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Notes for August Gardening
Keep after tomato hornworms and petunia budworms with another application of Safer's Caterpillar Killer. It's an effective, safe environmental control. Don't forget your citrus! In order to get bumper crops feed lemons, oranges and other citrus monthly with Master's Citrus Food. Remember to water the day before applying fertilizers or other plant care products. Also avoid feeding or treating on extra hot days. Is your garden suffering from the summer blahs? Perk it up with colorful petunias, marigolds, vinca and dahlias! Treat compacted soils and lawns with EZ Wet. No amount of water or food will do the lawn any good if it isn't reaching the roots. This soil penetrant opens the soil to water, air and food for lush green growth. Aerating your lawn is most helpful in improving water penetration too. Keep those flowerbeds neat and blooming! Deadhead (remove all old flowers). Cut back leggy petunias. Fertilize with Master Bud & Bloom to help set new flowers. August is a great time to refresh summer scorched Japanese Maples. Snip off crispy leaves even if it means deleafing the plant. Feed with Dyna-Gro Protekt. In four weeks to the day your maple will look Spring refreshed. Just in time for the new leaves to color up for fall. Sow flower seeds. Many wildflowers and spring blooming annuals grow from seeds scattered now. Try California Poppy, Bachelor Button, Alyssum and Godetia. Also plant biennials such as hollyhock from seed now. Clean up around fruit trees and pick any left over fruit that can harbor insect pests and soft rot fungus. A light pruning to shape can be done now. Hard to believe but its time to start planting winter vegetables! The cabbage family members, root crops, and leafy vegetables such as broccoli, beets, carrots, radishes, onions, spinach and chard are ready to be planted this month from seed. (Farmers in the valley are planting winter vegetable crops from seed this month.) Planting from seed now allows for a deep, established root system and a very long growing season resulting in larger harvests. Starter plants are available in mid September. Start working now to prevent fall weeds. Apply Master's Easy Living Lawn Food plus weed preventer. This product does a great job of creating a protective barrier to prevent the pesky annual bluegrass. If you plan to reseed your lawn next month, delay this application.
Sunflowers are extremely easy to grow from seed in our area and those planted now will sprout and bloom by fall. This is one of the secrets of sunflowers. They make a great fall display. Choose from several varieties. |
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Carnivorous Plants
Carnivorous Plants are miracles of nature. They blur the distinction between animal and plant kingdoms. They have enzymes. They move. They trap prey. The famous venus flytrap is not a tropical plant, as some people believe. It is native to the pine swamps of coastal North Carolina, growing in an area only 10 x 10 square miles on this planet. It is truly a miracle that they have survived the evolutionary ride. Survive they have - and with style.Recurving "fingers" that snap shut around flying prey that happens to land in the jaw-like digestion chamber, red coloring to attract insects, and glistening drops of fragrant attractant over the trap surface. Pitcher plants have a wider territory, and are found in the wetlands of Mississippi, to Florida, and on up the Eastern coastline. The Cobra Lily is actually native to our West Coast. Drosera and Pingula are found throughout the world. Common to them all is the fact that where they grow is not rich in nutrients. Over time the plants will to survive won out, and they adapted to their environment by developing mechanisms to catch their own food source. Most carnivorous plants have a few things in common. They come from damp places and like to be pretty moist ALL the time, and they also do not like the chlorine in our tap water. They prefer filtered or distilled water in order to thrive. They eat millipedes, earwigs, and most medium sized bugs. They like lots of filtered light, but no hot sun. They do not need any extra fertilizer, as they get all the nutrients they need by eating bugs. The leaves on venus flytraps will blacken in the fall - be patient, they are only sleeping (about 3 months). While they are dormant, put them outside or somewhere cold. They will come back in the Spring. We have a variety of carnivorous plants for sale at Alden Lane, from large Nepenthes (Monkey Cup) to venus flytraps, pingulas, droseras and pitcher plants. Join the fun and collect them all for a terrarium!
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August Pruning Class
Its a Great time to Prune!
