By Maureen Matt, Butte County Master Gardener, April 24, 2015
Blueberry varieties are often self-pollinating, but fruit set will increase and berries will be larger if two varieties are planted together, so bees can travel and cross-pollinate.
Like azaleas, blueberries belong to the family Ericaceae, and prefer acid soils with a pH of 4.5 to 5.5. Soil sulfur can be worked into the soil six to twelve months before planting, and side-dressed as needed in subsequent years. Peat moss too can be used to adjust acid levels. Soil testing kits are available at local nurseries and, used yearly, can spot when soil corrections are needed.
Most blueberries are deciduous shrubs that grow 4 to 6 ft. tall. Plants can be spaced 3 ft. apart for an informal hedge, or 4-5 ft. apart for individual shrubs. Place year-old blueberry plants in a sunny location. Two plants per person is advised, and some for the birds, unless you net your bushes. Because their shallow roots are 3-4 ft. wide, the soil should be dug this wide and at least 1-2 ft. deep. Amended soil in raised beds also works well.
Lightly roughen up the outside surface of a root-bound plant. Set the soil line of the trunk slightly above soil level to prevent settling. Cover soil with 4-6 inches of mulch to conserve moisture, prevent weeds, and add organic matter. Bark mulch (not cedar), pine needles, acid compost, and sawdust all work well.
Blueberries' shallow, fibrous roots need adequate drainage. Irrigate with soaker hoses, mini-sprinklers, or drip lines. Water is critical from berry development through harvest, also during bud formation in July and August. The amount of water will depend on soil type, drainage, and weather; too much water can result in root rot. For these reasons, frequent testing of soil moisture is recommended.
Take care to prevent over fertilizing. When needed, usually in early and late spring, gently rake back mulch and spread fertilizer on top of soil. Replace mulch and water well. Use a 10-10-10 mix or something similar containing ammonium sulfate and potassium sulfate, both of which are acid-forming. Sprinkle one and one-half tablespoons within 12-18 inches of each plant four weeks after planting. Double fertilizer amounts yearly up to a maximum of five tablespoons per plant.
Organic fertilizers like blood meal, cottonseed meal, fish meal, and alfalfa meal can be used instead of commercial types at a rate of 1 lb. per plant, beginning at the initial planting.
It takes at least three years for a blueberry plant to become established and healthy. Remove all blossoms in the first few years to prevent small berries and spindly growth. Blueberry plants have a naturally bushy form, but the number of branches should be limited to the age of the plant, up to a maximum of six to eight branches for old bushes. Yearly remove one to two branches so that none are over four to six years old.
Southern highbush varieties include the early-ripening Misty, O'Neal and Jubilee; the early to mid-season Sharpblue; and the midseason varities Southmoon and Sunshine Blue. For more information, see http://ucanr.org/sites/gardenweb/Berries/Blueberries.
By Barbara Ott, Butte County Master Gardener, April 24, 2015
Companion planting combines diverse plants in an informed manner to bring a balanced ecosystem into the garden. This approach to gardening has been used by organic gardeners for decades. The idea is to plant herbs and flowers with vegetables to create sustainable gardens with better crop yields.
Diversity is one goal of companion planting. Plants that are “companions” help each other grow—for example, tall plants provide shade for sun-sensitive plants. Companions use garden space efficiently—vining plants can cover the ground, while tall plants grow upwards through their foliage.
Using this method, companion plants are precisely placed for diversity as well as the benefits of plant health and insect disruption. One traditional plant pair is that of carrots and tomatoes, which are beneficial to one another (while, on the other hand, cabbages and tomatoes create an antagonistic combination). To maximize space in the garden, lettuce, carrots, and onions can be planted together; their roots grow to different depths so they use water efficiently.
One well-known group of companions is that of legumes, like beans, clover and alfalfa. Bacteria invade the root hairs of legumes and make nodules where these beneficial Rhizobium nitrogen-fixing bacteria live. The nitrogen these bacteria fix becomes available to the legume plant and the soil around its roots. Legumes can be worked into the soil, renewing and replacing nitrogen. This reduces the amount of manure and chemical fertilizers needed for heavy-feeding plants.
