We all know California has many state symbols. The grizzly bear flying in the state flag, golden poppies and the valley quail are all symbols that connect you back to our golden state. Did you know that California has a state soil?

What is a State Soil?

A state soil is a soil that has special significance to a particular state. Each state in the United States has selected a state soil, twenty of which have been legislatively established. These “Official State Soils” share the same level of distinction as official state flowers and birds. Also, representative soils have been selected for Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. California's State Soil is the “San Joaquin” soil. It was designated the official state soil of California in 1997. California's central valley has more than half a million acres of San Joaquin soils.

A little about soil profiles and textures

Soil Horizons

Soil is made up of distinct layers, called horizons. Each layer has its own characteristics that make it different from all of the other layers. These characteristics play a very important role in what the soil is used for and why it is important.

O HORIZON- This is the top layer of soil that is made up of living and decomposed materials like leaves, plants, and

bugs. This layer is very thin and is usually pretty dark.

A HORIZON- This is the layer that we call “topsoil” and it is located just below the O Horizon. This layer is made up of minerals and decomposed organic matter and it is also very dark in color. This is the layer that many plants roots grow in.

B HORIZON- This is the layer that we call “subsoil” and it is located just below the A Horizon. This layer has clay and mineral deposits and less organic materials than the layers above it. This layer is also lighter in color than the layers above it.

C HORIZON- This is the layer that we call “regolith” and it is located just below the B Horizon. This layer is made up of slightly unbroken rock and only a little bit of organic material is found here. Plant roots are not found in this layer.

Soil Textures

Three types of particles are found in soil: sand, silt and clay. Soil texture is classified by the type of particle that makes up the majority of the soil. Each soil type has a distinctive textural feel and holding a sample of your garden soil in your hand may help you determine the type of texture that makes up your garden soil.

Sandy Soil: Sand is the largest of the particles found in soil. It is a sharp-edged material, giving the soil a gritty feel. When wet, it remains course and breaks apart easily. Beach sand is at the extreme end of sandy soils. Sandy soil holds almost no nutrients and does not retain moisture. Plants do not grow well in this type of soil.

Silty Soil:  Silt particles are smooth and smaller than sand particles. When wet, a silty soil feels mud-like; it's smooth and has a silky texture. It's rich in nutrients but retains moisture to the point where garden plants are unable to access oxygen. In a silty soil, plants wilt because they can't breathe.

If you are curious to see all of California's state symbols from fish to gemstone, click here.

If you have a gardening related question you can contact the UC Master Gardeners at 209-953-6112. More information can be found on our website.

Organic materials make up approximately two-thirds of the waste stream. While much of this is paper which can be used more efficiently or recycled, a large portion is material like food waste for which few beneficial options outside of composting exist. Fortunately, nature has provided one option that has been receiving increasing attention–vermicomposting.

So what, you may ask, is vermicomposting and how does it work? Well, “vermi” is the Latin word for worm, and worms like to feed on slowly decomposing organic materials (e.g., vegetable scraps). Vermicompost, or castings, is worm manure. Worm castings are considered by many in horticulture to be the very best soil amendment available. The nutrient content of castings is dependent on the material fed to the worms–and worms are commonly fed materials with high nutrient content, such as food waste and manures. The biology of the worm's gut facilitates the growth of fungus and bacteria that are beneficial to plant growth. In addition, many chemical compounds are found in castings that are thought to promote plant growth.

The essential components of a home vermicomposting unit are an aerated container, some moist bedding, food scraps, and a few thousand red worms  or red wigglers (Eisenia foetida).

The worms: Mary Appelhof, author of “Worms Eat My Garbage” recommends two pounds of worms — about 2,000 wigglers — for every pound per day of food waste. To figure out how much food waste your household generates, monitor it for a week and divide by seven. Note: Some vermiculture experts advise starting out with a smaller amount of worms, which isn't a bad idea if you are relatively new to all of this. Of course, you'll have to reduce the amount of food scraps you put in the bin, until the population increases. One pound of redworms will easily take care of each half-pound of garbage. To add worms to the bin, simply scatter them over the top. The skin on the worm reacts to light and they will immediately work their way down into the bedding to get away from the light.

The bin: You can purchase a vermicomposting bin or make your own. Depending on how much food waste your house generates will depend on the size of the bin. A simple internet search will yield lots of worm bin results but here is one for a larger wood bin and one for aplastic bin made out of tote boxes. The container depth should be between eight and twelve inches. Bins need to be shallow because the worms feed in the top layers of the bedding. A bin that is too deep is not as efficient and could potentially become an odor problem.

