- Author: Lynne and Bill Gowdy, Master Gardeners
Cassidy skillfully lays out her book in six well-planned and beautifully illustrated sections that provide gardeners with a practical guide to success. First she discusses environments and how to define physical space. This space may be a backyard, an apartment patio, a senior community garden or a receptive garden. Receptive gardens exist in care facilities to promote physical and mental health. They provide patients with attractive, comfortable and serene settings.
Next, Cassidy addresses practical considerations and decision-making. She provides site analysis taking into consideration space, climate, exposure, soil and watering options. Health issues such as arthritis, hypertension, visual impairment and balance are covered with safety suggestions for each issue. Planting options covered include flowers, vegetables, trees and shrubs. She offers additional advice, such as how to attract wildlife to the garden. Cassidy speaks to the necessity for an adjustable design that can meet changing preferences or health demands. She offers suggestions for simplifying the garden “without detracting from its aesthetic appeal.” One should consider low maintenance, sustainable plants and elimination of lawn areas. Patios, decks, balconies and front porches are areas of low maintenance where drip irrigation can effectively be used with attractive containers. Containers are movable, easily changed and take minimal care.
Cassidy invites readers to explore the garden through their senses. These creative spaces should be a pleasurable place to spend time. Color and contrast, beautiful foliage, interesting textures and intriguing smells make the garden a delight. The sounds of wildlife and water features relax visitors. Fruits, vegetables, herbs and edible flowers entice gardeners to keep their sense of taste alive. The sense of touch, such as the ability to feel velvety plants or the mud between your toes, is retained throughout life and provides contact to the world.
In “Types of Gardens,” Cassidy includes ideas and projects that ease some of the more mundane tasks. Flower, fruit, vegetable, herb, raised beds, patio, vertical, indoor and container gardens are covered. Projects, techniques and photographs help the reader adapt each type of garden to their unique needs.
Cassidy includes helpful reference sections and resources at the end of the book. The “Plant Directory” is a comprehensive list of plant choices selected for their appeal and ease of maintenance. It's packed with garden plans, projects and step-by-step instructions. Readers may likewise value the “Useful Addresses” and “Hardiness Zones” sections.
The Illustrated Practical Guide to Gardening for Seniors reminds us that gardens are magical places that stimulate creativity, keep us physically fit, fill our lives with pleasure and keep us young at heart.
Enjoy!
Patty Cassidy is a registered horticultural therapist and master gardener. She oversees therapeutic gardening programs for senior gardeners.
(Re-printed from 2011)
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- Author: Morris Lacey, Master Gardener
However, some of us are hurting – failing to produce a single fruit on our vine (or even worse, we didn't even get the vine to take off). Where did we do wrong? What were we thinking? Let's revisit the steps we need to accomplish to make it happen next year. No time like the present since it is fresh in our minds.
Okay, so you didn't face that issue and your plant took off like a banshee. Great! Unless you didn't plan for the growth a pumpkin vine will expend to make fruit. Each plant may need 100 square feet to capture the available sunlight and convert it into the goodness we call pumpkin. And the more fruit on each vine, the more vine needed to produce a pumpkin of Jack-o-Lantern quality and size.
Other things can happen during the summer while the pumpkin plant and fruit grow in size: sizzling hot days can lead to both over watering and under watering (both of which can lead to the demise of the plant), invertebrate pests usually arrive late in the season or when the plant has suffered too much stress, vertebrate pests may eat through the roots or pop up right under the fruit (both damages will be unforgiving to the pumpkin). And while they thrive in full sun, it is important to have plenty of air flow so they may maintain their “cool” as they move nutrients through the plant and molecularly incorporate them into future pie-making
If you have made it past all these challenges, you should have at least one winner of a pumpkin plant with plenty of fruit to do with as you see fit. This might be where you think back and say “Why didn't I scribe my grandchild's name into the fruit when it was small so I could impress the little one with a personalized Jack-o-Lantern. (The scar created grows with the plant and is always a winner for the children.) Truth be known, pumpkins can be kept in a cool dry area for months and used as you need for breads, butters, jams, pies, and many other things to consume, in addition to their use as fall decoration.
