Your garden will respond this month to the long days of sunshine and warm weather.   The annuals you planted earlier in the year should be looking their best and the fruit trees should be loaded with fruit.  Some of the vegetables you’ve planted are being harvested and your garden overall should look spectacular.  Spend more time outside doing simple chores and enjoy what you’ve created.

Color: While many of your annuals are probably at their peak, it’s not too late to add a few plants to your beds and pots.  Marigolds, Salvia, Zinnia, Verbena and many other varieties are available to plant in the sun.  As always, bedding Begonias and Impatiens are available for the shade along with Coleus and Kalanchoe.

Fruits & Vegetables: Plums and Peaches on your fruit trees should be ready to pick and enjoy.  Early crops such as beans and cucumbers may be ready to harvest this month.  Remove fruit and vegetables as they ripen.  Leaving them on the plant can encourage pests and diseases.  You can replant now for another vegetable crop later this year.  Prune spent canes off of fruiting vines.

Lawn: Raising the blade on your lawnmower and allowing the blades to grow to 2-2 ½” will help keep the ground moisture in your lawn. In consideration of the drought, be sure to establish a twice weekly watering schedule.

Roses & Flowers: Deadhead roses and feed after the bloom cycle.  Keep deadheading all flowers to prolong the bloom period.

Mulch flower beds and around shrubs and trees to help retain soil moisture through these typically hottest months.

Like every month, do a test run on your irrigation system to ensure that all lines are clear and emitters are working efficiently. Make sure that you establish a watering schedule for plants in pots that are not part of the irrigation system and again – be sure to establish a watering schedule in compliance with the drought mandates (all are two days a week – but check this link to find your local water agency’s rules: http://www.sdcwa.org/find-your-water-district

Viewing your landscape this month you have a real feeling of satisfaction. The flowers are in full bloom, vegetables and fruit trees are both producing and the weather has warmed up just enough to be enjoyable. Spend time in your yard. Relax and enjoy the fruits of your labors.

Color: For a quick-fix to your garden, add fast growing annuals like Petunias, Vinca, Marigolds and Zinnia. There is a plethora of color available right now to add interest to your flower beds and borders. Experiment and try something different. New varieties of Alyssum, Celosia, Coreopsis, Foxglove and Gazania are all great summer color. Plant those now. Also try Dianthus, Hollyhocks and Penstemon. For color in the shade, besides Impatiens and Begonias, try Coleus, Kalanchoe and Heuchera. Continue to pinch back faded blossoms.

Fruits & Vegetables: Summer vegetables such as squash, beans and tomatoes that are planted much after the first of the month, won’t be in the ground long enough to give you a significant crop. Get them in right away. There’s still time to plant beets, beans, melons, radishes, squash and heat tolerant lettuces. Plant the last patch of corn this month. Keep fruit and vegetables picked. Remove any fallen produce that may attract unwanted pests or encourage diseases that may spread to other parts of your landscape. Be sure to keep herbs pinched back.

Lawn: Keep in mind the water restrictions recently enforced – to irrigate ornamental landscapes no more than two days a week across the region – See more at: http://www.sdcwa.org/state-water-use-reduction-mandates-start-today for more details and your water agency’s specific watering schedule. Lightly fertilize and be sure to mow on a weekly basis. If you haven’t raised the blade on your lawn mower, raise it now to about 2 – 2 ½”. It’s also a good time to have the blade re-sharpened.

Roses & Flowers: Please see our blog – “How to take care of your roses when in a drought” for this month’s advice on roses.

Irrigation: Again, keep in mind the water restrictions enforced state-wide on June 1st. Rebates are available for switching out your irrigation products. One to take advantage of is for installing rotor type sprinklers (MP Rotators) instead of fixed spray sprinklers. These rotating sprinklers reduce runoff and put out about 1/3 the water of a regular spray head. Check the Be Water Wise website for rebates – www.bewaterwise.com. Rebates are also available for various water efficient irrigation tools such as weather based irrigation controllers and soil moisture sensors. Check the SoCal Water Smart website for details – www.socalwatersmart.com

In January, your landscape is at its most dormant stage and there’s very little to do. Aside from pruning and transplanting there’s not a lot going on. With high moisture levels in the ground, be careful not to disturb the soil too much. Overworking can result in compaction that may harm the soil structure. Do go to your local nursery or garden center. Azaleas, Camellias are blooming along with New Zealand Tea Trees (Leptospermum scoparium) and other plants. Putting these in your garden will ensure that you have flowers in your garden when most flowering plants are in their dormant stage.