When beginning a vermicomposting bin, start by adding moist bedding — things like shredded paper, dead leaves and other materials high in carbon (it's should mimic the worms' natural habitat, in dried leaves on a forest floor) — into the bin, and add the worms to their new home. Bedding is the living medium for the worms but also a food source, so it should be moist (something like a wrung-out sponge) and loose to enable the earthworms to breathe and to facilitate aerobic decomposition. Other common bedding materials can be used including newspaper, sawdust, hay, cardboard, burlap coffee sacks and peat moss.

Most vermicomposters avoid using glossy paper from newspapers and magazines, junk mail and shredded paper from offices, because they may contain toxins, which aren't good for the system. Be wary of cardboard, as it cannot be used if it contains wax or plastic, which takes things like cereal boxes, and other boxes designed to hold food items, off the list.

Ideally a worm compost bin should be located in areas where the temperatures are between 40 to 80˚F. Red worms generally prefer temperatures in the 55 to 77 degree range. Another consideration: worms are like people in that they do not like a lot of noise or vibrations. Keep them away from high traffic areas.

What do they eat? First, and foremost, START SLOWLY. It will take time for bacteria to form and your bin can quickly become very smelly if you add too much food, too fast.  Worms will eat a wide variety of organic materials such as paper, manure, fruit and vegetable waste, grains, coffee grounds, and ground yard wastes. While worms will eat meat and dairy products, it is best not to feed these materials or oily foods to worms, due to potential odor and pest problems. Since worms have no teeth, any food they eat must be small enough to swallow, or soft enough for them to bite. Some foods may not be soft enough initially for them to consume, but they quickly degrade so that the worms can consume them. Worms have a gizzard like chickens so fine grit should be added to help the worms digest food. This gritty material includes cornmeal, coffee grounds and/or finely crushed egg shells (dry the shells and then crush). If you notice odors, cut back on the amount of food or try chopping the food up into smaller pieces.

Harvesting the castings: Once your compost bin is up and running, it requires little maintenance until little or no original bedding is visible and the contents of the bin are reduced in bulk and mainly consist of worm compost, which is brown and “earthy” looking. Once your bin has reached that point, it's time to harvest the worm castings and give your worms new bedding. Castings can be harvested anywhere from two and a half months to every six months, depending on how many worms you have and how much food you're giving them.

There are several harvesting methods. For those with the time and patience or little kids, you dump the bin's contents onto a large plastic sheet and then manually separate the worms from the compost. Children usually love helping out with harvesting worm compost. Remember that your helpers as well as yourself should wear gloves. Once all the worm casings are removed, keep aside some of the compost to mix in with the new bedding and then the cycle starts all over again.

A more common way to harvest is to move everything – worms, castings, bedding, food – to one side of the bin. Pick out partially decomposed materials and push to the other side. Place some food on top of the partially decomposed materials. Replace the lid and leave it alone for a couple weeks. During that time, the worms should migrate over to the new food. Once they've gone to the other side, put on a pair of gloves and harvest the castings. Make sure you don't remove any worms in the process. Then give the worms new bedding mixed in with some residual compost.

Vermicomposting can be easy, fun and rewarding once you get started. For alist of common mistakes, click here.

Worm Facts:

• Baby worms hatch from cocoons smaller than a grain of rice.
• Lacking lungs or other specialized respiratory organs, earthworms breathe through their skin.
• Earthworms have 5 hearts
• Worms have a gizzard to help digest their food
• Worms do not have eyes, but light sensitive cells in their skin

If you have a gardening related question you can contact the UC Master Gardeners at 209-953-6112. More information can be found on our website.

Like most ornamentals grown in the garden, California native plants look better with a late winter or early spring clean-up.

New growth is likely to be emerging soon with our unseasonably warm weather, so now is a good time to get out in the garden and perform some basic clean-up.

Before chopping away, the first thing you should do is ask, “why am I pruning?” Native plants are tough in some ways, but most cannot tolerate the same constant shearing or abusive amputations accepted by exotics such as Indian hawthorn or Viburnum. Pruning with prupose goes a long way toward the health of your natives.

Good reasons to prune include:
1. To remove dead or diseased growth
2. To remove crossing limbs
3. To improve air circulation and/or light penetration
4. Establish good branching structure, especially on young plants (1-3 years old)

Not-so-good reasons to prune:
1. Size control due to inappropriately placed plants (Choose the right plant for the right place whenever possible)
2. Topiary is resented by most natives. Leave this to boxwood and Dr. Seuss books.