Learn what and how. Saturday, August 7th, 11:00 a.m. - 12:00 noon $5.00 & bring a friend for free. Call ahead to reserve a space. 925-447-0280 Pruning Opportunities for August
The month of August offers a unique opportunity for pruning in the garden. Just before the onset of our "second spring", many plants can be pruned now for shape or size control. Plants such as fruit trees, hedges and many flowering perennials will look great in a few weeks as pruning cuts are quickly covered by new fall growth.Citrus plants (and other frost tender plants) pruned before September 1st will produce a bit of new growth that will harden off nicely before the winter cool temperatures. Deciduous fruit trees like plums, apricots, apples and cherries can be pruned for size control now. Peaches pruned now will produce fruiting wood for next years' crop. Hedges such as boxwood or privet will quickly grow a new coat of leaves to show through the cool months of winter. Flowering shrubs, like shrub daisy can be reshaped now for an attractive period, re-blooming up until winter. California has the benefit of enjoying two clear growing seasons each year, a main one in spring, and a second in the fall as the weather gets comfortable again. This is a beautiful time in the garden with many flowering plants flushing out a colorful display of blooms, almost as nice as spring. By late summer, many shrubby perennials can look leggy or overgrown, shrubs can look out of shape and fruit trees can be getting too big. Pruning just before fall can mean your garden will "heal" after a therapeutic pruning and look fresh and tidy going into winter. Most plants pruned at this time of year, only need a light pruning or reshaping. Leave heavier pruning for winter or early spring. If you are not sure about the pruning needs of a particular plant, email or stop by for some advise. |
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Dave's Rose Program Gives Your Roses Autumn Beauty Sprinkle around each rose:
1/2 cup bone meal(5 pounds feeds 18 roses) 1/2 cup E.B. Stone organics 5-5-5 (5 pounds feeds 18 roses) 1/2 cup Iron Sulfate or GreenAll Soil Sulfur (Granulated Sulfur) (5 pounds feeds 18 roses) 2 tablespoons Epsom Salts (magnesium sulfate) (1.25 pounds feeds 18 roses) 1 shovel full of chicken fertilizer (1 cubic feet feeds 9 roses) After you've fed the roses, be sure to soak them. Never use in conjunction with systemic rose foods. The combination of bone meal and systemic rose foods pose a serious health risk to pets. |
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Top 6 Perennial Picksfor Sunny Spaces
Beard Tongue (Pensemon sp.) - Elegant and reliable; valued by gardeners for their spires of foxglove-like flowers with outstanding color varieties. Our favorites are 'Garnet,' 'Sour Grapes,' 'Firebird,' and 'Apple Blossom.' Hummingbirds aren't choosy, they like them all. They will perform all summer, with regular deadheading full sun and good garden soil.Mexican Bush Sage (Salvia leucantha) - Attractive gray and white fuzzy leaves boast long, arching stems with velvety, deep violet flowers from summer to first frost. One of the larger salvias at 2-3'. Dried flowers retain their color in arrangements. Easy to establish with deep infrequent watering, ordinary soil, and good drainage. Cold hardy to 25°. Lavender (Lavendula sp.) These heat-of-summer bloomers produce fragrant flower spikes. Their lavender blue flowers are great for dry arrangements, or may be made into aromatic stove-top potpourri simply by boiling. Cool the water, strain; use as counter top cleaner. Varieties range in height from 18" - 3' with equal spread. Best selections are 'Hidcote,' 'Munstead,' 'Thumbelina Leigh,' and Spanish varieties. Well-drained soil is essential. Black-Eyed Susan (Rudbeckia varieties) - Plant in good garden soil with great drainage, for year after year blooms. Very tolerant of our hot, dry summers. They produce copious quantities of brown-centered yellow daisies for 2-3 months with their seed heads providing another element of winter landscape interest. Combine with Russian sage and Sedum 'Autumn Joy' for a great look that is low maintenance. Russian Sage (Perovski atriplicifolia) - Voted 1995's Perennial of the Year. It remains a true favorite, flowering from July into fall with no grooming. No significant pest or disease problems, probably due to its fragrant silver foliage. It grows to 3' and looks spectacular when mass planted with yellow daylilies. Stella D'Oro Daylily (Hemerocallis 'Stella D'Oro) - this miniature golden beauty blooms all summer and grows to only 18". When planted in good soil, this plant will grow rapidly and require minimal care. Just remove faded flowers to promote even more rewards. To reduce the size of the clump or to add to your collection, plants may be divided every 2-3 years in the fall. Flowers are edible, and make a great garnish on main dishes or dessert plates. |
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Woolly Pockets
