9:00 am to Noon at 75 Santa Barbara Road, 2d Floor, Pleasant Hill, CA 94523. We can also be reached via telephone: (925) 646-6586, email: ccmg@ucanr.edu, or on the web at http://ccmg.ucanr.edu/Ask_Us/ MGCC Blogs can be found at http://ccmg.ucanr.edu/HortCoCo/ You can also subscribe to the Blog (http://ucanr.edu/blogs/CCMGBlog/).
Advice for the Home Gardener from the Help Desk of the
UC Master Gardener Program of Contra Costa County
Client's Request: Last year I seem to remember that Master Gardeners offered “free” compost. Where can I get your “free”:compost this year?.
Help Desk Response: Thank you for contacting the UC Master Gardener Program's Help Desk with your question about free compost.
We do not have a free compost offer schedule this year. The offer of free compost last fall was part of a special event, so that offer has come and gone.
One alternative is to create your own compost. Master Gardeners are offering a lecture on composting at Our Garden (same place as our central county Great Tomato Plant Sale) on Wednesday, May 10 at 10:00am. You may want to put that on your calendar. Other gardening organizations and some cities often offer compost classes as well. Here is also a link to a Composting 101 document if you want to get started now: http://ccmg.ucanr.edu/files/172573.pdf
I am also attaching a document with sources of bulk recycled compost in the East Bay which you may find helpful. Note that this list may not be all-inclusive and is not intended to be an endorsement by the UC Master Gardener Program.
Good luck and we look forward to seeing you at our Great Tomato Plant Sale.
Help Desk of the UC Master Gardener Program of Contra Costa County (ECS)
Don't miss our 2017 Great Tomato Plant Sale:
http://ccmg.ucanr.edu/EdibleGardening/GreatTomatoPlantSale/
Note: The UC Master Gardeners Program of Contra Costa's Help Desk is available year-round to answer your gardening questions. Except for a few holidays, we're open every week, Monday through Thursday for walk-ins from 9:00 am to Noon at 75 Santa Barbara Road, 2d Floor, Pleasant Hill, CA 94523. We can also be reached via telephone: (925) 646-6586, email: ccmg@ucanr.edu, or on the web at http://ccmg.ucanr.edu/Ask_Us/ MGCC Blogs can be found at http://ccmg.ucanr.edu/HortCoCo/ You can also subscribe to the Blog (http://ucanr.edu/blogs/CCMGBlog/).
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Compost and Mulch Sources 5 Apr 2016
Advice for the Home Gardener from the Help Desk of the
UC Master Gardener Program of Contra Costa County
Client's Request: I'm expanding my garden significantly. I really can't afford the cost now to buy a lot of nursery plants. Instead, I'd like to propagate more of my Star Jasmine and Upright Rosemary. Please provide me some guidance on how I can do that.
Help Desk Response: Thank you for contacting the UC Master Gardener Program Help Desk with your questions on the propagation of your upright rosemary and Star Jasmine. With some reasonable care, you should be able to readily propagate these plants for your garden.
Upright Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis) is propagated from softwood cuttings of the non-flowering branches in early summer. You can also layer established low branches by scooping a shallow trench, burying the branch, and putting a rock over it to keep it from springing up. There should be enough roots on the new plant in about 6-8 weeks to detach and transplant it to a new location. Rosemary is relatively easy to propagate, that you may also be able to start your softwood cuttings in water and then transplant them to a container mix or possibly into the ground with some tender care and oversight during the initial planting and maintenance.
Star Jasmine (Trachelospermum jasminoides), is propagated by taking semi-hardwood cuttings in summer. Cut a 10- to 12-inch length of vine from a vigorous star jasmine plant. Use clean pruners or a sharp knife to make the cut just below a node, which is a small swelling where a leaf or bud emerges. Divide the vine into 3- to 4-inch stems, with each cut just below a node.
I have attached some additional hints and references below that cover all steps of softwood and semi-hardwood propagation and that also include more detail about what type of planting medium and containers that you can use.
A Few Hints for Successful Propagation:
- Cutting materials should be free from pest and disease, young and succulent, and preferably not flowering. Tip cuttings should be able to bend but not break.
- The cuttings should be dipped into a rooting hormone for inducement to produce roots. Examples of the types of rooting hormones available are Hormex (powder) and Dip n Grow (Liquid). Independent nurseries usually carry these products, and they are also available online (e.g., Amazon, etc.). Low strength hormones should be used for your cuttings. Using too high a concentration of hormone solution will cause the cutting to fail rather than increase the rooting ability. This is where more is not better.
- After cuttings have rooted (generally two to three weeks) they can be moved into a pot with a good garden loam mix. In transplanting cuttings, be careful of their roots. Lift cuttings from their tray by using a fork or a pencil or anything which can be put below to loosen and lift them without disturbing the roots excessively.
- Keep the cuttings in a shaded area, and water regularly. Once their roots have filled out the pot (anywhere from 3 weeks to 6 weeks) they can then be planted into the ground., but will require extra watering and attention for the first several months
Here are some further plant propagation links that should also be informative:
http://ucanr.edu/sites/ucmgnapa/files/81929.pdf
http://ceyolo.ucdavis.edu/files/53420.pd
Please let us know if you have additional questions about propagation of your plants.
Good Luck!
