by Melody Kendall

We have finally received some rain.  My garden is loving the moisture.  Usually, I am out in the yard passing the time doing little chores every day.  When it rains that isn't as pleasant a prospect, though it does smell wonderful.  So, my eyes have turned to my garden shed and the tools within. 

During the year I have kept my garden shed reasonably organized but, bit to be honest, not very neat.  When I finish digging, I have just knocked the extra soil off the shovel and stuck it in the rack.  The sap on sticky pruners have received the same, or lack of, care. My gardening boots are crusted with soil and plant material and my gloves are dirty and frankly, stinky. All in all, the contents of the entire structure needs a thorough going through and clean out. Rainy days are perfect for this chore. 

Last Christmas my husband gave me a transistor radio. I didn't know they even existed anymore, but I love to use it when I'm in my garden and it is perfect in the enclosed confines of the shed. With the radio blasting I laid out all my cleaning supplies. The usual dust rag, window cleaner and broom take care of the floor, shelves, windows and frames. The cloth gardening gloves go in the laundry and the leather ones receive a good brushing and leather conditioner. My boots and shoes also get a good brushing and a wipe down with a damp cloth. They are stacked neatly in their correct storage locations in the shed.

For cleaning the tools I laid out some coarse sandpaper, sanding block/sponge, some steel wool, a wire brush (plus a rotary wire brush for stubborn rust spots), a pumice stone and a putty knife to scrape off any remaining dried soil. I also have a spray can of WD-40, and one of vegetable oil. I am trying out the vegetable oil instead of the usual WD-40 because it is biodegradable and thus better for the environment.  I plan on using WD-40 on half of the tools and vegetable oil on the other half and see the protection quality of each as the year progresses. I will report back as I gather that information. 

My shed is nice-sized, so I am able to lay out various hand tools on my workbench and the larger shovels and rakes on the newspaper lined floor. I disassemble the ones with moving parts one at a time; in one case I had to go online to see how to take that tool apart.  Each hand tool is laid out on a clean towel, the component parts all in a line with the smaller pieces in a container.  Unless I take that precaution, small parts have a tendency, around me anyway, to roll away and disappear for all eternity.

Every tool is cleaned and dried sap, soil and any rust is removed from the metal surfaces using the sandpaper, wire brush and steel wool.  Stubborn spots are hit with the pumice stone and rotary wire brush. 

After each tool is clean I wipe all surfaces, including the handles, with a clean cloth.  If the handles are fiberglass the wiping down suffices.  If the handles are wood, I sand out any splinters or roughness and wipe them down with linseed oil. 

They are now for sharpening them.  I believe that tools should be sharpened regularly, preferably after each use.  But, as mentioned above, there were times that I just returned the tool to storage and walked away without tending them.  Years ago, I used a sharpening stone or whetstone, but a few years ago I found a great handy-dandy sharpening tool that fits perfectly in my pocket and is much easier to use. I'm truly embarrassed  that I didn't use this easier to use tool more frequently. Each cutting edge will require the use of the sharpening tool.  I like to run my sharpener two or three times along the surface of the blade from the handle to the edge in a continuous swipe.

Here are some examples of types of blades on hand tools:

Bypass blade, those with a blade that uses a scissors movement to pass next to, not on top of, the lower surface. The edge to be sharpened is on the beveled surface or the outside of the moving blade, not the inside. Sharpening the inside of the blade would eventually make the space between the blades grow larger due to the minute scraping off of the metal as you sharpen. 

Anvil blade tools feature a double beveled edge or a two sided blade that connects with a single flat surface/blade in a chopping motion.  Both sides of the moving blade will need sharpening. Hone both sides so they have an equal bevel.

There is much controversy about the preferred blade style.  Personally, I prefer the bypass style. 

The shovels, rakes and hoes really don't need much sharpening. The working surfaces of these tools will just need a visual check for any folded over metal surfaces.  If that has occurred, use a flat edged file or coarse sharpening stone to dress the edge back to true.  I sometimes run the sharpening tool along the working edge (example on a shovel the ‘working edge' is on the scoop side of the blade) to make sure that the surface doesn't have any pits or flat areas.  My Dad taught me this next step.  I spray each shovel and hoe blade with flat black spray paint. I like the way it makes all the tools look neat and it also protects the blade from rust. Plus, I have good memories of doing it with my Dad.  

