- Author: Denise Seghesio Levine
As you clean up your garden and remove summer annuals, take care to banish weeds and their seedpods, too. Pick up a truckload of well-aged compost, or schedule a delivery, from one of Napa County's two excellent compost companies. Nourish tired garden soil with fertilizers that replace potassium and phosphorous. After you fertilize and amend soil, water well to disperse the nutrients. If your fertilizer comes in a bag, box or bottle, carefully follow abel directions.
Be merciless in removing weed seedpods. However, if you grew calendulas, violas, forget-me-nots or zinnias, shaking their seed heads as you weed will reward you with color spots the following spring. Even some edible crops like lettuce, onions and parsley will often reseed if you encourage them.
In fact, some annuals are such vigorous self-sowers thatWeeds of California and Other Western States,a University of California publication, considers them weeds. Violets, forget-me-nots and many others are in this group. Luckily for me, they are some of my favorite flowers. Denim-blue or yellow violas, sweet-scented purple violets (Viola odorata) and bold-faced pansies ranging from deep blue to pink can all be planted now. Plant violas in garden beds and put more in pots to bring some cheer to the coming winter days.
Tuck calendulas, also called pot marigolds, in any bare spot in the garden, and they will reward you with bright gold flowers throughout the winter. They will fade in summer's heat, but then a shake of their tough little seed heads will sow the next season's color. In the kitchen, calendula petals can brighten salads and are sometimes used as a “poor man's saffron.”The golden petals can tint rice dishes and other recipes needing a dash of color.
Plant perennials and California natives now so they can benefit from still-warm soil and grow strong before winter comes. If you plant foxglove seedlings from six-packs now, they will be six feet tall and have towering blossoms by next year. Small snapdragon plants, which children will enjoy, will be covered with little snappers by summer and provide bright flowers through the winter months, too.
Even decorative vegetables can perk up a walkway or bed. Pink and lime-green cabbages and vivid purple and red kales can provide color all winter long.
Sow seed now for the golden California poppies and red poppies that grace many an Impressionist canvas. It's a good time to sow other wildflowers, too, before the rains come. Look for seed packets of your favorites, or pick up one of the many wildflower blends formulated for shady or sunny spots.
Bulbs, corms and tubers are on nursery shelves now. Plant daffodils, sparaxis and freesia in garden beds or pots to brighten decks and indoor rooms. Some bulbs do benefit from pre-chilling, so read directions that come with the bulbs. Make sure beds and pots have good drainage.
Although many people are removing lawns, October is a good month to plant new lawn or renovate an older one. Over-seed now to correct bare or stressed spots.
Napa County Cooperative Extension recommends a premium blend of grass formulated for California's cooler growing areas. If you are curious about which turf grass is best, you can get reports from Cooperative Extension on how the different grasses and blends perform. Lawns and turf are often criticized as being wasteful of water, but they do provide some fire protection around a home.
Sweet peas can be planted now. Dig beds deeply and amend with aged compost.Tall varieties can be grown along fences or trellises and short varieties in beds or containers. Heirlooms with rich fragrances are my favorites, but last year I planted a dwarf sky-blue variety that bloomed tirelessly in a half barrel on the deck until the first summer heat finished them.
October weather can be varied, so be vigilant a little longer. Pay attention to weather forecasts and protect your new seed sprouts and tender seedlings from any final scorching days. Windy days zap moisture from air and soil, so make sure young plants are weathering those conditions, too.
Workshop: U. C. Master Gardeners of Napa County will host a workshop on “Citrus” on Saturday, October 24, from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., at the University of California Cooperative Extension Office, 1710 Soscol Avenue, Napa. This workshop will focus exclusively on caring for citrus, large and small. Potting and repotting container citrus, pruning, watering and fertilizing, frost protection and recovery from frost damage are part of the program. The workshop will also cover using the University of California IPM website to identify and understand citrus disease and pests.Online registration (credit card only); Mail-in registration (cash or check only).
Master Gardeners are volunteers who help the University of California reach the gardening public with home gardening information. U. C. Master Gardeners of Napa County ( http://ucanr.org/ucmgnapa/) are available to answer gardening questions in person or by phone, Monday, Wednesday and Friday, 9 a.m. to Noon, at the U. C. Cooperative Extension office, 1710 Soscol Avenue, Suite 4, Napa, 707-253-4143, or from outside City of Napa toll-free at 877-279-3065. Or e-mail your garden questions by following the guidelines on our web site. Click on Napa, then on Have Garden Questions? Find us on Facebook under UC Master Gardeners of Napa County.