For winter deciduous plants, dormancy provides an easy view of the branching structure so you can visualize what shape you want the plant to take and any dead branches to be removed. Avoid pruning during rainy periods to reduce infection. Native plants for dormant pruning include:

California buckeye (Aesculus californica)
Currant (Ribes spp)
Honeysuckle (Lonicera spp)
Mock orange (Philadelphus lewisii)
Pipestem clematis (Clematis lasiantha)
Spice bush (Calycanthus occidentalis)
Wild grape (Vitis californica)

Evergreen trees and shrubs generally like to be pruned soon after they have finished flowering. However, if you want the valuable seeds and berries your native garden produces, then do not prune every year, or prune lightly to retain wildlife value. Evergreens to prune in spring (after flowering) include:

California lilac (Ceanothus spp)
Coffeeberry (Frangula spp)
Manzanita\PArctostaphylos spp)
Mountain mahogany (Cercocarpus spp)

Perennials such as California fuchsia, Matilija poppy, and Lilac verbena can be coppiced to the ground now if you didn't get to it in fall. Any leftover flower stalks on Penstemon, Red-flowering buckwheat, or Sulfur buckwheat should be deadheaded.

Rejuvenation of large shrubs that have become scraggly or sparse can be done now. Rejuvenation, which involves coppicing a plant down to the ground, should only be done every 10-20 years; it mimics the loss of above-ground growth due to wildfire or other natural disasters. Plants to rejuvenate in spring include:

Blue elderberry (Sambucus cerulea)
Bush anemone (Carpenteria californica)
Coffeeberry (Frangula spp)
Coyote brush (Baccharis spp)
Honeysuckle (Lonicera spp)
Snowberry (Symphoricarpos spp)

For more details on when and how to prune California natives plants, check out the resources below:

 Basics of pruning natives:
<www.cnps.org/cnps/grownative/tips/pruning01.php>

Pruning calendar and techniques:
<www.yerbabuenanursery.com/Pruning_Calendar.php>

Care and Maintenance of Southern California Gardens (book)
By Bart O'Brien, Betsey Landis, and Ellen Mackey

If you have a gardening related question you can contact the UC Master Gardeners at 209-953-6112. More information can be found on our website.

 

When we think about saving water in the garden, the first things that usually come to mind are irrigation systems and

low-water plants. Another crucial factor is hydrozoning, or the grouping of plants by water and sun requirements; the ultimate goal is to place plants within these groups on the same irrigation schedule. Although creating hydrozones takes research and planning, it is essential for a healthy, water-efficient landscape.

Hydrozoning calls for you to step outside and make observations about your landscape. Even if you have lived in your home for many years, solidifying any vague conjectures about the various microclimates on your property will make planning more effective. There are three basic factors to consider when creating hydrozones:

1. How much sun is there?
Different plants have different metabolic processes; Each has an optimum light requirement to meet its needs for photosynthesis, the process by which plants use sunlight to convert carbon dioxide and water into food.

You can track available sunlight by watching when and how long the sun shines directly on various areas of your garden. Also note if there are extended periods when the sun disappears behind a tree or building before returning, and how the amount and intensity of light changes with the seasons as the sun is higher or lower in the sky.

2. How much water will your plants need?
Plants take up and lose water at different rates, as we all know, but other factors come into play as well. Moisture, temperature, and oxygen levels affect soil biology, a major component of plant health. Plants have various preferences, and while many species are quite tolerant of a wide range of environments, it's a safe bet that mixing high and low water plants will result in someone being under- or over-watered.

Once you have divided your landscape into zones by sun exposure, you can decide whether these areas will be low, medium, or high water use. Watering issues account for a large proportion of plant problems, so designate water requirements before heading to the nursery.

 

3. What plants do you want to keep?
This is really important if you have an established landscape and are looking to improve your water efficiency. First, look up at the established trees and shrubs that will form the foundation of your garden; these “keepers” will guide you when choosing other plant species to share that hydrozone.

You may have to make some difficult choices about what to keep, but in the long run, water-related problems will probably decrease once you organize your hydrozones. Plants that get their sun and water requirements met are more likely to reward you for your efforts.

Doing your research is essential to understanding what plants want. A great resource for determining the water needs of various plants is the Water Classification of Landscape Species tool (WUCOLS), a searchable database of plants that have been classified by water requirements according to the different climates of California:

To search for plants by function with a basic description of cultural requirements (and photographs), visit Water Wise Gardening in the Gold Country Region.

You can also create a plant list for your various hydrozones using this chart:

If you have a gardening related question you can contact the UC Master Gardeners at 209-953-6112. More information can be found on our website.