Category: Fruit Trees

Edible Landscapes

Enjoy Edibles in the Ornamental Landscape

pixdguava[1]
Gorgeous flowers of the Pineapple Guava
Expand your horizons beyond the vegetable garden and into the landscape.

Why not let your ornamental plants multi-task? Many edible plants are also beautiful. If you work edibles into your garden, you can enjoy the benefits of seasonal harvests. Great examples of beautiful & fruitful plants include citrus, fruit trees and pomegranates.

We have a large selection of dwarf citrus available for planting in the landscape or in containers! Meyer Lemon continues to be our gardener’s top choice for home planting with its hint of sweet flavor, ever-bearing habit, and superior frost tolerance. Also look for Bearss Seedless Lime or Washington Naval Orange a Tri-Valley favorite for decades!

Don’t forget about other fruit trees!! There are many varieties that we are out of right now, but they will be back. Fuyu Persimmon is a low maintenance fruiting tree that also makes a great small shade tree with excellent fall color. Pomegranates can also provide an attractive multi-trunked flowering tree or prickly privacy hedge.

orange-tomatoEven vegetables can liven a landscape with unexpected displays of unusual colors

Cover Crops Improve Garden Soil

Vetch is a cover crop that will pull nitrogen from the atmosphere and store it in your soil. Plant cover crops from seed in fall and turn them under in spring.

Cover crops are fast-growing plants that are utilized by farmers and gardeners alike for one or more of their beneficial qualities and not usually intended as food crops.

A gardener will usually work these crops into the soil or remove them before they set seed. A healthy garden can benefit in several ways when cover crops are included in the annual rhythm of sowing and reaping.

It seems that for almost any problem, there is a cover crop solution. Try one, and you’ll notice over time how much better your garden performs with less input of extra water, fertilizer, and insecticide. Cover crops are the natural choice for a naturally better garden.

Some crops add nitrogen to the soil, pulling it from thin air. Others pull up minerals from deep underground and concentrate it in the topsoil as you till the plant into the earth. Other cover crops work like a rototiller to loosen heavy soils with their vigorous roots.

How to Get Started with Cover Crops

cover-crop-clover

Preparation can usually be minimal for sowing cover crops. Cultivate the soil to a depth of about 1 inch and rake out any large debris or weeds. Sow the seeds at the rate recommended on the packet. Seeds can usually be scattered evenly. After sowing, tamp down the soil lightly to create good contact between seed and soil. Water immediately after sowing and keep the area moist until your plants emerge. After establishment, most cover crops require minimal additional water.
It is usually best to cut down or incorporate cover crops before they produce seed. Cut or till the plants just as they begin to flower or before. Small plants can be directly tilled into your soil. Larger plants can be cut down with a weed trimmer or mower and left on the soil surface to dry for a few days before they are roto-tilled in.
We carry an assortment of cover crop seeds from Botanical Interests as well as larger bags of fava beans.

Fall is Citrus Planting Time

Citrus collectionCitrus are among the most versatile of the trees and shrubs that grow in our Valley. They can be trained as a single specimen, in hedges, as a trellised espalier or in containers. Citrus plants offer beautiful evergreen foliage, fragrant flowers and delicious decorative fruit. Fall, with its milder temperatures, is a perfect time to plant citrus. Establishing a citrus plant before frost can help it weather the winter.

Citrus prefer a hot south or west facing location with good draining soil. A reflective wall or fence is helpful and planting citrus under the south or west facing eve of the house will provide valuable protection from cold winter temperatures. Citrus should not be planted in a low or soggy spot that has poor drainage or in a lawn. In fact, if possible, place the citrus in a raised bed for improved drainage.

Dig a planting hole three times as wide as the root ball and just as deep as the root ball. The edges of the planting hole should then be dug out deeper than the center to accommodate additional soil amendments.

Test how well the planting hole drains by filling the 1′ deep x 3′ wide hole 1/2 way with water. Make sure it drains completely overnight. If the water does not drain, it may be necessary to raise the overall soil level by creating a mound or building a planting box or look for an alternate planting location. An open-bottom-box measuring 3’x3′ wide and 12″ deep makes a great raised bed.