One last critical concern – when harvesting the fruit, leave 3” to 4” of the stem on the fruit, place the fruit on its side to let the bottom (yellow spot) be in the sun for a few days to orange-up, and take special care not to poke the fruit with anything sharp! This last issue will render the fruit “consumable,” meaning that if you don't consume it right then (can it, cook it, freeze it, or soup it) Mother Nature will take it back one way or another. Don't let that happen!
- Author: Flo Pucci, Master Gardener
Without forests, life on earth would be unthinkable and unlivable.
Urban forests are homes to a wealth of biodiversity and are an integral part of community ecosystems. They improve the livability of our cities and make all our lives better.
Even though their aesthetic value might be striking, the many critical services they provide tend to be overlooked. Urban trees can help alleviate some of the adverse effects and social costs of development and make cities more resilient to these changes.
The term, urban forest, refers to all public and privately owned trees within a metropolitan area.
For the most part, cities' rapid growth takes place without any land use planning strategies, and the subsequent human pressure has highly damaging effects on the forest, landscapes, and green areas in and around cities.
Further, climate changes often deepen the environmental impacts of urbanization, significantly increased pollution, reduced availability of food and resources, increased poverty levels, and can lead to extreme climate occurrences.
In fact, for many years, tree canopies in our urban centers have been declining. Large mature trees that reach their lives end are often substituted with smaller species – if at all. These replanted trees then struggle to establish and reach maturity due to the constraints of the pavement surrounding them.
Indeed, green spaces offer a myriad of essential ecological, economic, and social welfare services to more than 220 million people living in urban centers in the US (US Census). As the population of towns and cities continues to increase, sustainable urban and community forests are vital for their well-being. Furthermore, adding nature back into the hardscape and urban environment in which we live, work, and play reduces the number of issues that affect our quality of life. Truly, trees and green spaces help us connect with nature and restore our health, ability to learn, happiness, and spirit.
With this in mind, let's unpack how urban forests contribute to making cities more socio-economic and environmentally sustainable.
Trees play an essential role in increasing urban biodiversity, affording plants and animals a favorable habitat, food, and shelter and act as a reservoir for threatened species. Further, the urban forest offers many enjoyments to city dwellers and can serve as local environmental health indicators.
Undoubtedly, few things can parallel the aesthetic impact and seasonal interest that trees offer the urban setting. They provide a substantial visual to any area and can significantly enhance a streetscape design and promote tourism.
Again, a mature tree plays a vital role in climate change. Trees influence temperature levels, energy use, and air quality by providing shade, transpiring moisture, and reducing wind speed. Trees absorb high quantities of Co2 per year, especially in cities with high levels of pollution. According to research, the establishment of millions of trees around residences in the USA is said to save $2 billion annually in reduced energy costs.
Equally important, the strategic placement of trees in a city can improve air quality by cooling the air between 2 and 8 degrees, thereby reducing the “heat island” effect and assisting urban communities in adjusting to climate change. Trees can also reduce carbon emission from buildings' energy use and other sources by aiding to conserve energy and reduce air pollutants through their leaves.
Additionally, sizeable mature trees are excellent filters for urban pollutants and fine particulates. Tests conducted in streets lined with trees have shown a 60% reduction in particulates from car exhaust. Trees absorb pollutant gases and filter fine particles like dust, dirt, or smoke out of the air by catching them on leaves and bark and storing it as cellulose. This carbon reduction is known as sequestration.
For every 5% of tree cover in a community, storm run-off is reduced by 2%. Trees prevent rainwater run-off from reaching watercourses with the harmful chemicals it collects from urban roadways and sidewalk, while also decreasing topsoil erosion.
Likewise, a mature tree regulates water flow and plays an essential role in preventing floods and reducing the risk of natural disasters. Trees and soils increase water quality and reduce the need for costly stormwater treatments by diverting and holding or reducing the flow of precipitation reaching the ground.
Studies have shown that living nearby urban green spaces and having accessibility to these areas can improve physical and mental health. For example, trees have also proven to positively impact skin cancer, asthma, hypertension, and other stress-related illness by filtering out polluted air, reducing smog formation, and providing shade from solar radiation while providing an attractive, calming setting for recreation.