Vertical gardening has been the hot topic as of late, systems in place around the globe allow landscapes to flow right up the outside of buildings. Taking green architecture to a new level, vertical gardening makes sense from, an environmental point of view as well as a design view. The plants act as air coolers and filters, they provide effective insulation and they look amazing. Vertical gardening systems have been extremely costly up till now; Factory built systems can easily cost $50 per square foot and more. Alden Lane has discovered the newest vertical planting system from wholly pockets that can be attached to a wall, either indoors or out, planted up with soil and an assortment of plants. These beauties will grace your home or patio with a unique visual statement and are very easy to care for. Woolly pocket vertical gardening system is actually constructed using a felt-like fabric, remanufactured from pop bottles. They come in two versions, indoors or out, and in several sizes, Indoor woolly pockets are lined with a waterproof membrane to allow leak-proof care indoors. Simply attach to any vertical surface using screws, fill the pockets with soil and plants and keep watered either manually or with a drip system. Come in to Alden Lane and see one of the wooly pocket systems installed and operating in our greenhouse. We think you will find the idea inspiring and we'd love you to take one home to try. |
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Cook Fresh With Herbs
One of the most consistent summer time activities is firing up the Bar-B-Que! And this year you can tie in some yummy marinades by simply planting a variety of herbs in the garden. One thing that will spice up your summer menus is an herb collection. Try grilling chicken with an oregano, chive and basil marinade or fill a roasting chicken with rosemary, garlic and oregano. Potatoes take on an entirely different flavor when roasted with a basting of olive oil and rosemary or chives. Yum! So take a few minutes and add herbs to the vegetable or kitchen garden. You'll find that their magic can add savory taste to all your cooking! From Your Garden! Basil - Adds zest to bottled vinegars. Use this when preparing fresh salad dressing. They also make a colorful accent in the flower garden. Lemon basil is good in salads, marinades or fresh fish dishes. The most popular is sweet basil with its fragrant leaves. Use it in pesto, sprinkle it with chopped garlic on prime rib, and use it liberally in Italian dishes. Chives - Clip and chop handfuls to season potato dishes, salads, dressings, egg dishes and soups. It is one of the most versatile kitchen herbs. You can flavor white vinegar with a few stems of this herb and enjoy it splashed over garden ripened tomatoes. Oregano - Use it in marinade, grind it to add to pizza, spaghetti sauce or salad dressings. And one summer favorite is to add it with fresh basil to an oil and vinegar marinade for fresh from the garden taste. |
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Hot Weather Lovers - Bring on the Dazzle Well into Fall!
Hot temperatures bring out the best in these hot weather annuals.
Sunny Situations Try some today in your garden. Alyssum - Looking for something with a heavenly scent? This is the plant for you. It has a sweet, fresh scent. It does well as a border edging or in baskets and containers. It is available in white, rose or purple. Cosmos - White, rose, lavender, yellow or red 'daisy' style flowers. It is available in a variety of sizes from compact to nearly four foot tall. Cosmos has finely textured foliage and is capped by the colorful blooms each with a sunny colored 'eye'. Hardy through the first frosts. Portulaca - A hardy summer annual, portulaca made its way to the shores of Mexico as an edible tuber. Today's portulaca makes a colorful and tough bedding plant. The leaves are short, narrow, and succulent-like. It is covered in flowers through out the summer and into the fall. It flowers in a fiesta of colors - white, pink, rose, red, yellow and more, looking like a patchwork of colors. Commonly known as moss rose. Mass it in a flowerbed, an accent in containers and dazzling at eye level in a hanging basket. Vinca Rosea - Best known as Periwinkle these long blooming annuals come in an attractive range of colors - white, pink, rose, red, purple with a bright eye in the center of each bloom. Vinca loves the heat! They are spectacular planted in a flowerbed especially if planted in blocks of color. Vinca will bloom well into the fall and require very little attention once established. Shady Situations Impatiens - An absolute necessity for the summer shade garden. Available in a riot of colors and hues, these beauties require shade in most inland valley plantings but are tolerant of morning sun until about 10 a.m. They are the star in a shade flower bed or container and most certainly will draw your eye if planted in a hanging basket. In a protected area impatiens continue well into November. Impatiens reach a height of approximately 12" - 24". Fibrous Begonias - Another blooming beauty for the shade. Along with colors of white, red, rose, and pink they offer up bronze or fresh green foliage as an accent. Fibrous Begonia make an excellent border but require afternoon shade. |
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The Livermore Amador Valley Garden Club will meet September 9th at 7p.m. at the Alisal Elementary School multipurpose room, 1454 Santa Rita Road, Pleasanton. The program will feature Troy McGregor of Garden Natives, a home-based nursery in Martinez, where he grows and sells a wide range of CA native plants. He will describe plants that do well in the Tri-Valley area and will suggest how to add them to existing landscapes. Visitors welcome.