Oak trees typically grow in woodlands, in conditions ranging from shallow soils with little moisture to the deep, fertile soils of the alluvial valley floors. These trees are as diverse in appearance as the conditions they grow in, ranging from 15 to150 feet tall. They differ in shape, color, leaf texture and type of acorns, and whether they are deciduous, evergreen to semi-evergreen.
If you are preparing to plant an oak tree (or an acorn), you need to know the soil type, sun exposure and available water at the potential planting site. The valley oak (Quercuslobata) flourishes in the deep, fertile, well-drained soil typical of floodplains and valley floors. The scrub oak (Q. berberidifolia), black oak (Q. kelloggii) and coast live oak (Q. agrifolia) all thrive in Mediterranean-type climates characterized by mild, wet winters and hot, dry summers. These species want no summer water. If you are looking to plant an oak tree in a dry habitat, on shallow, rocky, infertile soil, your best choices would be blue oak(Q. douglasii), canyon live oak (Q. chrysolepis), Oregon oak (Q. garryana), interior oak (Q. wislizenii), or the humble leather oak (Q. durata).
There are many reasons to keep an existing oak tree.They increase your property value, prevent soil erosion, provide shade and shelter for wildlife and are beautiful to boot.
To keep an oak tree healthy, take care to protect the sensitive root system. Roots can extend beyond the tree's drip line by at least one-third of that distance. Do not dig, grade, trench, compact, asphalt, concrete or pave around your oak tree. These activities may fatally damage the root, trunk or crown.
Changing the grade, trenching, mounding or creating a swale may also lead to changing the natural drainage. If a mature oak gets more water than it is accustomed to, it will decline.
Keep thirsty plants and plantings out of the root zone. Irrigation from agriculture plays a big role in the decline of the valley oak. Choose compatible plants to site under and around your oak.
Many California native plants cohabitate happily with oaks. Here are some great resources for suitable plants:
http://www.napavalleycnps.org/
http://www.californiaoaks.org/ExtAssets/CompatiblePlantsUnder&AroundOaks.pdf
http://www.mostlynatives.com/plant-characteristics/under-oaks
http://www.laspilitas.com/groups/oaks/Planting_under_oak_tree.html
The only fertilizer an established oak needs is its own organic leaf litter for mulch. Keep leaf litter in place, just not up against the trunk. Mulching conserves water, helps moderate ground temperature, improves soil structure and increases organic matter.
If you must prune an oak tree, follow the Tree Care Industry Association guidelines, which you can find online. Pruning improperly can lead to wounds that attract insects and promote decay. Poor pruning may also stimulate rapid shoot growth that increases the potential for powdery mildew. It will also compromise the natural beauty of the tree and may make the tree structurally unstable. For the best results, consult a local arborist.
Many organisms have symbiotic relationships with the oak tree. Lichens flourish on oak trees where there is sufficient moisture, taking nothing from the oak. Many creatures find the acorns a carbohydrate-rich and fatty addition to their diet. Acorns are appreciated by deer, squirrels, woodpeckers, livestock and boar. Oak trees also shelter many nesting birds, arboreal salamanders, invertebrates and insects.
The most complicated relationship the oak tree has is with mycorrhizal fungi. These fungi live in and on the roots and extend way beyond the root system. The oak provides carbohydrates (food) for the fungi and brings up deep water that the fungi can't access. In return, the fungi break down minerals and nutrients and make them available to the oak. In addition, they produce chemicals that inhibit bacteria, thus protecting the tree from disease. With some attention, we humans can also be among the organisms that live symbiotically with the oak tree.
Tree Walk: Join the U.C. Master Gardeners of Napa County on Monday, October 5, from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m., for aguided tree walk in Napa's Fuller Park. The walk is free but pre-registration is strongly recommended as space is limited to 20 people. The walk will repeat on Monday, November 2, from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. Both walks start in Fuller Park at the corner of Oak and Jefferson Streets in Napa.Online registration
Workshop: U. C. Master Gardeners of Napa County will host a workshop on “California Oaks” on Saturday, October 10, from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., at the Martha Walker Garden in Skyline Park, 2201 Imola Avenue, Napa. Stroll around Skyline Park and the Martha Walker Garden to view oaks in their native habitat. Discover what grows alongside and underneath oaks. Learn about planting under oak trees in your own garden, how to care for oaks and about Sudden Oak Death and other stresses on oaks. In case of rain, the workshop will move to the University of California Cooperative Extension office,1710Soscol Avenue, Napa.Online registration (credit card only)Mail-in registration (cash or check only)
Master Gardeners are volunteers who help the University of California reach the gardening public with home gardening information. U. C. Master Gardeners of Napa County ( http://ucanr.org/ucmgnapa/) are available to answer gardening questions in person or by phone, Monday, Wednesday and Friday, 9 a.m. to Noon, at the U. C. Cooperative Extension office, 1710 Soscol Avenue, Suite 4, Napa, 707-253-4143, or from outside City of Napa toll-free at 877-279-3065. Or e-mail your garden questions by following the guidelines on our web site. Click on Napa, then on Have Garden Questions? Find us on Facebook under UC Master Gardeners of Napa County.
