- Author: Bob Niklewicz PT DHSc MG
Riddle Time:
What goes out more than teenagers? My back.
What do Rice Krispies ™ and my knees have in common? They go “Snap, Crackle and Pop” when used.
Do you give friends, at a moment of excitement, “Medium 5s ” because your shoulders don't like your arms in the high position?
If you can relate to any of these, you might be a gardener – a gardener that could also have mobility issues and degenerative changes to your body. One of the joys of being a gardener is the peace and tranquility of working the soil and watching things grow. You also know that you bend, move soil, reach, pull and twist to different and often awkward levels to do a task. What should make us happy and contented, can also cause us pain. The truth and reality of living a long and productive life is that many of your body parts wear thin or completely out, on top of being painful. As many of my peers say, “Growing old is not for sissies.” I am also very well aware that even children can be challenged by this and many other mobility ailments. Many of the things I will feature below can be applied to them as well. For simplicity, I will be using generic terms that can be applied to many physical challenges.
As a sage old physical therapist and long-time gardener, I ask myself, “What can be done to modify those tasks that are the most physically troublesome to make things less painful and fun again?” I do not like to be in pain, so some of these issues are personal. I'd like to share “seeds” of wisdom with you that I've gathered.
I start out with looking at my garden and/or task to determine what is the most difficult task I do that hurts and start there. The main one is going to ground level and back up. Let's think about this from the ground up. Heavy lifting, carrying, tossing and/or reaching from the ground may be physically unsafe. You could hire a helper for those big, heavy tasks in your garden or think of ways to move bulky items into smaller containers. You will make more trips with a lighter and more manageable load rather than going for a big grunt effort. Buying smaller bags of products instead of big bags will make the task slower, but easier and less stressful.
Getting down and then back up from ground level soil work and planting, is difficult for some, especially the coming up part. Give credit to gravity for the going down assistance. There are stools and other adaptive devices that can make that task easier. If you don't have to go down as far or reach as far, that is a step in the right direction. Also, while in that low posture, you are probably reaching and digging with small tools. Getting tools that have longer handles that do the job while you are sitting will also help reduce the strain from sitting or kneeling and then standing back up. They could be used while standing or sitting depending on the task and length of the tool.
Okay, if that is still too hard to do from a sitting or standing posture? Answer: If you can't bend down, raise the soil. Think about raised planters at waist level and 24” or 48” wide. Purchase or make wooden boxes with wire mesh bottoms to keep out gophers and moles Have them waist high so you don't bend far and the width such that you can reach across the box. In a 24” wide box, you should be able to reach to the other side of the box. With the 48” box, you should be able reach to the middle with your tools from either side. 
You can even consider getting a galvanized raised garden bed (aka stock tank). Here is one that can be found on most search engines. It's a 6'x24”x 24” galvanized tub.
Raised planters will also give you a handhold to stand back up. The layers of soil, drains and insulation for the sides of the trough is another discussion. Or this raised garden bed with legs, wooden planter box for those with limited bending or if they are in a wheelchair. It is raised up on posts so your legs can fit under the planter.
As far as the surface around the planter, that has to be considered as well. If you are capable of walking without assistive devices, (Cane, walker, wheelchair) the soil in the yard should be okay. Adding and packing down hard gravel should be considered for cane or walker users. If still unsteady or wheelchair users, a cement path wider than the walker or wheelchair would be needed.
If you have the option, place the containers closer to the house to reduce the distance you need to walk to tend them. If you have stairs, consider getting a long ramp with 1' length for every 1” of height of the stairs. For example, if the height of the stairs is 24” the ramp should be 24' long. If you wish, a firm path could be used instead of a ramp. Railings and non-skid surface are a must in either case.
Though the focus of this article was to promote the idea of raised planter boxes, the same concepts would work for other containers or vessels. Flower pots, large jugs, birdbaths, bathtubs, bicycle baskets, or old blue jeans can be used and admired from a standing or seated position. Have fun and work safely. I can you dig it, can you?