I reassemble the hand tools and wipe all the tools' metal surfaces with either the WD-40 or vegetable oil.  I make a notation as to which tool I use which oil on for my records. 

All that remains is to store the tools in their assigned slots and ‘voila' my shed and tools are cleaned, organized and ready to go come spring. Another rainy day was spent being productive and, because I was inside the shed, the neighbors didn't have to listen to or, worse yet, see my wild gyrations as I rocked out to my music. 

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: Mel Kendall

Information links:

The Farmer Fred Rant Blog-Chuck Ingelshttp://farmerfredrant.blogspot.com/2009/08/anvil-versus-bypass-pruners-some.html

UCMG Santa Clara-Tool Care https://mgsantaclara.ucanr.edu/garden-help/tool-care-tips/ 

Cornell Cooperative Extension-Caring for your Tools https://fyi.extension.wisc.edu/cwas/files/2013/01/Caring_for_Your_Tools.pdf

 

 

by Melody Kendall

After working an hour or so doing some fall pruning in my garden, the song ‘Oops I did it again' came to mind as I rushed into the house for a quick wash on my itching arms. It seems every time I work in my garden I forget that the gaillardia plant is a skin irritant. After one such recurring ‘oops' moment I decided to do some research to see what other common landscape plants might cause similar skin discomfort when being nurtured.  

In my garden alone there are quite a few………

- Ranunculus and anemones are usually some of the first to bloom in my garden. The whole ranunculus family, when injured, secrete a toxin called protoanemonin. This toxin could cause a rash and itching and as possibly blisters on contact. 

- Strawberries (Fragaria × ananassa) are one of the few food crops that we grow.  The leaves and fruit might cause a skin reaction and the fruit, when consumed, could cause a skin rash as well.

- Chrysanthemums are a new addition to my landscape.  The sap contains the phytochemical compound alantolactone, which can irritate skin on contact and increase sensitivity to sunlight.

- The various agapanthus in our garden could cause dermatitis as the juice or sap of these plants may cause a skin rash or irritation.

- The azaleas (Rhododendron spp.) pose a major toxicity issue if consumed. They contain toxins called grayanotoxins.

- Our new black locust ‘twisty baby' (Robinia pseudoacacia)presents quite a danger as the leaves, flowers, branches, seeds and bark contain the toxalbumins, robin and phasin. The trees themselves are considered invasive in some regions and a detriment to surrounding foliage because they are reputed to secret toxins in the soil that inhibit the growth of  the surrounding plants. This is called allelopathy which is the chemical inhibition of one plant (or other organism) by another, due to the release into the environment of substances acting as germination or growth inhibitors.

- The bougainvillea and roses have thorns to watch out for.

- The naked lady (Amaryllis belladonna L.) is always a plant that I consider to be a fun addition to my landscape. The plant's bulbs sprout bright green leaves in winter and early spring that then die back.  I am continually delighted when these plants then push up those wonderful ‘naked' stems topped with lovely flowers in summer. Watch out! All parts of this plant are poisonous if ingested.

- Our climbing plants the trumpet vine (Campsis radicans), clematis and star jasmine (Trachelospermum jasminoides) have sticky sap that cause skin irrigation, stain clothes and gum up tools.

- The sap from iris, poppy (Iris germanica), lily (Lilium) and daffodils (Narcissus) could cause a mild skin irritation

Looking around the neighborhood I found quite a few toxic examples as well……….

- Agave plants:  Many of these plants have thorns. Sometimes huge thorns. The juice or sap of these plants contains needle shaped oxalate crystals which can cause skin irritation and, if ingested, swelling of the throat and stomach upset.

- Allium plants: Don't eat the plants or the beautiful blooms as they might cause minor illness or vomiting.

- Angel's Trumpet (Brugmansia): These are really toxic if any part of the plant is ingested. Doing so could require a quick run to the emergency room.

- Gingko tree (Ginkgo biloba): In your rush to remove this tree's extremely smelly fruit from the ground beneath the canopy be sure to wear gloves as the juice of the fruit might cause dermatitis.

