Category: Fruit Trees

January Garden Checklist

checkbox Brighten the garden with colorful bedding plants. Refresh your garden beds and containers with primroses, pansies, Iceland poppies and more. Check with the staff for helpful advice and ideas.

checkbox Feed camellias, azaleas, rhododendrons monthly with Master Bloom through March.

checkbox Prevent crabgrass before it starts. Apply Bonide Crabgrass & Weed Preventer (with fertilizer) now to keep crabgrass seeds from sprouting in your lawn. Apply Bonide Crabgrass & Weed Preventer (without fertilizer) to ornamental landscape. Use Corn Gluten around edibles.

checkbox Spray Your Roses Now. An application of dormant oil just after winter pruning will help reduce pest populations by smothering over-wintering eggs. Spraying copper fungicides, as well, will halt diseases such as rust, blackspot and powdery mildew. Bonide All Seasons Spray Oil and copper are listed for use on organic gardens.

checkbox Protect tender plants when frosts are expected. If it hasn’t been raining, make sure to water plants ahead of a cold snap. Cover with drawstring frost bags or drape with protective frost blanket. String non-LED Christmas tree lights on your frost-tender plants when a freeze is expected. The warmth from the bulbs will provide another measure of protection.

checkbox Keep up your New Year’s Resolution . . . join the Livermore-Amador Valley Garden Club (lavgc.org) and the Mt. Diablo Rose Society (mtdiablorosesociety.org), Northern California Daffodil Society (daffodil.org), Iris Society (MtDiabloIris@gmail.com) and Valley Bonsai Society (valleybonsaisociety.com).

January Pruning – What to Prune When

pruning[1]We have officially entered pruning season. Most leafless plants are fair game for pruning right now. Exceptions include ornamental flowering cherries, plums, and lilacs that bloom once a year in spring and are leafless now. Prune these just after they bloom otherwise you will be cutting off next spring’s blooms. Most other plants, including fruit trees and shade trees “can” as opposed to “must” be pruned because many plants are happy with little or no pruning.

Feel free to visit us for additional information.

For additional reading, the University of California has produced an in-depth article. Click Here For Handout

Figs

pixdfig[1]Fig trees are among the easiest fruit trees that can be grown. They grow happily in the ground and some varieties in containers (Black Jack or Violette de Bordeaux), making them perfect for all kinds of gardeners; they also look great with bold textured, tropical-like leaves spring through fall. They need to be planted in an area with good drainage where they will receive full sun, at least eight hours a day.

In the past, we brought fig trees into the nursery in January with the bare root fruit trees, but figs would prefer not to go through the trauma of bare root transplanting. We now have a very large assortment of fig trees grown in tall liner pots, which means they have undisturbed roots and they transplant very well.  All are self-fruitful and very water-wise when established and long-lived.

Fig Varieties

Black Jack
Large, purplish-brown figs with sweet, juicy, strawberry red flesh. Harvest August to October in Central California. Naturally small (semi-dwarf) tree. Suitable for planting in a large container, or in the ground planting.
Black Mission
The favorite. Purplish-black skin, strawberry – colored flesh, rich flavor. Heavy bearing, large tree. Coast or inland.
Brown Turkey
Large, brown skin, pink flesh. Sweet, rich flavor used fresh. Widely adapted – coast or inland climate. A small tree, prune to any shape.
Panache ‘Tiger’
Especially fine flavor! Small to medium sized fruit with green color and yellow “tiger” stripes. Strawberry pulp is blood red in color.

Pomegranates – Ornamental – Edible – Wholesome

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Pomegranates are now in stock, a delicious and juicy fruit as well as a beautiful water-saving landscape shrub or small tree. They are perfectly happy in our warm sunny climate, producing showy orange-red blooms in summer followed by beautiful bright red fruits that ripen in late fall. There are several varieties of Pomegranates to choose from including Wonderful, Pink Satin, and Eversweet.

pomegranate-small

Pomegranates are also healthy. The juice around the seeds is laden with antioxidants, very delicious and a delight to eat. Press fruit to juice. If you object to a mouthful of edible seeds remove the seeds through a strainer.  Pomegranates are great for jelly making.

All pomegranates are long-lived, self-fruitful and they are naturally water-wise; they can be grown in any well-drained soil. A look through the garden on a spring or summer day will seldom turn up a pest on a pomegranate. They are virtually pest and disease free.

Varieties

Eversweet
Very sweet, virtually seedless fruit. (Even immature fruits are sweet.) Red skin, clear (non-staining) juice. Harvest late summer through fall. Coast or inland. 8-10 ft arching shrub, train as tree or espalier. Large, showy, orange-red flowers.

Pink Satin
Medium to large size, medium pink to dark red fruit with medium to large, light-pink edible seeds. Wonderful refreshing light-colored juice is non-staining, with a sweet, fruit punch flavor. The plant is vigorous and can be grown as a shrub or tree and kept at any height by summer pruning. Eat fresh, juice or use in salads.

pomegranate-seeds

Wonderful
Large, purple-red fruit with delicious, tangy flavor. Best quality in hot inland climate. Red-orange bloom, ornamental foliage.

Parfianka
A large bright red high quality fruit from Turkmenistan. Arils are large and bright red with a small, soft edible seed. Sweet fruit with a hint of acidity.

Eve
A superb introduction from the University of California. Eve pomegranate has bright red fruits with dark red arils. The flavor is excellent and has been described to have hints of cherry.

Grenada
Grenada pomegranate is known for being darker in color and less tart than Wonderful. It also ripens about a month earlier than most pomegranates.

Alternatives to the Traditional Christmas Tree

Consider a living tree to decorate this holiday season — Colorado and Alberta spruce are two great traditional choices.  If you want to be daring here are some fun alternatives:

  • Citrus already decorated with fruit
  • Japanese maple with stunning branches
  • Holly plant
  • A blooming Yuletide camellia whose bright red single flowers may well be decoration enough, or
  • A fruitless or fruiting olive
  • Bay Laurel makes a beautiful container plant. They can be trained to form a small tree, cone, or remain as a bush.
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Meyer Lemons

All of these possibilities would make great landscape plants at the season’s end. If there’s no room in your garden, consider donating your plant to the garden of a local school, park or church? What a great way to green our communities.

Here are some helpful hints to keep your living Christmas tree healthy and happy.

This is a hard one – try to minimize its indoor time. A week to ten days is a good maximum to be in the house. Choose a well-lit area away from the heat of a fireplace or furnace. Protect the floor with a cork trivet topped with a large saucer to catch the watering water. In between deep waterings water your plant with ice cubes that slowly melt (helpful hint: use a turkey baster to relieve excess water from the saucer after the plant has had an hour or so to absorb it).

Decorate with small lights and light-weight ornaments.

Edible Landscapes

Enjoy Edibles in the Ornamental Landscape

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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.