Plant by carefully removing the tree from its container. Gently loosen the outer edges of the root ball if the roots are tight and place it in the hole so that the top of the root ball rests slightly higher than the existing ground level (never add any soil above the root ball, covering the stem). Improve the existing soil from the planting hole with Master Nursery Acid Planting Mix at a ratio of 75% Planting mix to 25% existing soil. To this improved soil, add the appropriate amount of Master Nursery Master Start or Sure Start and Iron Sulfate or Iron Plus; mix thoroughly. Backfill around the root ball with the improved soil mixture. Tamp to compress the soil as you go. Use some of the extra soil to build a circular dam around the new plant to hold a generous quantity of irrigation water.

citrus-plantingWater the plant thoroughly in the pot before planting and then again after you have finished planting it. Let the water soak in, and then water a third time. Citrus plants need less frequent watering than most garden plants once established. Give it a deep soak once or, at most twice week once established. Frequent watering is the most common cause of failure with citrus. Of course, if the weather is excessively hot, check daily and water as needed.

Begin to feed your new plant after a month with Master Nursery Citrus Food. Citrus plants appreciate a steady, light feeding, so divide a year’s supply of fertilizer into 12 equal parts and give your new plant a monthly feeding, year-round.

We do guarantee our plants to grow, and we also recognize that we are partners with you in caring for your new plant. If you have any concerns about the health or vigor of your plant, please let us know right away. Often, we can suggest a corrective measure to keep plants thriving and healthy.

Why Not Plant Fruit Trees in Your Front Yard?

Have fun with fruit trees in your front or back yard. You don’t need acres of ground to experience the taste of freshly picked fruit. With today’s dwarf & semi-dwarf rootstocks, everyone can grow at least one fruit tree no matter how small your yard. Consider planting a fruit tree or two in your front yard.

We still have a good stock of many varieties available, and Fall is a wonderful time to plant a tree.

Single fruit trees make wonderful accent points in a mixed border with their spring blossom and summer fruit. Persimmons make wonderful, small shade trees. Dwarf fruit trees grow very happily in large pots or half barrels.

Prevent Citrus Leafminer

obj6014geo3317pg352p7[1]Citrus leafminers have been regular visitors to Tri-Valley gardens over the past few years. They burrow into the citrus leaf and cause extensive damage to tender new growth. The leafminers thrive in the fresh fall flush of new growth starting August-ish.

Leafminers originate when the tiny adult moth lays her eggs, they hatch, and the leafminer larva burrows below the leaf surface. They hide between the upper and lower leaf surfaces. Younger trees are especially vulnerable. Older trees have tougher leaves so they may be OK without aggressive treatment, but younger trees can lose all their leaves if not treated.

Hang Leafminer traps to determine the proper time for spraying.

Prevention can be the best cure. Discouraging an overabundance of new growth can be helpful in reducing damage. Our grower recommends a steady, light supply of citrus food monthly as opposed to heavy feedings three times a year, as is common but produces vulnerable soft growth.

Hanging leafminer traps can be helpful for knowing when to spray. Hang traps in at least one of your citrus trees and, monitor them frequently so you can spot the arrival of adult moths. Adult moths happen to be relatively small at just 1/4″ long.  Some have reported the traps alone have been helpful in minimizing the problem.

Protect Pollinators

A concern when applying any pesticide is protecting bees. Only spray plants after the citrus trees have bloomed, so bees are not drawn to the blossoms while at the same time you spray. Citrus trees, for the most part, have long past their bloom period now, but pinching out flower buds if they appear after spraying will prevent the bees from visiting a plant that could cause harm.

captain-jacks-rtuCaptain Jack’s is our go-to organic spray. It has shown to be an effective treatment for the leafminer, especially when applied early. Try to time sprays between the time adult moths arrive and young leafminers are visible.

Citrus trees are growing new foliage this month. Watch for leafminer activity then spray every 10-14 days. Pinching out affected leaves as soon as damage is detected helps limit citrus leafminer damage.

