Summer is a great time to sit inside an air-conditioned library and learn about gardening! For June, we've added monthly classes at the Salida Library Branch, and next month we are adding the Patterson Library. Don't see your local library listed? Comment below to help us decide where in Stanislaus County to start teaching classes next!  

June Library Branch Schedule

• Wednesday, June 8, 2022 at 6:00 p.m. Pests in Your Vegetable Garden - Riverbank 
• Monday, June 13, 2022 at 6:00 p.m.  Vermicomposting - Ceres 
• Tuesday, June 14, 2022 at 6:00 p.m. Pests in Your Garden – Salida 
• Tuesday, June 21, 2022 at 6:00 p.m. Pests in Your Garden – Oakdale
• Wednesday, June 22, 2022 at 2:00 p.m. Growing Citrus– Turlock 
• Monday, June 27, 2022 at 6:15 p.m. Culinary Herbs - Modesto 

Class Descriptions:

Culinary Herbs for Beginners: Learn which herbs can you easily grow on an apartment porch or in an outdoor garden, and touch and smell some herb samples. 

Growing Citrus: Citrus is the most popular tree crop grown in California. Learn the best time to plant, planting tips, myths about pruning, pest management, and how to care for your tree.

Pest Management in Vegetable Gardens: Wondering what chewed your plant or if your vegetable plant has a disease? Take this class to get better at identifying pests as well as beneficial insects, and learn about less toxic ways to manage pests. 

Vermicomposting: Did you know red wiggler worms can help eat kitchen waste and create compost? See a "worm hotel" and learn more about these fascinating critters. Take home a list of instructions on how to create your own. Fun for the whole family!

Contact your local library branch to find out more. Missed a class you wanted to take? Look for it at another library branch in the future.

The UCCE Stanislaus County Master Gardeners are excited to bring you our very first class about citrus! We are holding this class on Zoom so we can record it and post it to our YouTube Channel.

Citrus trees are one of the most popular fruit trees grown in California. Not everyone can grow Lemons, limes, kumquats, pomelo, grapefruit, and oranges, just to name a few! The climate has to be just right, and the Central Valley of California is perfect for this crop.

We hope you will join us for an evening learning how to successfully grow citrus in your garden. We will discuss how to properly plant, water, and care for your tree, including when to fertilize, if and when you should prune, and also some of the common pests that cause problems for gardeners.

Where*: On Zoom. You will receive a link the morning of the class. 
When: Tuesday, March 29, 2022 6:00-7:30 p.m.
Cost: Free
Register at: http://ucanr.edu/citrus/2022
Instructors: Master Gardener Tim Long and Master Gardener Coordinator Anne Schellman 

When discussing fruit tree planting and growing, I always stress the importance of developing trees for the long run. While you may plant and harvest vegetable crops in a single season, fruit trees and grapevines remain in your garden for many years. You need to keep this in mind while you are pruning and caring for your young trees.

During the first two to four years after planting a new fruit tree, fruit production is either light or absent. However, this is the time when major root growth takes place and the basic framework of the tree is being developed. Actually, the first year that the tree is in the ground is the most important for root development. Stress caused by diseases, nematodes, weed competition or insufficient water can slow or stop root development, and hence top development. If your tree's growth is stunted from the beginning, there is little chance that it will grow satisfactorily in later years. After the first years, young trees become more tolerant to many of these stresses.

The second and third growing seasons are critical ones for developing your tree's framework for fruit production.  Deciduous fruit and nut trees must be properly trained for structural strength while developing maximum fruiting area.  The system most used is the open center or vase system. Citrus and avocado trees, on the other hand, do not require extensive pruning. Pests such as twig boring insects that cause distortion of early limb growth are most serious during these early years, because their damage affects the ultimate shape of the tree.

Young trees are often most susceptible to certain diseases such as bacterial canker or verticillium wilt. If your trees reach eight or nine years of age without being badly injured by these diseases, chances are good that they will survive future attacks.

Stunting of growth due to weed competition can be very serious during the first two or three years of fruit tree development. Vertebrate pests such as gophers or mice can also do serious damage to newly planted trees because the trunks and roots of young trees are more susceptible to their feeding.  You need to take quick action to control weeds and rodents around young trees.

Of course the most common and serious cause of poor tree development is improper watering practices. Too much or too little water will prevent the vigorous growth of young fruit trees, and make them more susceptible to pest, disease and sunburn problems as well. More than any other cultural practice, irrigation will affect the growth, development, and long term health and productivity of your fruit trees.

Ed Perry is the emeritus Environmental Horticultural Advisor for University of California Cooperative Extension (UCCE) in Stanislaus County where he worked for over 30 years.

Learn more about planting and pruning bare root fruit trees by watching the recording of our past class on our YouTube Channel.

Groundhogs are infamous for announcing the arrival of spring for folks in the eastern part of the United States. Groundhogs hibernate, so if Punxsatawney Phil pops up out of his den and sees his shadow today, it's said there will be six more weeks of winter. If he doesn't, spring comes early.

In California, we can't rely on Phil. Instead, we have gophers which are active all year. This makes them an unreliable source of information about the start of spring, since they are constantly popping up out of their burrows. Incidentally, spring officially starts on March 20 this year.

For gardeners, the presence of gophers can be frustrating. Most can tolerate a few insects on plants, or a small patch of a disease that can be cut off. However, just one gopher can consume an entire vegetable garden or dig multiple holes in the lawn and landscape in a short amount of time.

What made the holes in my garden or landscape?

If you see a hole, it might be a gopher or a mole. Gophers digging in lawns and landscapes leave holes that look like the photo to the right. Typically, they are crescent or horseshoe in shape. As they dig tunnels, gophers move fresh soil to the surface. You can usually see a plugged hole next to the mound.

Moles are another burrowing animal that also create mounds. However, their mounds are more circular, as shown in the photo in this post.

To learn more about gophers and how to control them, visit the UC IPM Pest Notes: Pocket Gophers. 

If you suspect the holes in your landscape or garden are made by another animal, read the UC IPM Pest Notes: Ground Squirrels.