Companions can help prevent pest problems by repelling pests or attracting the beneficial insects needed to keep down the population of insect pests. Onions are one plant that repels some pests. Marigolds contain thiophene, which deters root nematodes. Chives planted alongside roses repel aphids. Nasturtiums act as a decoy crop for kale and tomatoes by attracting aphids away from the more desirable edibles (once the nasturtium plant has attracted aphids, it is removed from the garden before the aphid young develop wings). Aromatic herbs like basil, rosemary, lavender, and sage, will repel many pests. Mix these in with pest-susceptible plants. The presence of diverse plant species disrupts the ability of herbivorous insects to discover host plants for feeding or egg-laying. The time wasted on non-host plants reduces the reproductive efficiency of specialist insects.
Companions of flowers and herbs attract beneficial insects. Beneficials are predators or parasites of harmful insects. Beneficials include ground beetles,ladybugs, praying mantids, and pirate bugs. Some species of wasps, spiders, and flies are also beneficial. Plants that flower in umbels (flat-topped clusters of small flowers) such as dill, parsley, carrot, angelica and parsnip, provide habitat for beneficial insects. For example, Queen Anne's lace is an excellent habitat for small predator wasps that lay their eggs in the bodies of aphids.
Lists of specific companion plant combinations can be found on web sites and in gardening books. Find the best friends for your garden plants, to create sustainable gardens with better yields. Remember to experiment, observe and record how these companions work in your own garden.
By Brent McGhie, Butte County Master Gardener, May 22, 2015
As the drought continues and the need to conserve water increases, some of us are eliminating our vegetable gardens this year. However, if vegetable gardening is a necessity for you, it is possible to significantly reduce water use in the garden.
Before planting a single seed, a good first step in vegetable gardening is to amend the soil with compost. Compost adds organic material to the soil, improving the soil's water environment. Organic matter improves the water-holding ability of sandy soils and loosens clay soils, promoting better water absorption. And as organic substances break down, nutrients are released into the soil.
Mulch, mulch, mulch! Mulching is probably the single most important thing a gardener can do to reduce water consumption in a vegetable garden, or the home landscape in general. Mulching reduces evaporation from the soil by up to 35% and can significantly cut irrigation needs. Mulches also smother weeds, which compete with vegetables for water.
Grass clippings make excellent mulch because they release nitrogen into the soil as they break down. To avoid matting, clippings should applied in thin layers between one-quarter and one-half an inch deep and be allowed to dry out between layers. Do not use grass clippings from lawns that have been treated with herbicides. Other organic mulches include wood shavings, compost, bark, straw, or alfalfa. Organic mulches should be one to three inches thick in vegetable gardens; the larger the mulch particles, the thicker the mulch needs to be. Also, thicker layers of shavings, straw, or bark may lead to a carbon-nitrogen imbalance in the soil. A layer of newspaper two sheets thick can be placed under organic mulches to enhance their effectiveness. (Do not use glossy printed material for this purpose, as the ink may be toxic to plants.)
When deciding which vegetables to plant, be aware that the amount of water needed by different crops varies. Corn and most beans require the greatest water use of commonly-planted garden vegetables. Vegetables that are more drought tolerant include chard, black-eyed peas (cowpeas), heat-tolerant tomatoes (including many cherry varieties), some varieties of okra, mustard greens, eggplant, jalapeno and poblano peppers, Black Knight zucchini, and New Zealand and Malabar spinach. Shallow-rooted crops, including potatoes, onions (and most other bulb, root or tuber crops), celery, and plants in the cabbage family, require more frequent irrigation. For this reason, mulch is especially beneficial for shallow-rooted crops. Tomatoes, sweet potatoes, melons and asparagus are more deep-rooted and can tolerate longer periods without irrigation. Beans, carrots, peppers, summer squash and cucumbers are intermediate in root depth. Additionally, low-growing plants and plants with smaller leaves tend to lose less water through their leaves than taller, leafier varieties. Bush beans, for example, use less water than pole beans. Also, miniature varieties of vegetables, such as mini bell peppers and eggplants, need less water for fruit development than standard varieties.