Napa Master Gardeners are available to answer garden questions by email: mastergardeners@countyofnapa.org. or phone at 707-253-4143. Volunteers will get back to you after they research answers to your questions.
Visit our website: napamg.ucanr.edu to find answers to all of your horticultural questions.
- Author: Bob Niklewicz
In the Master Gardener's Rose Cycle, July is when we fertilize lightly with organic products if needed. Deadheading continues and pruning of crossing branches or dying canes are a must. We also monitor our irrigation systems for the proper amount of water provided. Not checking the system can waste a lot of water and allow diseased leaves to stay under the bushes, meaning more work for you later.
This time of year is great for seeing which rose bushes are stars in your garden, which ones are doing great and look happy and which ones are not. Shape the bushes into a vase like form that opens up the inside of the plant. You can look down into the center of the bush and see the ground below. The canes and stems should be growing outwards. If you look into the center from the top, it resembles a vase or large bowl formed by the canes, leaves and blossoms.
One of the other types of roses in the garden are standard, or tree roses. They have a single tall stem, topped with the leaves and blossoms. It typically grows from 6' up to 8'. When it is shaped correctly it looks like what is commonly called a “lollipop” shape. This rose starts out as a bush and the rosarian will pick the strongest cane and let it grow tall. When it gets to a standard height, 3'- 4', the top will be cut off. It will then be grafted with 4-5 canes from the rose bush the rosarian has chosen to display.
Rose of the Month: Sun Sprite
It is a mid-yellow color with a darker yellow on the backs of the petals, and holds its color well. It has dark green, glossy leaves that are resistant to disease. It grows well in hot and cool weather with a tolerance for rain. It is a great rose for a bedding arrangement. To me it is a happy rose.
The Sun Sprite is blooming now in the Fuller Park Rose Garden as a standard bush. Come and see this happy and bright rose in bloom.
Remember to toss rose plant debris into your city compost bin and not your own compost pile. The Napa city compost center produces higher temperatures that destroys pathogens while your backyard pile will not. When it comes to adding mulch, consider getting it from the Napa recycling center.
If you have questions about the Fuller Park Rose Garden and the Master Gardeners who maintain that Rose Garden, MGs are usually in the garden the first Sunday and third Thursday of each month between 10:00 a.m. and 12:00 p.m., weather permitting.
You can also go to our Master Gardener website: napamg.ucanr.edu for more details.
Iinformation about the Sun Sprite rose sourced from The American Rose Society Encyclopedia of Roses, 2003.
Photo credits: Bob Niklewicz
Napa Master Gardeners are available to answer garden questions by email: mastergardeners@countyofnapa.org. or phone at 707-253-4143. Volunteers will get back to you after they research answers to your questions.
- Author: Bob Niklewicz, MG at the Fuller Park Rose Garden
In the Master Gardener's Rose Cycle, May is when we fertilize with organic products, start deadheading and check our irritation systems. Last year we had a section of irrigation tubing that was chewed through by rodents in the garden. Perhaps they were seeking water or they simply liked the taste of the tubing. They ate about a foot long section of tubing that looked like half a loaf of french bread cut long ways with the center eaten out. That is an odd graphic but close enough for your imagination. Not checking the system can waste a lot of water.
We also do some thinning out of the centers of new growth in our bushes to make sure that the air circulation is adequate. Circulation is needed to reduce the incidence of black spot and rust on the plants. Thinning out refers to the removal or new sprouting stems that are pointed into the center of the bush or are crossing other branches. In addition, we watch for the extra, unwanted growth in the crux of two or more stems. This seems to be a nest for fungal growth and the harboring of pests in this dense new growth that will not be productive for bloom growth later.
Pruning now is simply to snap off or thumb prune those small, densely packed clusters of new leaves. That will improve circulation and send more energy to the growth you want to encourage, rather than wasting it on non-productive leaves.