Remineralize Your Soil

California’s alluvial soils of the Central Valley are rich and friable because centuries of seasonal flooding have deposited minerals from the eroding Sierras into the fertile lowlands.

Alluvial soils are so full of minerals and nutrients making them perfect for growing crops.  Adding minerals to your soil using Azomite® – which is volcanic rock dust – is similar to centuries of valley flooding. Spread a box of Azomite® around your vegetable garden or backyard orchard three to four times a year. Gardeners doing so have achieved noticeable improvements, not only in leaf color and vigor but in fruit and vegetable flavor and production as well.

Nutrient Source

Where do you suppose vegetables get their nutrient content?  From the soil!

Azomite® replenishes and enhances the soil. Azomite® rock dust is a natural mineral product with 70 micro-nutrients rarely available in one place. It is odorless, won’t burn your plants and won’t restrict aeration or water penetration. Unlike some products, Azomite® rock dust is not a manufactured, chemically prepared fertilizer. It is 100% natural with no additives, synthetics or fillers.

Azomite® has been shown to loosen hard soils, build healthy, more pest-resistant and drought-tolerant plants and promote lusher growth. Use Azomite® rock dust to improve all your gardening and landscape areas from lawns and vegetable plots to compost piles and enjoy:

  • Increased fruit and flower production
  • Increased vitamin content in your fruits and vegetables
  • Better tasting fruits and vegetables
  • Increased pest and disease resistance and greater cold tolerance in all your plants
  • Lawns with better color while using less fertilizer

Best of all, Azomite® rock dust is easy and economical to apply 1/2 pound per 100 square feet.

Prevent Wormy Apples – Controlling Codling Moths

coddling-apple
damage from codling moths and larva

If you have apple trees and want to monitor codling moths to determine the best time to spray, use our Codling Moth Traps.

Periodically looking into the trap in search of captured moths will alert you as to when the moths are present and therefore when to spray.

When codling moths first appear (usually when about 3/4 of the flower petals have fallen from the tree), wait one week and spray every 10 days with Captain Jack’s, (Spinosad) for 3 applications.

Replace traps monthly and repeat spray regime after additional generations of moths are trapped.

Check out the UC Cooperative Extension Service website for more detailed options.

http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn7412.html.

pH Adjustment for Citrus

Citrus plants and other acid-loving plants often suffer from yellow leaves. Yellowing leaves are usually related to low fertility, alkaline soils, or low levels of available iron. Now is a good time for corrective measures.

Citrus food can address the fertility, Iron Sulfate or Soil Sulfur can improve the soil pH by steering alkaline soils toward acid, both make the existing iron in surrounding soil more available to the plant.  Iron Sulfate also adds additional iron for quicker nutrient uptake.

Our citrus grower recommends a little bit of citrus fertilizer each month of the year. We offer Master Nursery Citrus Food or EB Stone Citrus Food (the organic option).

We also recommend treating the soil with either Soil Sulfur or Iron Sulfate 3 to 4 times a year.  Now is an ideal time because remaining rains will carry these products down into the soil. The impending spring growth will benefit immediately from this nutrient blast. Iron products such as Iron Sulfate help prevent yellow leaves on citrus, blueberries, azaleas, camellias and also keep a lawn greener with less mowing.

Most products containing iron can stain paving. Take extra precautions to be sure you don’t stain your patio or driveway.  Iron Plus will not stain.

Plants take nutrients up from the soil most efficiently when soil pH is neutral or slightly acidic. pH Adjuster Plus gently acidifies the soil and allows nitrogen, iron and other essential nutrients and elements to be released for uptake by plant roots. Apply these granular products over the soil surface and let the rain water them in. The result is a healthier, more beautiful plant with brighter, greener foliage.

pH Adjuster Plus is a pelletized soil sulfur that is much easier to apply than more conventional soil sulfur (no annoying dust).