You can make a wreath with plant material only or add a little color with ribbon or small decorative items like bells or ornaments.
For the base of the wreath, you can purchase a frame or make your own. I have used prunings from my climbing roses, but other vines can work as well, such as grapevine canes. Thin, flexible stems are easier to bend into a wreath than rigid canes. Small flexible tree branches can also serve as the base of your wreath.
Choose plants with sturdy or stiff leaves that will look nice for a long time and not wilt. Many conifers are a good choice but test them first. Some, like spruce, will drop their leaves. Other plants that work well are willow, olive, eucalyptus, nandina, euonymus and bay laurel (Laurusnobilis).
If you plan to give your wreath away or suspect the wreath may leave the Bay Area, don't use camellias, oaks or California bay laurel (Umbellulariacalifornica).These plants can spread the disease known as sudden oak death, and their movement is restricted. Napa County, other Bay Area counties and coastal counties from Humboldt to Monterey are infested with this disease. Plant material from any infested county should not be moved to a non-infested county. For more information and maps of infested counties, consult www.suddenaokdeath.org.
Once you have collected your greens, soak them in water for 30 minutes, then let dry. This bath will keep the greens fresh longer and remove dirt and insects.
To make your base, weave the longer branches into a circle. Use green floral wire to keep the ends together or use a commercial wire frame. If using a wire frame, cut your greens into four- to six-inch pieces. Gather small bunches of greens, like a small bouquet, and attach them to the frame with green floral wire. Use each new bunch to cover the stems of the last, working around the frame until it is covered. Cover the last set of stems with an accent piece or bow.
Once you have finished the base, add accent pieces. These can be tucked into the greens, wired on or glued on. The best method depends on the item and how heavy or fragile it is. Grass flower heads or little bunches of dried herbs can be wired together, then tucked or wired into the greens. Cones or slightly heavier items are best attached with wire. To attach acorns, dried flowers, small bows or other small ornaments, use a hot glue gun. Some items can be tricky to attach but are worth a try. Add sparkle with spray-on “snow” or glitter.
Scout your garden for plants that have interesting textures or colors that will brighten your wreath. Consider fresh or dried flowers and herbs, small dried vegetables such as red chilies, seed pods, cones, sturdy berries, colored twigs or stems. I have even used a small bird nest that I found while cutting back an overgrown shrub. From my garden this year, I will be using dried hydrangeas, grasses, lavender and marjoram as well as dried sage, rose hips and lots of acorns. For most acorns, the caps need to be glued on or they will fall off.
To hang, identify the spot on your wreath that you want at top center. That's the 12 o'clock position. Turn the wreath over and locate what would be 10 o'clock and 2 o'clock on a clock face. Attach the two ends of a strong wire or ribbon to the main frame in those spots. The wire or ribbon must be long enough to reach 12 o'clock, the hang spot, when attached. Make sure the wire or ribbon is strong enough to support your wreath and strongly attached to the main frame.
Workshop: Napa County Master Gardeners will conduct a workshop on “Creating Wreaths from Your Garden” on Sunday, December 7, from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m., at the Yountville Community Center, 6516 Washington Street, Yountville. Learn which plants from your garden make good wreaths. Learn how to choose and prepare plant materials, and tips and tricks for designing and making easy wreaths for the holidays and beyond. Using materials and supplies provided, participants will create their own wreath to take home. To register, call the Parks & Recreation Department at 707-944-8712 or visit its website.
Master Gardeners are volunteers who help the University of California reach the gardening public with home gardening information. Napa County Master Gardeners ( http://ucanr.org/ucmgnapa/) are available to answer gardening questions in person or by phone, Monday, Wednesday and Friday, 9 a.m. to Noon, at the U. C. Cooperative Extension office, 1710 Soscol Avenue, Suite 4, Napa, 707-253-4143, or from outside City of Napa toll-free at 877-279-3065. Or e-mail your garden questions by following the guidelines on our web site. Click on Napa, then on Have Garden Questions? Find us on Facebook under UC Master Gardeners of Napa County.