Rose of the Month: Double Delight
The Double Delight rose (Rosa ‘Double Delight') bred by Swim & Ellis came to us in 1977. It is a hybrid tea rose cultivar from ‘Granada' and ‘Garden Party' parentage. It has a very sweet, fruity scent and it blooms constantly. It was awarded the title of “World Favorite Rose” in 1985.
It is one of the best selling and well known roses in the world. It is a perfect hybrid shape that can last a long time when cut and displayed. There is no definitive reason for the name other than perhaps it has both a wonderful color and scent, or just because it has a wonderful blend of two colors. It is easy to grow but they are not immune to the mildew and black spot. The flower is large and borne singly, though they can be in two or three buds on a long stem. The ‘Double Delight' is blooming now in the Fuller Park Rose Garden as both a tree rose and a standard bush. Come to the garden and see it in bloom for a real double delight before your eyes and nose. (Information is from The American Rose Society Encyclopedia of Roses, 2003)
Remember to toss that plant debris into your city compost bin and NOT your own compost pile. The Napa City compost center produces higher temperatures to destroy the spores while your backyard pile will not do so.
If you have questions about the Fuller Park Rose Garden and the Master Gardeners (M.G.s) who maintain that Rose Garden, the MGs are usually in the Garden the first Sunday and third Thursday of each month between 10:00 a.m. and noon, weather permitting.
Watch for information about a Summer Rose Pruning course coming May 4th at our Master Gardener classroom with a hands-on portion on May 9th at the Fuller Park Rose Garden. Visit our Master Gardner website: napamg.ucanr.edu for more details. Napa Master Gardeners are available to answer garden questions by email: mastergardeners@countyofnapa.org. or phone at 707-253-4143. Volunteers will get back to you after they research answers to your questions.
Photo credits: Bob Niklewicz
- Author: Bob Niklewicz, MG at the Fuller Park Rose Garden
BOOM!! We have flowers! There is an old saying, “April showers bring May flowers.” If you heard that as a kid you would finish that ditty with, “What do May flowers bring?” – you know the rest. While that is generally true in many areas of North America, here in the Napa area we get rain earlier and we see roses as early as March. If you are further north it may not be until June or July to get blooms. Most of Napa is in the USDA Plant Hardiness Zone 9b, which means we do not get as cold as much of the United States this time of year. Therefore, we get flowers sooner. In the last couple of years, we've also received more moisture from increased winter rain and coastal fog.
According to Master Gardener's Rose Cycle, April is when we watch for pests and diseases. We do that by opening up areas of new growth by selective pruning, allowing better circulation of air to the new foliage.
With the relatively warmer weather and rain in our area, roses do well. However, so does fungus. Fungi are the most common cause of plant disease and black spot is a very common occurrence in our coastal areas. See Photos 1 & 2 below.
Although black spot is caused by a fungus that requires moisture from rain or fog, it is especially prevalent when moisture stays in place for more than seven hours–much like our nice foggy coastal nights and mornings. This also holds true if you hose off aphids in the evening rather than in the morning. Doing the hosing in the evening will not allow the foliage to fully dry before the coolness of the evening sets in. The black spots occur on the upper surface of the leaves and stems, but not underneath the leaf. The spots are small to large with accompanying yellowing of the rest of the leaf.
Black spot can be minimized by pruning your bushes in such a way to allow ample circulation of air that can, in turn, reduce the dampness in the center of the bush and around the congested stems and branches. That is also why we, at the Fuller Park Rose Garden do our winter pruning and early thumb pruning of the lower parts of the canes in February and March. By doing so we encourage openness of those congested areas that will allow air and faster drying times. That task reduces fungal growth later in the Rose Cycle year. There are varieties of roses that are more resistant to black spot than others. When deciding to buy a new rose bush, ask your local nursery which bushes will be best in our area to resist fungus.