Help Desk of the UC Master Gardener Program of Contra Costa County (SLH)
Don't miss our 2017 Great Tomato Plant Sale:
http://ccmg.ucanr.edu/EdibleGardening/GreatTomatoPlantSale/
Note: The UC Master Gardeners Program of Contra Costa's Help Desk is available year-round to answer your gardening questions. Except for a few holidays, we're open every week, Monday through Thursday for walk-ins from 9:00 am to Noon at 75 Santa Barbara Road, 2d Floor, Pleasant Hill, CA 94523. We can also be reached via telephone: (925) 646-6586, email: ccmg@ucanr.edu, or on the web at http://ccmg.ucanr.edu/Ask_Us/ MGCC Blogs can be found at http://ccmg.ucanr.edu/HortCoCo/ You can also subscribe to the Blog (http://ucanr.edu/blogs/CCMGBlog/).
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Advice for the Home Gardener from the Help Desk of the
UC Master Gardener Program of Contra Costa County
Client's Request (via phone message) Last year my apple tree was seriously impacted by codling moths. I understand that there are routines timed to the hatching of the moth that a home gardener can follow to minimize, maybe even eliminate, damage to the apples. Can you advise me on those routines.
MG Help Desk Response: Thank you for your call to the UC Master Gardener Program Help Desk. Your message indicated you are looking for information on the hatching timing for codling moths in your area.
In cooler areas (e.g., west Contra Costa County), look for first stings in early to mid-May and stings from a second generation mid-July to mid-August. In warmer areas (inland Contra Costa County) start looking for first stings by mid-April. Inland, there may be as many as 3 generations hatching through the summer, all requiring treatment.
To use the calculator, you will need to know the date of when moths are found in your traps and sunset temperatures have reached 62 degrees. This date is known as the biofix date. When asked to select a UC CIMIS weather station, choose the one of five in Contra Costa County that is closest to you. That will produce a chart with expected degree days for the time period you specified and recommendations for degree-day accumulations for each spraying.
For more information on codling moths and their control, see this UC document: http://ipm.ucanr.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn7412.html. For a calendar of gardening operations for apples: http://homeorchard.ucanr.edu/Fruits_&_Nuts/Apple/.
Please let us know if you have further questions.
Help Desk of the UC Master Gardener Program of Contra Costa County (SEH)
Don't miss our 2017 Great Tomato Plant Sale:
http://ccmg.ucanr.edu/EdibleGardening/GreatTomatoPlantSale/
Note: The UC Master Gardeners Program of Contra Costa's Help Desk is available year-round to answer your gardening questions. Except for a few holidays, we're open every week, Monday through Thursday for walk-ins from 9:00 am to Noon at 75 Santa Barbara Road, 2d Floor, Pleasant Hill, CA 94523. We can also be reached via telephone: (925) 646-6586, email: ccmg@ucanr.edu, or on the web at http://ccmg.ucanr.edu/Ask_Us/ MGCC Blogs can be found at http://ccmg.ucanr.edu/HortCoCo/ You can also subscribe to the Blog (http://ucanr.edu/blogs/CCMGBlog/).
Advice for the Home Gardener from the Help Desk of the
UC Master Gardener Program of Contra Costa County
Client's Request: I've heard that I can use yellow corn meal to control weeds. Is this doable and will it hurt the soil?
Help Desk Response: Thank you for contacting the UC Master Gardener Program Help Desk with your question about cornmeal and weeds. I am going to assume that you mean corn meal gluten (CGM), a by-product of corn starch manufacturing that is marketed to home gardeners for pre-emergent control of weeds, especially in lawns. Yellow corn meal makes great polenta, but won't do much for weeds!
University of California research has not shown CGM to be an effective weed control strategy, but in a lawn, it may work because it is high in nitrogen and will feed the lawn, making it more dense, and likely crowding out weeds. Lawns already fed with high nitrogen fertilizers probably won't show any significant benefit from CGM.
CGM will have no effect on already-emerged weeds; it only suppresses some seeds' ability to sprout. It is sometimes used though where only organic herbicides are permitted, but its effectiveness is still questionable. It should not have adverse effects on soil. Because it is high in nitrogen, it could be beneficial if your soil is deficient in that nutrient.
Better weed control can be achieved by heavily mulching the area, which will prevent weed seeds from sprouting. At this time of the year, late winter, when many of our weeds have already come up, you can try hand-pulling or hoeing out the small weeds. They are always easiest to control when they are small. This link will give you great information from UC about weed management in the landscape: http://ipm.ucanr.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn7441.html. The key to successfully reducing the weed problem in future years is to make sure none of this year's weeds go to seed.
Weeds in our gardens are frustrating and seem to be extra-abundant this year because of all the rain we've had. Good luck!
Help Desk of the UC Master Gardener Program of Contra Costa County (SEH)
Don't miss our 2017 Great Tomato Plant Sale:
http://ccmg.ucanr.edu/EdibleGardening/GreatTomatoPlantSale/
Note: The UC Master Gardeners Program of Contra Costa's Help Desk is available year-round to answer your gardening questions. Except for a few holidays, we're open every week, Monday through Thursday for walk-ins from 9:00 am to Noon at 75 Santa Barbara Road, 2d Floor, Pleasant Hill, CA 94523. We can also be reached via telephone: (925) 646-6586, email: ccmg@ucanr.edu, or on the web at http://ccmg.ucanr.edu/Ask_Us/ MGCC Blogs can be found at http://ccmg.ucanr.edu/HortCoCo/ You can also subscribe to the Blog (http://ucanr.edu/blogs/CCMGBlog/).