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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