The relationship between urban forestry and urban greening with healthier social systems is remarkably direct. The existence of trees and well-maintained lower undergrowth vegetation can transform desolate spaces into pleasant, welcoming, well-used places. Such common areas serve to strengthen ties amount residences, increase informal surveillance, and deter crime, thereby creating healthier, safer communities. In housing developments with gardens and trees, crime rates drop. Places with high green space levels have less property crime and a reduction in both violent and petty crime, including domestic violence, through the therapeutic calming influences of mature tree planted in urban communities.
Trees neighboring roads help delay traffic by making the road seem like part of the community. Also, they make us feel at home and protected, promoting more time outside socializing, walking, exercising, and with more eyes on the street to help deter crime.
Moreover, trees-line streets help reduce noise. Excessive noise can be detrimental to community health; thus, trees act as a sound buffer to reduce noise pollution which can be especially helpful if our home is near busy thoroughfares.
Most importantly, trees also contribute to increased local food and nutrition security, providing food such as fruit, nuts, and leaves for human consumption and fodder. Their wood can be utilized in a variety of ways, like construction, cooking, and heating.
A well-planned urban landscape with trees can increase property values by up to 20 percent and attract tourism and business opportunities.
Urban Forest employs more than 62,000 people in California alone like arborists and entry-level nurseries and landscaping companies than add over $3.2 billion in value to the California economy. Also, it generates opportunities for businesses in all aspects of tree care, maintenance, and conservation. According to the U.S Forest Services, every $1 invested in trees brings a return of $2.75 in benefits. Thus, throughout their lifetime, trees can provide a beneficial package worth two to three times more than all the investments made in them.
In summary, a city, a town and a community with a well-planned and well-managed green infrastructure support a healthy environment, becomes a more resilient, sustainable, and regulated climate for everyone.
For more information, consult the links below:
http://sjmastergardeners.ucanr.edu/Landscape_Trees/
https://ucanr.edu/sites/sjcoeh/Trees/
https://www.fs.fed.us/psw/topics/urban_forestry/products/2/cufr_38.pdf
https://caufc.org/why-urban-forests/
https://www.fs.fed.us/psw/topics/urban_forestry/documents/20150422CAStreetTrees.pdf
http://www.calforestfoundation.org
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- Author: Julie Schardt, Master Gardener
Civic pride is a guiding principle of Stockton Beautiful, a local organization whose efforts have been focused on improving neighborhoods and public spaces for over 25 years. The all-volunteer group identifies project possibilities in public spaces, designs the landscape improvements, and raises funds necessary for project completion.
The latest completed project for Stockton Beautiful is part of the median strip in front of the new San Joaquin County Courthouse on Weber Avenue in downtown Stockton. (The sections covered with Astroturf are NOT part of their design.) If you drive by, look for an eye-catching mix of grasses, shrubs, and trees in a thoughtful mixture of texture and movement. The Mediterranean Fan Palm (Chamaerops humilis) with its fibrous bark and fan-shaped leaves is a quirky-looking tree that grows well in our climate and thrives among the other varied specimens in the median. The Dwarf Red Fountain Grass (Pennisetum ‘Eaton Canyon') moves with the breeze of passing cars. More color and texture are offered by the Yellow Gazania (Gazania rigens) and Century plant (Agave americana ‘variegata').
Future projects for Stockton Beautiful include redesigning the garden planter in front of the Haggin Museum to better reflect the character of the museum, and the Gerry Dunlap Rose Garden needs an irrigation upgrade. Jeff Gamboni, founding board member of the organization is also open to considering an edible landscaping project that would fall in line with the new Urban Agriculture Ordinance recently passed by the Stockton City Council. (The ordinance would allow, with restrictions, keeping bees or chickens/ducks, and selling home garden produce.) Gamboni thinks a shared public-private space in a multi-family development might offer an ideal location.
The deep knowledge and commitment it takes to become a beekeeper is reflected in the small but productive group of hives at the Ripon Community Garden. Loyko tends the hives at least once a week, dressed in protective garb as he checks the hives to make sure there is a productive egg-laying queen. (Without a productive queen, no honey is produced.) In addition to the queen, whose sole purpose is to lay eggs, are the drones and worker bees. Drones exist only to mate with the queen, and the female worker bees venture as far as a few miles away to find food to bring back to the hive.
At the Ripon Community Garden, the bees don't have far to go to find abundant sources for nectar. Citrus, melons, squash, and peppers are the nearby cornucopia for these bees, but the workers are capable of flying as far as a few miles away to find what they need among the almond orchards.