Whether you call it sheet composting, sheet mulching, lasagna gardening or no-till gardening, all names refer to a method of building a garden bed by adding layers of organic material that will break down over the rainy winter months. The technique involves mowing lawn or cutting leafy weeds close, smothering them with newspaper or cardboard, and then adding layers of compost and wood chips or straw. With moderate effort, you will have fluffy garden beds for your seeds and transplants come spring. Best of all, if you are diligent, your new beds will be weed free.
Sheet mulching is also the easiest way to transform lawn into productive garden space. The Bay-Friendly Landscape & Gardening Coalition has clear, simple directions at www.loseyourlawn.org. A new or rejuvenated bed can be a small project or a total yard changer. It is up to you.
To start, identify and mark the dimensions of your new bed. Remember to flag your irrigation heads so you can retrofit later for drip irrigation.
Mow, knock down or cut tall weeds, old vegetable plants, cover crops or grasses at ground level and lay them flat on the ground. This step does not apply to invasive plants like Bermuda grass, oxalis, blackberries or horsetail. If you have tenacious weeds like those, you will have to dig them out and eradicate them any way you can. Otherwise you will be creating weed heaven and will likely never get rid of them.
At this point, University of California Cooperative Extension sheet-composting specialists recommend checking the pH of your soil, adjusting it with amendments, and giving the new bed one initial tilling to break up the soil and mix in any necessary amendments. If you do till, this will be the last time. Now water the bed well to start microbial action and decomposition in your soil.
Cut an edge along the lawn or bed to avoid run off and keep mulch from spilling onto your pavement or walkway after you build your layered beds. Use a flat-edged shovel to clear an 8- to 12-inch-wide zone at the edge of your walks. The soil height in this zone should be at least three inches lower than the pavement or walkway surface.
If you have leftover sod and soil from the edging, you can create mounds in your beds. Mounds can create visual interest and are great for plants that need good drainage.
Now you can plant any large plants in five-gallon containers. Follow directions from your nursery for size and depth of the planting hole. If you get large plants in the ground now and surround them with weed barrier, compost and mulch, these plants will be protected from weeds, and the bed will be protected from the turmoil of deep digging the next season.
The next layer of lasagna is the weed barrier. You can use burlap or recycled natural-fiber fabric, although most gardeners use newspaper or recycled cardboard. Do not use plastic weed-barrier cloth or anything impermeable as you want water and nutrients to reach your soil.
Be generous when laying the weed barrier. A whole section of newspaper is better than a single page. Overlap the material if necessary to cover the bed completely. Tear or cut the barrier as needed to fit it around plants that you want to keep. The goal is to keep out any sunlight, since sunlight will encourage the weeds or lawn you have just buried to pop right back out. When you have finished, water the material until it is soaked.
You have three layers now: soil, weeds and weed barrier. Next, add a layer of compost. If you don't make your own, you can buy some from the local waste-management company. Use one to three inches of compost to provide nutrients and a planting medium for small plants (in 4-inch pots or smaller) in the first season.
Finally, complete your lasagna with three to five inches of mulch. This top layer is intended to mimic the organic matter in a forest, so appropriate materials would include chipped tree prunings, leaves or clean, weed-free straw from your local feed store. Keep mulch a few inches away from tree trunks and plant stems to prevent rot and rodent problems. Give everything a good soaking to make sure there are no dry pockets. Dry cardboard laid in fall will still be dry cardboard in spring if you do not give it a good, soggy kick start.
If we have normal rain this fall and winter, your bed will be ready to plant in just a few months. If we have a long dry spell, remember to water it to keep the microbial action going. You will be rewarded in the spring with a fertile growing space.
Workshop:Napa County Master Gardeners will conduct a workshop on “Creating Wreaths from Your Garden” on Sunday, December 7, from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m., at the Yountville Community Center, 6516 Washington Street, Yountville. Learn which plants from your garden make good wreaths. Learn how to choose and prepare plant materials, and tips and tricks for designing and making easy wreaths for the holidays or other times of the year. Participants will create their own wreath to take home. To register, call the Parks & Recreation Department at 707-944-8712 or visit its website.
Master Gardeners are volunteers who help the University of California reach the gardening public with home gardening information. Napa County Master Gardeners ( http://ucanr.org/ucmgnapa/) are available to answer gardening questions in person or by phone, Monday, Wednesday and Friday, 9 a.m. to Noon, at the U. C. Cooperative Extension office, 1710 Soscol Avenue, Suite 4, Napa, 707-253-4143, or from outside City of Napa toll-free at 877-279-3065. Or e-mail your garden questions by following the guidelines on our web site. Click on Napa, then on Have Garden Questions? Find us on Facebook under UC Master Gardeners of Napa County.