In addition to planting less thirsty varieties, garden design can improve water efficiency. Rather than using traditional rows, plant vegetables in blocks. This creates shade and reduces evaporation. Group plants with similar water needs together (this technique is called hydrozoning). Zucchinis, cucumbers and squash, for example, require similar water applications. They can be planted in the same bed; or planted in different locations, but served by the same valve or drip line. If the garden is in a windy, breezy location, a windbreak will also reduce evaporation.
How a garden is irrigated can affect how much water it uses. Water early in the morning, so that water has a better chance to soak into the soil before it evaporates. A drip system (under mulch) is an efficient way to deliver water to crops with minimal evaporation loss. To avoid overwatering, monitor soil moisture. Generally, if garden soil has dried out to a depth of two to four inches, it's time to water. Including a timer as part of an irrigation system will reduce waste due to human error. Overhead sprinklers and hose-end sprayers are inefficient, result in high evaporation losses and are more likely to trigger diseases such as mildew. Also, the amount of water needed by plants varies over their life cycle. As a rule of thumb, water is most critical for plants during the first few weeks of development, immediately following transplanting, and during flowering and fruit production. Target the timing and amount of water with these plant needs in mind. It is also important to check and maintain your irrigation system frequently to keep it performing at top efficiency.
Water can be “harvested” from inside the house for use in the garden. For example, save your cooking water, or capture water flowing from sinks and showers before the water is hot. Wastewater from an aquarium can be reused and it will also provide a variety of nutrients for garden plants. Finally, gardens can be irrigated with graywater (drain water from sinks, showers and tubs). Before undertaking this step, check with your local public health department. The Butte County Public Health website, for example, contains a great deal of information about the use of graywater, including a link to the San Francisco Graywater Design Manual.
By Butte County Master Gardeners, June 5, 2015
The guide also includes a garden journal organized from spring through winter with space to keep track of your own garden over three years. You may want to keep track here of new plants, bloom dates, frost dates, average temperatures, pests and beneficial insects observed, and other types of practical information. Keeping a journal from year to year encourages successful gardening: creating a history of plants and gardening practices that were successful encourages you to continue with them; while noting which ones did not work well prevents you from repeating those mistakes. The journal pages provide ample space for adding sketches or photographs of your garden areas over the course of the year, as well.
Each seasonal section in the Gardening Guide and Three-Year Garden Journal includes a list of produce harvested during that period, alongside a list of tasks and suggestions for garden preparation. Each month includes a specific list of gardening tasks and tips for planting, maintaining the garden, and dealing with garden and orchard pests and diseases. Each month also features a native plant that is at its best in terms of blooms or foliage at that time -- helpful for those who plan to add more native plants to their gardens.
The appendix section includes several useful charts and diagrams, including vegetable planting guides geared specifically for the Chico area and the foothills; detailed information on caring for fruit and nut trees in our area; varieties of fruit trees that are resistant or susceptible to disease; and illustrated charts of common garden pests and beneficial insects.
The idea for the Butte County Gardening Guide and Three-Year Garden Journal arose from our experience in producing a yearly garden calendar from 2011 - 2014. The calendars were popular and we had many repeat customers every year. But we learned that most customers did not actually use the calendars as calendars; instead they turned to the gardening information, keeping the calendars permanently for reference as part of their garden library.
This discovery led us to develop a garden guide worthy of a garden reference guide. We incorporated into it ample space for garden journaling, because we have found that our own gardens improve dramatically when we keep a garden journal. Our Gardening Guide and Three-Year Garden Journal is designed with spiral binding so it will lay flat and can easily be written in without breaking the binding.
The guide costs $25 (including tax) and will be sold at Master Gardener booths at farmers markets in the area and other public events where we have a booth; at all of our workshops or talks where selling is permitted; and at the Patrick Ranch Museum gift shop, right next to our Demonstration Gardens. For information on Butte County Master Gardener public talks and workshops, please see our website at ucanr.edu/sites/bcmg.