Each hive has eight frames where bees create honeycombs, the hexagonal waxy cells where they store honey and eggs. Because the hives at this garden aren't meant for commercial use, honey is usually harvested only once a year, in June or July. This past season's bounty of honey produced 150 8-ounce jars of nutritious wild honey.
But don't expect to find Ripon Community Garden's wild honey readily available to buy. The precious jars are spoken for almost before the honey is harvested.
(Find much more about beekeeping here: http://sfp.ucdavis.edu/pubs/brochures/bees/ )
- Author: Sue Davis, Master Gardener
The desire for the peace, exercise, produce, or the beauty gardening brings into our lives seems to be gaining in popularity as we progress toward the end of 2020. Again, this quarter's chores will concentrate on just four chores per month – one per week. If there's time for more, past issues of Garden Chores will be able to round out suggestions for the season.
Fall soil remains warm for planting trees, shrubs, most ornamentals, and cool season edibles. If we are fortunate, rain will provide all the water gardens will need over the next few months.
October Ideas
If there is time for nothing else, consider these four things to enhance a garden:
(1)Groceries to Plant Now: In early October, sow seeds or transplants for winter herb and vegetable harvests. Look for transplants of some vegetables as the month edges closer to Halloween. Broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, chard, kale, lettuce, parsnips, carrots and radishes love the warm days and cool nights of our fall season.
(3)Add a Peaceful Looking Tree to the Landscape: Japanese Maples have graceful foliage, a beautiful form, and are adaptable to containers if necessary. For serenity in the garden, consider Red Pygmy, Orangeola, or Gable Glory. Red Pygmy is a vase-shaped tree with a rounded top. Its leaves turn gold as the season comes to an end. Orangeola has glossy orange red leaves that fade to dark red and provide a long-lasting autumn display. Gable Glory's new leaf color is orange red and long lasting – especially if it is not in full sun. The yellow-green bark on this tree provides interest over the gloomy months. Be sure to check the specifics on these trees so the right plant is in the right place.
(4)Bulb Gardens: October provides an opportunity to search for the perfect spring blooming bulbs. If there is room, try naturalizing the bulbs by tossing handfuls of a single kind over the planting area. Then plant them where they fall. Bulbs like full sun with not much summer water. If space is limited, create a container garden of spring blooming bulbs.
In November
Holidays are approaching, but our gardens will still profit from some attention. Here are four for November:
(1)Landscape “Housekeeping”: November is a great time to tend to a myriad of garden chores in readiness for winter and spring. Pay special attention to fallen leaves. Rake them into a compost pile or crunch them up and till into the garden for spring planting. If any plants need to be pruned or moved, do it now – there are more good “outside days” now than there will be next month.
(3)Check pots and containers: Turn empty pots and containers upside down so they do not hold water over the winter and invite mosquitos in the spring. Remove pans under containers so the roots of container plants don't sit in water and become waterlogged.
(4)Get out a sprayer: To lessen trouble with diseases, fungus, and insects and to promote fruit production in the spring and summer, spray fruit trees with dormant spray after pruning. Be sure to carefully follow the manufacturer's directions for spraying. Check for more specific information at: http://homeorchard.ucanr.edu/The_Big_Picture/Pests_&_Diseases/
December Notes
Such a busy month for everyone! Just a quick four for December:
(2) A gift for yourself (and/or another gardener): Plant an indoor herb garden using transplants and pretty pots in good potting soil. Set them in a sunny window and they will scent the area around them and add flavor to a variety of food over the winter.
(3)Take care of garden tools: Sharpen pruners, loppers, lawnmowers, and shovels. Wipe a very thin layer of oil over the tools and put them away until they are needed again.
(4)Plan something: Take 10 -15 minutes with your feet up and a favorite beverage by your side to look through seed catalogs and garden books and dream about what you want to accomplish in your landscape as the new year rolls in.
Information for this article was gathered from:
San Joaquin Master Gardeners: A Valley Gardeners Journal
San Joaquin County Vegetable Garden Calendar - 2011
Sacramento County Master Gardeners: Gardening Guide.
Month By Month Gardening – California – Claire Splan Sloat Nursery's October Newsletter