- Lobelia plants: A double jeopardy where if you ingest the plant it is a major toxic hazard and if you get some of the sap on your skin you can get a rash.

- Solanaceous:  Plants-Many gardens contain plants from this family. The Angel's Trumpet above is only one of quite a large list.  These plants are notorious for being toxic, exceedingly so in some cases. But, on some of the plants only portions are toxic.  Tomato and potato plants are examples as the fruit of the tomato and the tuber of the potato are perfectly edible but the leaves and stems of both are highly toxic. Be aware.

- Poinsettia plants (Euphorbia pulcherrima)-This is a traditional Christmas plant.  Look out as the sap can cause skin irritation and don't nibble on the leaves or stems as they are a minor toxic hazard. 

- Pyracantha plants have those great red berries but don't eat them as they are mildly toxic and, if pruning the plants, wear gloves as the sap could make your skin react with a rash.

- Coast Redwood trees (Sequoia sempervirens): There are quite a few of these trees in my neighborhood.  I had no idea that the leaves were a minor toxic hazard and that with contact the sap and leaves could cause a skin irritation.

- Oleander plants (Nerium oleander) are quite prevalent in older landscapes as they were a very popular "fill in" plant.  According to the National Institute of Health "all parts of the oleander plant are toxic and can cause severe illness or death, including the leaves, flowers, twigs, and stems. The plant is so poisonous that even drinking water from a vase holding a bloom can cause a severe reaction." This plant might not be a good one to include in your landscape and, if you intend to remove existing plants, dress appropriately!

All the plants on the above list are only a sampling of the possible plants that might cause a minor and/or major toxic reaction. At first blush, all this information might make you feel that you should be donning a hazmat suit when doing any yard work. But remember forewarned is forearmed. My advice is to read up on all the plants in your garden and plan each work session defensively. Being informed will have the added benefit of being able to ID all of your garden plants and be better able to care and maintain your landscape. 

I feel that there is more in the gardening plus column that far outweighs the negative column. There won't be radical changes in my gardening modus operandi.  Armed with all this information I will dress appropriately and carry on. Then, taking into consideration my memory issues, I can hopefully avoid any further ‘oops' moments. 

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: Mel Kendall

Information links:

UCANR-'Safe and poisonous garden plants'              https://ucanr.edu/sites/poisonous_safe_plants/files/154528.pdf

 

by Melody Kendall

I love my garden and spend time puttering around out there most days.  Over the years I have had some great successes and some epic failures. 

When we moved to our house we had large evergreen trees camphor (Cinnamomum camphora) and an in-ground pool–not a good combination in terms of debris in the pool. To me an evergreen tree is “ever messy,” always shedding something, leaves, berries, bark.  Because of the mess I think evergreen trees require constant maintenance year-round.  Our Japanese maples (Acer palmatum) are deciduous and only have the fall leaf drop.  True, they have seeds that get everywhere, but that, at least, has a finite event window.  Plus, I have found that pruning deciduous trees is easier for me because once the trees wind down for the winter and drop all their leaves I can see the branches and determine which ones need attention.  However, when we removed the camphor trees it was a bittersweet experience. The smell of the cut wood reminded us that we had found these trees were a wonderful natural mosquito defense system.  You can find sources that say camphor trees are effective in keeping mosquitoes at bay and that say these trees, amazingly enough, seem to work around the clock to keep those flying menaces at bay.

Volunteer Zinnia

Our garden has been blessed with multiple ‘volunteer' sunflowers and zinnias.  They are amazing plants in the ‘not needing regular water' department. Receiving little or no irrigation I have found that the zinnias still provide happy ‘pops' of color in secret garden locations and that the Sunflowers tower over everything shouting to the birds “here I am.”

One of my all-time favorite plants is the dahlia. I think that the amazing color and diversity that these unassuming tubers produce is phenomenal.  For years I have had a dedicated dahlia garden within view from my kitchen window and sprinkled throughout the entire garden for additional color.  Just viewing their multicolored display makes me happy. When we were redoing the larger portion of our backyard last year my poor dahlias were allowed to languish and decline. This year there was a dismal crop of flowers and the plants themselves were weak, many succumbing to powdery mildew early in the season. 