Almost all plants will appreciate 3 to 4 applications per year, but those plants that respond most dramatically to a pH adjustment include citrus, blueberries, camellias, azaleas and rhododendrons, gardenias and other plants that develop a seasonal yellowing of the leaf related to iron deficiency. Most likely you can think of at least one plant you have around your home that suffers from leaf yellowing. Apply and then water or time your application to let winter rains do the watering for you.

Magnesium Sulfate (Epsom Salts) has also shown to have a great greening effect.  A little bit goes a long way and should only be applied twice a year; once in early spring and again in early fall.

Dormant Spray for Fruit Trees

Clean Up Your Garden

Debris will harbor insects and diseases. A good general garden clean-up, removing leaves, spent flower heads, old fruits, nuts, dead and broken branches eliminates insect and disease hiding places. Although a potential problem in the garden, these materials are perfect candidates for the compost pile as long as your compost pile generates sufficient heat to kill insects, their eggs, and diseases. For more information, visit www.stopwaste.org

February into Spring (About Valentines)

coppersoapsm[1]Apply Bonide Copper Fungicide. The timing of spring sprayings for various fruit trees can be crucial.

Leaf curl on nectarines and peaches is controlled with another application of Bonide Liquid Copper Fungicide or Monterey Liqui-Cop when flower buds swell but before they show any color.

To control brown rot and shot hole fungus on stone fruits, spray with Bonide Liquid Copper Fungicide or Monterey Liqui-Cop when the buds crack and show color, then again 2 weeks later.

dormant-control

Grapes & Berries

Grow grapes and enjoy big bunches of beautiful berries! Dormant season planting allows roots to get a head start so the plants can take off during the growing season. Our young grape vines are here as well as blueberries, and cane berries. 

GRAPES: Plant in the sunniest spot in your yard to help ripen the fruit and keep the foliage dry. Vines are vigorous and need sturdy support to grow on, and something for the tendrils to twine around.  Train them beginning at planting time to encourage one main cane, which with time will become a sturdy trunk. Yearly pruning in January will keep your grapes fruiting for the long term.

TABLE GRAPES (seedless):

  • Princess – large, sweet, light green grape. Fruit holds well on the vine and in storage
  • Ruby – medium-sized, dark red, firm grape. A vigorous grower and heavy producer
  • Black Monukka – medium-sized, black with excellent, crisp, sweet flavor
  • Come in to see our additional varieties!

WINE GRAPES:

  • Cabernet Sauvignon – excellent producer in our area of small, round, seedy, purple-black grapes.
  • Zinfandel – a solid red wine grape related by DNA to the Italian Primitivo.
  • Chardonnay – a popular selection for white wine with flavors of plum, apple and pear.
  • Merlot – Black berry, used for distinctive red wines. 

BLUEBERRIES:

Healthful, beautiful and delicious! Find an afternoon shady corner of your yard to grow a few of our Southern Highbush Blueberries, and enjoy snacking straight from the bush. Or plant a couple of varieties in a large pot or half wine barrel. Either way, blueberries thrive in acid soil. In a pot use, 3/4 E.B. Stone Acid Planting Mix and 1/4 Potting Soil. For in ground planting combine 1/2 E.B. Stone Acid Planting Mix, 1/4 fine or medium orchid bark and 1/4 native soil. All Organic Cottonseed Meal further lowers the pH and adds nutrition. A mix of varieties aids pollination and can increase yields.

  • Jewel – one of the leading California varieties yielding lots of high-quality berries
  • O’Neal – early ripening with lighter blue fruit; arguably the best flavor of the Southern Highbush
  • Reveille – wonderful flavor and a crisp texture on an upright bush that does well in hot climates

Cane Berries:

You know you want some warm from the oven, mixed berry cobbler with vanilla ice cream melting on the top. May we suggest the following varieties.

  • Blackberry Marionberry – medium in size and tends to be longer than it is wide with a somewhat tart flavor, fairly earthy with traces of sweetness
  • Boysenberry Thornless – really big, reddish purple berries popular for flavor and high June yield
  • Canby Raspberry – summer bearing with large bright red berries on thornless canes
  • Olallieberry – much requested, and they are here! A hybrid that is about 2/3 blackberry and 1/3 raspberry and 100% delicious.