Celebrate spring by giving a basket of flowers or vegetables to someone special.
Pull weeds and hoe often to minimize reseeding.After mulching, check to make sure your irrigation runs are watering through the mulch to the correct rooting depth. If not, increase run times.Use a strong stream of water to rinse aphids from rose bushes.Remove dead branches from shrubs, deadhead roses to encourage more blooms.Thin the fruit of apricot, peach, nectarine, and plum trees to about 6 to 8 inches apart.Use trimmings in compost pile or chip and use as mulch.Feed bedding plants with all-purpose fertilizer high in phosphorus.Fertilize citrus. Follow directions on the container.Plant summer vegetables at two-week intervals to prolong harvest.Perennials: Million bells (Calibrachoa), Lily-of-the-Nile (Agapanthus), alstroemeria.Bulbs, corms, tubers: fortnight lily (Dietes).Fruits and vegetables: cantaloupe, chard, chayote.Trees, shrubs, vines: bougainvillea, violet trumpet vine (Clytostoma).Annuals: verbena, lisianthus (Eustoma).Annuals and perennials: bachelor’s button (Centaurea), California Poppy (Eschscholzia), godetia (Clarkia), coreopsis.Bulbs, corms, tubers: iris.Trees, shrubs, vines: oleander (Nerium), Indian hawthorn (Rhaphiolepis indica).Fruits and vegetables: cherries, cucumber, grapefruit, green onions.To water hillsides, set emitters on upper side of slope.Continue to monitor and destroy (or relocate) slugs and snails.
Source: Adapted from A Gardener’s Companion for the Central San Joaquin Valley, 3rd edition, currently available from Fresno County Master Gardeners for $30. These can be purchased at our demonstration garden – Garden of the Sun (1750 N Winery (McKinley/Winery), open Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 9 am to Noon, and via email at mgfresno@ucanr.edu. Gardening questions answered as well at mgfresno@ucanr.edu. Prepared by Terry Lewis, Master Gardener UCCE Fresno County.
Comments are closed.