If you liked the Butte County Master Gardeners' calendars, you will love the new Gardening Guide and Three Year Garden Journal. It has been designed, written and edited by local Master Gardener volunteers, with multiple contributions by JosephConnell, FarmAdvisor Emeritus, Butte County Cooperative Extension. The guide features cover and full-page illustrations by local artist ChrisFicken and has been printed locally by Graphic Fox. Proceeds from the sale of this publication will support the Master Gardeners' Demonstration Gardens and public education programs.
By John Smith, Butte County Master Gardener, June 19, 2015
To check your water usage, first locate your meter. Bring a screwdriver, a flashlight, and pen and paper with you. Use the screwdriver (or similar lever-type tool) to wedge into the slot on the “lid” over the meter, and lift it off; then shine the flashlight inside to make sure no black widows or other dangerous creatures are lurking in there. You will probably have to brush some debris off the face of the meter. When you do, you will be looking at a large circular dial, a smaller blue dial, and, below them both, a series of numbers. Write those numbers down. This is the base you will begin with. Once you have those numbers, you can start to calculate your daily water consumption.
Each full number in front of the decimal point on that gauge represents one unit which is 1Ccf or 748 gallons of water. The numbers to the right of the decimal point are in 1/100s (one-one-hundreths) of 748. The larger dial moves clockwise, indicating water use up to 748 gallons; when that number is reached, the full number on the gauge increases by one. The smaller blue dial indicates that water is being used at that moment. If all of your water is shut off, the blue dial should not be moving. If it is, you have a water leak or water on somewhere on your property.
There are several ways to use this information to become a more informed water user and to reduce overall water consumption.
- If you note down the water gauge number late on a night when you are not irrigating, then check the gauge again in the morning, you should be able to tell if you have a water leak somewhere on your property. –If the gauge tells you that water has been used when you have not, to your knowledge, used any water, somehow water is leaking out.
- Test how much water you actually use when hand watering with a hose. It certainly seems like hand watering uses much less water than sprinklers – but does it really? Check the number on your water meter, then, using a stop watch, see how much water you actually use in one minute with the hose on full force. Or see how many seconds it takes to fill up a five-gallon bucket watering can.
- Check that water meter number, then take your usual shower, and check that number afterwards. Subtract the smaller number from the larger and multiply that decimal number times 748. Your answer will be the number of gallons used.
- If you have an automatic watering system, record your pre and post irrigation meter readings, then use procedure above to calculate gallons of water used each time your irrigation system runs.
Those living in the Paradise Irrigation District (PID) have access to a more advanced individual water-usage information system than those with Cal Water. The water meters of PID customers are green (easy to spot). A system known as "Aqua Hawk Alerting" reports water use every hour on the hour. This information is updated online every 24 hours. PID customers can log in online to view their previous day's water use. This system allows users to look at a daily water use graph which is helpful in evaluating the effect of their water-saving strategies. Aqua Hawk will notify customers by phone, text, or email if it detects a possible leak. This system also allows customers to specify an amount of water (in gallons) or an estimated bill amount (in dollars) that they don't want to exceed. If water consumption or bill amount exceeds or is projected to exceed the threshold value,AquaHawk will send a notification. This is very helpful in meeting water budgets.
Cal Water has not adopted this reporting technology, but by logging in their account number online, Cal Water customers can view graphs of their monthly water usage, comparing 2013 and 2014 usage with the newly-reduced monthly targets.
Lawn Removal Advice
By Eve Werner, Butte County Master Gardener
California Water Service is offering rebates for those in single-family residences who remove lawn and replace it with drought-tolerant plants. This is a great opportunity—it is not difficult to realize landscape water savings of over 80% through careful plant selection, site preparation, and accurate application of irrigation. .
However, the current rules for the rebate require that homeowners complete their lawn removal project within 120 days of gaining approval to start work. Please note that four months is not enough time to properly kill many Chico lawns, especially those which contain Bermuda grass. If the lawn replacement project is started during the summer, the time restriction on the rebate forces replanting during our hot season, which can result in the stress or death of the new plantings.
The optimum time to plant a dry garden is between November, when the first rains begin to fall, and February. Planting during that period gives plants a chance to establish roots before the summer heat arrives, and before the soil begins to dry out.
In the meantime, you can properly kill your lawn. Our next Real Dirt column will explain how to do just that.
