The New Year Brings New Gardening Opportunities in Southern California

The New Year Brings New Gardening Opportunities in Southern California
By Bill Camarillo

While January and winter weather means an end to gardening activities in many parts of the United States, it is prime time to plant in southern California.

Plant fruit trees: A variety of bare root fruit trees are at nurseries ready to be planted in January. Varieties include apricot, blueberries, plum, apple, pear, peach and raspberries trees. Give the trees a boost by adding organic compost planting mix to the soil to increase soil aeration and to keep in moisture.

Add Artichokes: Add artichoke plants to your garden. Plant them 4 feet apart. They start their growing process in winter and begin sprouting artichoke heads in spring. These hardy, perennial vegetables can produce artichokes year after year.

Plant Garlic Cloves: Separate cloves from a garlic bulb. Plant them with the pointy part up the clove up-and about 7 to 8 inches deep. Garlic plants will soon poke their heads from the soil and grow during winter. They can easily withstand cold winter nights. The new garlic bulbs with their juicy cloves will be ready for harvest in late spring or early summer.

Keep Applying Mulch To Cut Down On Weeds: Every rainfall (no matter how infrequent) means more weeds in the garden. Weeds seem to go more quickly than any vegetable or flower plant. To keep weeds under control, make sure you have a several-inch layer of mulch wherever weeds may appear. If weeds are already taking root, remove them before covering the area with mulch.

Plant Wildflowers From Seed: First, rake the flowerbed area. Sprinkle California poppy and other wild flowers and cover gently with soil. Sow more seeds just before a rain to encourage continued flower production in spring.

Move Living Christmas Trees Outside: Living Christmas trees should stay indoors for as little time as possible. Once planted outdoors, pine trees can easily grow 40 to 50 feet tall. Their strong root system, over time, will spread and can easily crack concrete walkways that stand in their way. Make sure you plant your tree in a location that can accommodate such a large tree.

Extending the Life of Poinsettias: Poinsettia flowers will usually remain healthy into March. After March, cut back the stems to no more than eight inches tall. By June, new growth will begin. Keep the plant in indirect, natural sunlight and the soil moderately moist. When the weather warms, bring the plant outside and transplant into a bigger pot. Prune as needed so the plant is bushy. Flowers will begin to grow in October and reach their peak of beauty in November and December.

Purchase A Rain Barrel: Don't let rainwater roof runoff go to waste. Many cities and counties offer rebates when purchasing rain barrels. These barrels can typically hold 50 gallons of water-- water that can be used to irrigate your garden.

Bill Camarillo is CEO of Agromin, an Oxnard, California-based manufacturer of soil products and the composter for cities throughout Southern California. Each month, Agromin receives more than 30,000 tons of organic material and then uses a safe, natural and sustainable process to transform the material into premium soil products. The results are more vigorous and healthier plants and gardens, and on the conservation side, the opportunity to close the recycling loop, allow more room in landfills and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. http://www.agromin.com, https://www.facebook.com/agromin/

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Seeking The Services Provided By Expert Gardeners

Seeking The Services Provided By Expert Gardeners
By Jim D Mcgonagle

Having a lawn or garden is something that many homeowners really want. When you spend much of every single day in an urban environment where concrete, smoke, and artificial lighting and vegetation are ever present, it can be such a welcome, refreshing sensation to come home to a space where you can bask in the open evening sky, feel the cool breeze, and breathe in clean, fresh air while enjoying the sight of your green grass and other plants.

However, not all homeowners can have this luxury mainly because they won't have all day, every day, to tend to the lawn and garden so that it can stay in excellent shape. Most people are working. And although someone else in the household can take on the responsibility of watering the grass and plants regularly, it's going to take someone with a little more knowledge and experience in maintaining a garden to actually ensure that your garden stays in good health.

If you are among these homeowners, your best move would be to let the experts get the job done. Professional gardeners will have the tools, equipment, training and experience in tending a variety of outdoor spaces, and they will be able to enhance the health and improve the aesthetic appeal of your lawn and garden. These expert gardeners offer services for you to be able to enjoy the beauty and comfort of having a healthy lawn or garden.

Gardeners offer mowing services. The best way to keep a lawn looking sharp and tidy is to perform regular mowing. Not only will professionals cut the grass, but they'll also have the tools and equipment for proper edging, especially for hard to reach areas like around trees or around your lawn furniture and other features.

Gardeners offer overall lawn care and maintenance. To stay healthy, your grass and plants require regular trimming and pruning, sufficient watering, and the right plant foods and fertilisers. Trained and experienced gardeners will know what your garden needs and see to it that those needs are properly met.

Gardeners offer the disposal of rubbish. Gardens produce a substantial amount of rubbish which must be regularly cleared away so that the garden can remain orderly and comfortable to stay in. This task can be taken up by gardening specialists with the right equipment.

Gardeners offer cleaning out of gutters. Gutters are important fixtures found outside the house. Their purpose is to draw water away from the house. They can, however, become blocked with dirt and debris, and when this happens, there is a risk of water flowing into the house and causing damage. Expert gardeners can certainly help you with this.