If you do not catch the black spot infestation early enough, your action of choice is to pick off leaves and clear away the infested materials that have fallen to the ground around the bush. The ground will harbor spores that can get on your plant again. Spraying your pruning shears and gloved finger tips with a disinfectant between plants will also reduce the exposure to disease infested bushes and those that are not so. You may consider using oil sprays such as neem oil to reduce the occurrence of black spots.
Remember: Toss that plant debris into your city compost bin and NOT your own compost pile. The City of Napa Solid Waste and Recycling Center's equipment produces temperatures high enough to destroy the spores while your backyard pile will not do so.
If you have questions about the Fuller Park Rose Garden and the Master Gardeners (MGs) who maintain that Rose Garden, the MGs are usually in the garden mornings of the first Sunday and third Thursday of each month between 10:00 and noon, weather permitting.
Watch for information about a Summer Rose Pruning course coming May 4th at our MG Classroom and the hands-on portion on May 9th at the Fuller Park Rose Garden. You can also go to our Master Gardner website: napamg.ucanr.edu more details.
Next month we will start our Rose of the Month feature in this blog.
Napa Master Gardeners are available to answer garden questions by email: mastergardeners@countyofnapa.org. or phone at 707-253-4143. Volunteers will get back to you after they research answers to your questions.
Visit our website: napamg.ucanr.edu to find answers to all of your horticultural questions.
Photo credits: Bob Niklewicz
- Author: Lonnie Payne-Clark
I know that this might sound strange to you, but today, March 20th, the first full day of spring, I was admiring the various types of weeds and wildflowers that are popping up in my garden. It reminds me of the quote, “Weeds are flowers too, once you get to know them.”-A.A.Milne. I was admiring the various colors and types of plants that are popping up in the sun-drenched part of my garden, such as the dead nettle (Lamium purpureum), field marigolds (Calendula arvensis), miner's lettuce (Claytonia perfoliate), musky stork's bill (Erodium moschatum), a species of filaree, and of course, what excursion into weeds and wildflowers wouldn't be appropriate without mentioning the California poppy (Eschscholzia californica), which, of course, is a beautiful plant, but could be considered a weed to many.
The wild calendula in my garden developed as a surprise. Several years ago, I bought a package of calendula seeds - most likely Calendula officinalis. They produce gorgeous, low-to-the-ground plants with attractive three-inch orange and yellow flowers. I did not buy them with the intention of using them as ground cover, but they became ground cover! Several years later, those plants still reappeared since they could be self-sown.
To my surprise, I noticed that one part of my garden had these much taller daisy-like plants that I discovered were a different type of calendula, often called field marigolds, Calendula arvensis. I'm not sure how Calendula arvensis came to my garden. I have purchased several packs of wildflower seeds over the years. Perhaps it was brought into my garden by one of those wildflower mixes.
Since we live in a Mediterranean-type climate, this should not come as a surprise. These plants are often found in fields in the Tuscan region, especially among olive groves. The blooms are much smaller than the calendula that I started from seed. I enjoy how they open every morning, follow the sun, and close in the evenings. Often, visitors to my garden confuse them with blooming mustard plants, commonly seen here in the Valley at this time of year as cover crops between the grape vines.
What is also spectacular about both of these calendulas is that they seem to be very drought-tolerant. I don't use much, if any, water for either and am constantly rewarded with a multitude of blooms. The more cultivated calendula continues to bloom well into the summer with infrequent watering. The wild calendula gets “leggy” after a while. I pull them up by late April, amend the soil, and plant my sunflower seeds. It's a great spot in my garden to keep a continuous pop of color.
Napa Master Gardeners are available to answer garden questions by email: mastergardeners@countyofnapa.org. or phone at 707-253-4143. Volunteers will get back to you after they research answers to your questions.
Visit our website: napamg.ucanr.edu to find answers to all of your horticultural questions.
Photo credits: Lonnie Clark