Color: Fill in bare spots with cool weather annuals. Pansies, Snapdragons, Iceland poppies and Kale are great additions to the garden along with Cyclamen, Primula and Begonias. Keep leaf trash cleaned from the base of the plants. Plant summer blooming bulbs; canna, dahlia, lilies, tuberose and tuberous begonias.

Fruits & Vegetables: Plant bare-root fruit trees, grapes, berries and strawberries now. Soak roots in water overnight before planting. Continue to spray dormant fruit trees for pests, include trunk and soil around the base of the tree. Prune established fruit trees to maintain a uniform shape. Many cool weather vegetables are available. Sow beet, carrot and radish seeds.

Lawn: Mow cool weather lawns weekly. Appling a pre-emergent weed killer now will save you time and money later in the year. Give your lawnmower a tune up. Change the oil and have the blade to your lawnmower sharpened or do it yourself.

Roses & Flowers: Clean leaf litter from around the base of plants to discourage snails & slugs. Bait as necessary. Prune roses before new growth begins. Water roses thoroughly before pruning. Other flowering shrubs should be pruned after the first bloom cycle.

Irrigation: Do a test run on your irrigation system to ensure that all lines are clear and emitters are working efficiently. Watch your system carefully. If it rains, turn the system off and save the water.

Also: Natives can also be pruned lightly now in order to maintain a uniform shape. If rainfall isn’t heavy, water deeply. The moisture they store now will help them through the hot summer months.
Bulbs with higher cold requirements need to be planted in cold soil. If the weather is cool, between Christmas and New Years, plant then. Otherwise wait until the soil temperature drops being sure to plant before January 10th.

Protect tender plants from frost by covering them with a non-plastic material when frost threatens. Keeping plantings well hydrated will help frost survival also. A turgid plant will recover from frost better than a dry plant. Should a frost damage your garden, don’t be tempted to prune off the damaged parts. They’ll help protect the plant from further damage should another frost occur. Trim these parts off later in the year when all risk of frost has past.

Plant and transplant Azaleas and Camellias. Be sure to use a high acid planting mix to promote growth.

Cool temperature weather is the perfect time to prune evergreens

By Donnie Dabbs, General Mgr.

Fertilizing typical and drought-tolerant trees in the landscape requires a knack for applying in the right season, proper administration and for using the best product for the tree. Fertilizer is often misunderstood and misused. Fertilizer is not really direct food for trees, but instead, a boost to your trees providing the ingredients needed for photosynthesis and growth. Fertilizer should not only be used when minerals are lacking or absent in the soil but also to maintain a good chemical balance within the soil all year long. Your top ten, typical choice of standard trees for most landscapes range from King and Queen palms to Agonis, Magnolia and Lagerstromia varieties. Drought-tolerant trees can be fertilized much in the same way. These trees should be fertilized on a regular schedule, depending on the geography and status of the tree. Trees in areas that receive a lot of rain usually have a lot of natural nutrients in the soil and only require about one to two times a year of fertilizer application. However, in more arid areas, like the Southwest, you should fertilize up to three times a year to produce more nutrients in the soil and to keep the plant healthy in each season. The best times for fertilizing is in early spring, mid-year and in the fall. The early spring is a good time because tree roots are coming out of the dormant period and require a boost to be healthy as they are starting to grow. Mid-year is also important because trees are experiencing more heat, absorbing water faster because of the heat and therefore going through nutrients quicker. To put in fertilizer during this time gives the tree a boost and replenishes those nutrients lost. During the Fall, tree roots have cooled a bit but there isn’t as much rainfall as during winter months. Avoid fertilizing trees and shrubs stressed by drought during the summer months. If water is unavailable, do not fertilize at all because plants will be unable to absorb the nutrients.