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How to Create a Hedgehog-Friendly Garden

How to Create a Hedgehog-Friendly Garden
By Victoria Fisher

Known as the gardener's friend due to their fondness for munching on slugs, snails and other pests, hedgehogs used to be a common sight in our gardens. However, nowadays they are facing an uphill struggle to survive. This is down to a range of causes, including increased house-building, traffic, pesticides and loss of hedgerows. According to the Wildlife Trust, hedgehog numbers have gone down by 30% in just 10 years. What can we do to help? Here are a few suggestions for making your garden into a hedgehog haven:

Provide shelter

If you're putting up a new shed, home office or garden workshop, try to leave a gap of at least 30cm between it and your garden fence or wall. This will create a potential nesting space for hogs looking to mate or hibernate. You can then lean a wooden board against the wall of your garden building to make a cosy shelter, or even buy a purpose-built hedgehog house. Add some fallen leaves and dried grass for bedding.

Create a wildlife corridor

Hedgehogs may travel several miles a night searching for food, nesting sites and mates, but frequently find their progress blocked by close-fitting garden fences and walls. Cutting a five-inch square gap at the base of your fence, or digging a small channel underneath, will give hogs the freedom they need to forage widely.

Feed them up

Help hedgehogs build up their reserves for winter hibernation by leaving out food. This can include sunflower seeds, chopped boiled eggs, crushed nuts, dried mealworms, sultanas and poultry-flavoured dog or cat food in jelly. You can also buy specialist hedgehog food. Avoid bread and milk as this can result in potentially fatal stomach upsets. Remember to provide a bowl of water.

Get composting

Compost is ideal for feeding your garden plants as well as providing a comfortable home for hibernating hedgehogs. Flower and shrub beds covered in mulch created in your compost bin will attract woodlice, worms and beetles that hogs love to feed on, while log piles can provide homes for delicious insects such as centipedes and earwigs. Always check for signs of small animals, such as entrance holes and droppings, before disturbing the compost bin.

Let it grow

Manicured, over-tidy gardens make it difficult for small creatures to find food and shelter, so don't cut the lawn too short or trim your hedge to within an inch of its life. Leave a corner of your garden to grow wild so that hedgehogs can use twigs, logs and fallen leaves to build their nests.

Growing many different types of flowers and shrubs is also helpful for hogs as it will increase their food source by attracting a wider range of wildlife. Raised beds are ideal for this - you can fill them with specialist compost to nurture plants that might not otherwise survive in your normal garden soil.

Go green

Avoid using pesticides, particularly slug pellets, which can kill hogs if they eat slugs with pellets inside them. Instead, make a slug trap by burying half a grapefruit in a flower bed and filling it with beer.

Make your garden safe

Hedgehogs have curious natures but poor eyesight, which can be a fatal combination. Help keep them out of trouble by covering any drains or ditches in your garden - and if you build a bonfire, light it straight away before any small creatures can take up residence. Ponds can be another problem. Use rocks, bricks or wooden boards to create a sloping edge so they can climb out safely. Lastly always check for hedgehogs before cutting long grass.

These small steps can make a big difference to the survival of our prickly friends, and give you a warm glow of achievement into the bargain. So why not give it a go?

Visit https://www.wonkeedonkeeforestgarden.co.uk/ for information on garden buildings, raised beds, greenhouses, planters and composters. You might also be interested in https://www.wonkeedonkeeforestgarden.co.uk/productindex/learning/ for more ideas on ways to improve your garden.

Victoria Fisher is an experienced technical author who writes for a range of websites on home and garden topics.

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Take Up Gardening for Improved Wellness

Take Up Gardening for Improved Wellness
By Patrick Smyth

Gardening offers many benefits, whether you have an expansive yard with room for huge flower and vegetable beds, or if you live in an apartment with a small balcony just large enough for a few containers. Aesthetically, a well-tended garden is pleasing to look at, for you the gardener and for your friends and neighbors. You will enjoy just looking at the rewards of your labor, and the compliments from your neighbors will add to your satisfaction.

The therapeutic benefits also include stress relief in the activity itself. Working outside in the trees and grass and digging in the dirt are great ways to shift your focus from mental stresses to physical exercise and nature. As you concentrate on the weeds, the seeds and the bees your mind lets go of the things that frustrate you. You will discover a whole new world in the soil and in your garden as you watch things grow.

The boost to your motivation and positive attitude should be reason enough to want to grow something. Of course, the benefits of growing your own food go far beyond stress relief. Gardening can be a great form of exercise, if you have beds that need to be turned, weeded, mulched and holes dug for planting. Imagine losing weight and gaining muscular strength while growing food and flowers that please you. You win twice!

When you grow your own vegetables, you know exactly how the crop has been grown. If you don't use harsh chemical pesticides to control bugs and herbicides to control weeds, you will have vegetables that are free of any chemical agents. When you buy vegetables in the supermarket, you have no idea what chemicals were used in their growing, harvesting or packing before they ended up on the shelf.