The volunteer sunflowers might have contributed to their decline.  When they started coming up in the dahlia beds, I just left them in place which was probably not in the best interest of the dahlias.  I think that they crowded out and purloined all the water from the dahlias.  Normally, I don't clear out the dahlia beds until later in the fall but they were looking so bad I decided to clear them out early.  When I did, I noticed that the soil, which had just been watered, was very dry and the sunflowers root systems were very robust.  In the future I will remove all volunteer sunflowers from the dahlia beds. 

In the new landscape there are three areas for vertical gardens.  None of them are performing as we'd imagined.

We took a large ceramic planter from storage and a 5ft. tall cylindrical wire cage left over from tomato growing and combined the two by setting the wire into the soil filled pot and added a drip line to create a free-standing vertical garden. We then sprinkled morning glory seeds of various colors within.  We have volunteer morning glory plants in other areas of the garden that grow in wild abandon up and over fences and shrubs. These specially planted and planned for morning glory seeds? Not much, maybe next year.

One of our new acquisitions was a dedicated garden shed that is in view of the house. We thought that having a floral display climbing the side of the shed to view while doing the dishes would mitigate the drudgery of washing up.  So, in keeping with the theme of reuse and recycle, we built a 2 ft. tall long and thin raised bed from lumber left over from another project and then installed two wrought iron trellises that we moved from another area of the garden. We had seen an amazing abutilon or flowering maple display that climbed up a wall and decided that was what we wanted.  At a local nursery we found a variegated variety with orange flowers that was a perfect fit for this area.  These plants were in 4-inch pots and, after a year, though they have doubled their size, are still not ready to move up onto the trellis.  We are going to wait to see how they do in the next year and maybe fill in with some climbing annuals until they come into their own. 

We had a blank space directly in front of the brick chimney that we thought would make a great vertical garden.  Our vision was to have flowers climbing the bricks in a profusion of color. A friend and I made a trip to a Berkely metal reclamation location that I'd heard about that resulted in my purchase of a large metal gate.  Fortunately we had brought my friend's truck because this new acquisition was not only unwieldy but heavy, to boot. My Husband and I placed a 2x4 galvanized stock trough directly in front of the brick wall and put the gate inside angled to rest on the brick chimney.  We then filled the bottom of the trough with rocks left over from other landscaping projects to stabilize the gate.  Soil was added and a drip line installed and we were ready to go.  Our choice of a climbing plant was the Purple Queen® bougainvillea Bougainvillea ‘Moneth'.  We were advised against planting Bougainvillea in our climate zone multiple times with substantiating information and still we persisted.  Currently the chimney is bare and the bougainvillea has been moved to the ‘time out' section of the garden.  We are researching possible replacement plants at the writing of this article.

I mentioned the ‘time out' section of the garden.  Historically, if we had any plant that didn't seem to thrive and flourish in its current location we have moved it to a location that is tucked behind our potting area.  This area is our plant hospital, if you will.  It gets enough sun, has irrigation and the soil is amended and kept viable on a regular basis.  All the plants here are given a little extra TLC.  We try to discover what went wrong in the previous placement, if they are sick or just underachievers.  Each plant is babied along until it either recovers and then is placed somewhere in the larger landscape or it doesn't and is sent on to the great compost pile in the sky. 

As I said, I love puttering in my garden.  I find that just about every day I find something new and engaging to explore.  Plus, I just got back from my annual physical exam and my blood pressure, heart rate and lungs are in tip top shape.  I attribute this largely to all those wonderful hours just plain having fun in the garden and in the amazing world Mother Nature provides us. So, put on your mudders, gloves and hat and make your own garden adventure. 