Having a shady spot to rest in your garden should be one of your goals as gardeners....a place to sit back and enjoy the fruits of your labors. If you have lived with your garden for a while, you will know your favorite places. Investigate these areas as possible sitting areas.
A woodland setting on a hot summer day offers a protective canopy of tall trees. These shady retreats may not always be as showy as sunny borders, but they offer interesting scenes, with a layering of understory trees or shrubs and a mix of herbaceous plants at your feet.
The best sitting areas have both sun and shade. But if you have to choose one or the other, generally a sunny location is better. There are ways to provide shade if the sun becomes too bright: an arbor, an umbrella or an awning, for example.
Note where the sun falls in your garden. The south side of the house is in the path of the sun for most of the day and is the warmest. The west side gets the afternoon sun and is the next warmest, followed by the east side which receives morning sun. The north side of the house is the coldest because it is shaded most of the day.
Small gardens, usually partially shaded by buildings, need cheerful places where sunlight streams through the foliage and pools on garden furniture, flowers and paths. Study how the light falls in your garden and devise as many opportunities as you can to make the garden sparkle. Variations of shade and sun throughout the day create different visual effects during day and evening hours.
The “show” changes as light moves and fades. Paving and ground covers provide a surface for catching the play of light in the garden. To bring light into an entrance garden shaded by trees, remove the lower branches and thin the canopies, allowing sunlight to dapple the garden below. Cream or white variegated leaves lighten up shady parts of a garden. Chartreuse or gold foliage also has a warming effect in shade. White or blue flowers can brighten up a shady area.
Dappled shade is prettier than dark shade and usually sufficient protection from heat and glare. Select trees with open branches and delicate leaves and trim any dense vines. If a patio is shaded by walls, try to create a view from the patio that is bathed in light, where you can watch sunlight playing across the garden.
Trees and shrubs that are adapted to dense shade are valuable in the garden. Plants including Fatsia japonica, the hollies and mahonias are notable for their foliage, while others such as camellias are grown for their spectacular color. When planning your shade garden, think about layers: ground covers, small shrubs, and larger bushes. Think about colors and textures and your space.
Sunset’s Western Garden Book offers many suggestions for shade plants. A favorite of mine is Ajuga reptans (carpet bugle), which spreads by runners. There are several varieties with varied leaf colorings but all send up blue flower spikes in spring and early summer. Daphne odora ‘marginata’ (winter daphne) will take partial shade, provides a heavenly scent and is an evergreen. Hostas provide elegant foliage and a huge range of color. Lamium maculatum is a vigorous ground cover reaching six inches in height, with heart-shaped gray-green leaves with silvery markings. Pittosporum tobria ‘variegata’ is a dense, rounded shrub five to ten feet tall, with creamy white, fragrant orange blossoms in early spring. Vinca minor (dwarf periwinkle) makes a spreading mat of shiny, dark green leaves with blue flowers. There are many varieties available.
Visit a local nursery and browse through the shade plants. Be sure to note the plant’s mature size, usually indicated on the plant tag.
Let your garden reflect your environmental concerns as well as your aesthetic sense. It should be in harmony with nature, a place where you can enjoy the sounds of birds, insects and animal life and appreciate the patterns of light that change throughout the day. A shady oasis that provides the possibility of peaceful enjoyment can be a restorative place for you.
Workshop: Napa County Master Gardeners will conduct a composting workshop in partnership with the City and County of Napa and NRWS/NCRWS. The workshop is Saturday, September 7, at 9 a.m. at the Yountville Community Center. Learn how to turn yard waste and kitchen scraps into wonderfully rich, free compost for your garden. Discover the basics of backyard composting, worm composting, and grasscycling. Register here: http://compost.naparecycles.org/index.html.
Garden Tour: Napa County Master Gardeners will host a self-guided garden tour, “Down the Garden Path,” on Sunday, September 22, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Visit seven unique gardens in Napa, all maintained by Master Gardeners. Tickets: $25 advance/$30 day of event. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit http://ucanr.edu/ucmgnapa or call707-253-4147. Find us on Facebook under UC Master Gardeners of Napa County.
Master Gardeners are volunteers who help the University of California reach the gardening public with home gardening information. Napa County Master Gardeners ( http://ucanr.org/ucmgnapa/) are available to answer gardening questions in person or by phone, Monday, Wednesday and Friday, 9 a.m. to Noon, at the U. C. Cooperative Extension office, 1710 Soscol Avenue, Suite 4, Napa, 707-253-4143, or from outside City of Napa toll-free at 877-279-3065. Or e-mail your garden questions by following the guidelines on our web site. Click on Napa, then on Have Garden Questions?