There can be a significant economic benefit to growing your own food. A small packet of seeds can grow hundreds of carrots, cabbages, kale, Swiss chard, lettuces, tomatoes, peppers, zucchinis, onions, garlic and more at a fraction of the cost of buying those items in the store. Some plants, like kale, collards and Swiss chard, have very long seasons often lasting through the winter and into the next year. Many herbs such as chives, parsley, rosemary, sage, thyme and others are perennials. One plant will keep producing for years.

Gardening can improve your social life as well. The garden and the process of gardening adds a new a talking point with neighbors and friends who visit you. You will impress friends and family when they learn that the vegetables on their plate came from your own garden, proudly tended and harvested by you. Their impression of you will improve as well, as one with broader interests, knowledge and the discipline and dedication to stay with the program through the entire season.

Don't worry if you have never grown anything before. Planting seeds or seedlings in good soil with lots of compost, keeping it supplied with water and protected from weeds and bugs takes little more than diligence. Nature knows how to make the plants grow. All you have to do is be there to tend to it along the way. Pick up a simple book or two on gardening "made easy" and between that and what you learn simply by doing you will become an expert productive gardener in no time.

Patrick is a coach, speaker, and trainer to individuals and business leaders. He helps leaders to achieve success by clarifying their vision, strategic plans, leadership, change management, brand and marketing strategy. He helps individuals to remove self-limiting beliefs and fears that prevent them from acting on their goals and dreams. 615-261-8585 http://www.patrickgsmyth.com

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Southern California Gardening Can Take a Back Seat To Holiday Festivities in December

Southern California Gardening Can Take a Back Seat To Holiday Festivities in December
By Bill Camarillo

December is the ideal month to take time off from gardening and enjoy the holidays, but for those who love to garden regardless of the season, there is still plenty to do.

Turn Off Automatic Sprinklers: Most cities ban watering for 48 hours after a rain but you can usually wait longer to begin watering again. Rain usually saturates the soil much better than sprinklers. Turn off automatic sprinklers and let the weather be your watering guide or install a soil moisture sensor so sprinklers only turn on when needed.

Fill in Lawn Bare Spots: Add grass seeds to bare spots in your lawn. Place a topper mix over the seeds to protect them from birds and to help germination. Winter rains, if they come, will give the seeds the water they need to grow. Be aware, however, if drought conditions continue, you will need to water the seeds to stimulate growth.

Prune Weak Tree Limbs: Winter often brings strong winds that can snap tree limbs. Examine trees for weakened limbs or limbs that could cause damage to property if they fall. Remove the limbs now.

Get To The Bottom of Leaf Curl on Fruit Trees: Citrus leaf curl could be caused by a number of issues: insects such as aphids, too much watering (or not enough watering) and nutrient deficiencies. Take a sample of the curled leaves to a knowledgeable garden nursery for a diagnosis and suggested remedy so your trees are healthy by spring.

Plant Dormant Deciduous Fruit Trees: Late December is the time to plant young dormant deciduous fruit trees. They are available at good prices because they often come without soil (bare root). Deciduous fruit trees need cold nights (below 45 degrees) to encourage buds to bloom and bear fruit. Some trees need more chilly nights than others. Fruit trees that do particularly well in southern California's more temperate climate include apple varieties, apricot, blueberry, sweet cherries, figs and varieties of nectarine and peach.

Add Indoor Color With Plants: December means entertaining during the holidays. Add festive indoor color with seasonal plants such as poinsettias and blooming chrysanthemums, lilies, antherium, begonias, cyclamen and African Violet. These plants don't mind low light. Keep them away from heaters and fireplaces.

Start A Compost Pile: Create your own compost pile. Add equal parts carbon and nitrogen: leaves and shrub and tree prunings (carbon) and grass clippings, flowers, coffee grounds and fruit and vegetable scraps (nitrogen). Pick a well-draining, 3' x 3' location. Start with a layer of leaves, followed by green materials and food waste, a layer of soil and then more leaves and wooden materials. Every few weeks, turn over your pile so it is well aerated and doesn't overheat. Consider putting a tarp over the compost pile when it rains. It will keep the pile from getting soggy and will hold in heat-necessary for microbes to decompose the material. You will have fresh compost for your garden by spring.

Get A Jump On Weeds: One rainstorm can trigger weed growth. Keep weeds under control by placing a layer of mulch in flower and vegetable beds.

Bill Camarillo is CEO of Agromin, an Oxnard, California-based manufacturer of soil products and the composter for cities throughout Southern California. Each month, Agromin receives more than 30,000 tons of organic material and then uses a safe, natural and sustainable process to transform the material into premium soil products. The results are more vigorous and healthier plants and gardens, and on the conservation side, the opportunity to close the recycling loop, allow more room in landfills and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. http://www.agromin.com, https://www.facebook.com/agromin/

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