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: Mel Kendall

Information links:

UC ANR

Camphor tree

http://ipm.ucanr.edu/PMG/GARDEN/PLANTS/camphor.html

Mosquito repellent

https://healthytalbot.org/topics/20-simple-ways-to-get-rid-of-mosquitoes/

Maple

http://ipm.ucanr.edu/PMG/GARDEN/PLANTS/maple.html

Dahlia Society of California

https://sanfranciscoparksalliance.org/dahlia-society-of-california/?gclid=CjwKCAjw7fuJBhBdEiwA2lLMYWfRKmaY4G-Pl2pQojFrNC7yDVbxSTtlvBDA-3ssRTKBSpd7Hr--qxoCOgEQAvD_BwE

UCIPM Powdery mildew

http://ipm.ucanr.edu/QT/powderymildewcard.html

Zinnia

http://ipm.ucanr.edu/PMG/GARDEN/FLOWERS/zinnia.html

Sunflower

http://ipm.ucanr.edu/PMG/GARDEN/FLOWERS/sunflower.html

Bougainvillea

https://www.monrovia.com/purple-queen-bougainvillea.html

UC IPM-Abutilon

http://ipm.ucanr.edu/PMG/GARDEN/PLANTS/abutilon.html

 

 

 

By Cindy Kerson

Stage 1: In April of 2020, we laid kurapia Lippia nodiflora sod. We wanted to have a grassy area that would be good for the environment and look elegant. Kurapia is a low water user, a pollinizer, and is very low maintenance – you don't have to mow it. When we put the sod in, it was an especially hot period here in Napa and the sod is heavy and messy. We laid 1,100SF, which isn't really much and would likely have been installed by a professional team in half a day. It took us three long, hot, miserable days.

It was a winter with little rain and we were a bit concerned, but we were able to water the Kurapia the 2-3X/day necessary for the first few weeks. After that, we watered 3X/week, and then less and less. The roots grow as much as 6' long. In fact, we may have overwatered. We saw a few brown spots. And as is typical of uninformed gardeners – when brown add more water, right? In fact, we were causing a fungus because the stuff really doesn't want a lot of water.

We didn't put an irrigation system in because we figured it wouldn't be necessary within a year. Other than the spots we overwatered, the kurapia did very well. We watched butterflies and bees go nuts over it.

However, we noticed blue grass popping up within the broadleaf (kurapia is not a lawn – it is a broadleaf plant and knowing this is very important to its management). The area where we laid the sod was previously bark-mulched dirt and a few raised garden beds that were moved for the project. There were few weeds. So, where did the bluegrass come from? Hmm. We called the distributor and connected with the company that farmed the kurapia. Once seeing it, they fessed up – they found bluegrass weeds throughout a certain section of their farm and assumed we got some of it. They pleaded our forgiveness, which we granted, with this provision:

They were to lay new sod next spring, which would have been spring 2021. I planned to pull up the existing bluegrass infested kurapia and apply a preemergent herbicide to kill anything in the area, something not too toxic. In fact, we haven't used any product yet, because, sadly, we were all welcomed to spring 2021 after a very dry winter. On our property that's spelled dry well. Since it was now year two of low rainfall, our water stream dried up. So, we asked that the new kurapia sod not be laid until Spring 2022, and they agreed. This afforded me all season to watch what would happen if the kurapia got absolutely no water. We have a slight grade on our property, by county maps ~5% and where the lawn is laid it's likely ~1% grade. Over this summer, we watched the kurapia die off from the highest to the lowest point. In fact, today there are still a few areas that are thriving, having had no water or fertilizer. This is encouraging.

Stage 2: Over the last few days, we put cardboard down over as much of the area we could (we get only so many shipments with big boxes) and threw about 1-2” of compost on top. It's supposed to rain tonight, so that should pack it down a bit.

Finally, I wanted to put mulch on top of all of it and decided to let nature do it for me. We have a Chinese pepper tree and Crepe Myrtle that shed a ton of leaves this year. We'll simply blow them on top. See the image the next morning after applying the cardboard and compost, you can see it won't take long!

We'll be looking for more boxes to complete the process. In fact, it will be interesting to see if sooner or later is best doing this type of “lasagna composting”– maybe we'll put more down once a month over the next few months. Another consideration is to put compost and then plastic to solarize a different section. Let's hope for a good winter, with enough rain to support watering the new Kurapia until they don't need (or want) it anymore. I'm again looking forward to a nice green “lawn” area where bees and butterflies abound.

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: Cynthia Kerson

References:

Oregon State Univ.-sheet mulching (lasagna composting)

https://extension.oregonstate.edu/gardening/soil-compost/sheet-mulching-aka-lasagna-composting-builds-soil-saves-time

UC Davis-Kurapia https://ccuh.ucdavis.edu/kurapia