Tag Archives: roses

fall garden, propagating plants, trees

November ideas in the Garden

Rhododendrons in spring. Pin down branched in fall to encourage rooting.

Warm days, short days, cold days and hopefully rainy days – all in the fall of the year here in the Santa Cruz mountains. It’s part of what makes our area so special to us. We are inspired by Mother Nature and our mountains. We feel a connection with nature as we enjoy our gardens. There are some easy things you can do at this time of year to extend that enjoyment. Gardening should be fun, too.

Taking cuttings of shrubs is a relatively easy and economical way to make new plants. Some plants that can be increased by hardwood cuttings include manzanita, coffeeberry, crape myrtle, pittosporum, euonymous, forsythia, spirea, viburnum and roses. Edible plants like currants, figs, grapes and quinces also make good subjects.

Purple Magic crape myrtle- take cutting soon after it drops leaves.

For deciduous plants it’s best to take cuttings soon after the shrub drops leaves and goes dormant. Evergreen shrub cuttings can be taken now. Start by taking cuttings of year old wood that’s about a quarter inch in diameter. Discard the top couple of inches of each stem since this unripened wood doesn’t have enough stored nutrients to survive. Cut the stems into 6-9 inch pieces. Because a cutting won’t grow if planted upside down, make the top cut at a slant, so you can keep track of it. Then dip the bottom ends in rooting hormone and tap off any excess.

You can store cuttings from dormant shrubs bundled and labeled in boxes of sand in the garage or outdoors in a well-drained trench. Each will form a callus at the base where roots will form next spring. Come spring, plant the cuttings in good soil in shade with only the top bud exposed. Water as needed and once the new plants develop leaves and increase in size, start feeding them monthly with a balanced fertilizer. By next fall your new shrubs should be well established and ready to be moved to their permanent place in the landscape.

Also you can simply pin down a stem of a plant like manzanita or rhododendron by putting a rock on it so the soil makes contact. After a year or so you will have a new plant that you can dig up and move. Other natives like ceanothus can be propagated in a peat and grit mix and will root in about 50 days if given bottom heat. Take these cuttings in January.

Stake trees. Trunks with leaning tops or those planted in very windy areas need support. To determine how high to place ties, move your hand up the trunk until the treetops straightens. I usually allow the stake to reach up into the canopy a bit so that a wind gust doesn’t snap off the trunk right at the base of the canopy. Tie the tree to the stake loosely in several places. Trees in containers are tied tightly to the the stake but those in the ground should have some wiggle room to stimulate the trunk which will make it stronger. This is a good time to check existing tree stakes to make sure the ties aren’t digging into the trunk and the stakes are large enough to support your tree. Remember to keep your tree staked only as long as needed and then remove the supports.

Pick last roses and add alfalfa meal or pellets which will soak into ground and prepare them for next spring. Don’t prune until the end of January.

Groom strawberries and mulch to deter slugs in winter.

To help protect citrus from frost damage, pull mulch back from below the canopy. This allows the ground to absorb heat during the day and release it at night.

February in the garden, perennials, pruning fruit trees, pruning grasses, pruning hydrangeas, pruning tips

February in the Garden

I?m waiting patiently for the buds on my pink flowering currant to start lengthening a bit more. I wasn’t counting on the recent snow and cold snap but the buds are showing color and are doing fine. Although still small at this stage I?ve assured my hummingbird population that they?re on their way. When I was out pruning last week I didn?t touch this plant otherwise I?d have cut off all those potential flower clusters loaded with nectar. This is what I did do in my garden.

To stimulate new growth I trimmed woody evergreen shrubs like abelia and loropetalum. The Mexican bush sage and artemisia were cut to within a few inches of the ground. I don’t use this approach on lavender or ceanothus, though. Lightly prune those after blooming later in the season and don’t cut back to bare wood inside the plant.

Between rain storms I?ll prune my fuchsias back by a third and remove dead, crossing branches and interior twiggy growth. The hanging fuchsias will be cut back to the pot rim. Fuchsias bloom on new wood so even if your plants didn?t lose all their leaves cut them back.

I cut back all the hydrangeas stems that bloomed last year and will apply a soil acidifier soon as I want the flowers as blue as I can get. Although aluminum sulfate is the traditional favorite for quickly acidifying soil it?s not as kind to beneficial soil microorganisms. Coffee grounds, pine needles, peat moss and cottonseed meal are better for your soil.

Don’t prune spring flowering shrubs like lilac, weigela and spirea or flowering trees such as cherry, plum and crabapple now. These and plants with buds like rhododendron, azalea and camellia should be pruned after they flower. You can cut some branches while they are blooming to bring into the house for bouquets.

Even if you have already pruned your roses be sure to remove old leaves still clinging to the plant. Those will most likely develop fungal spots and diseases later if you don?t. Rake up any debris beneath the plant and discard to eliminate overwintering fungus spores

Roses are super forgiving and you can trim them up again using the following guidelines. The goal is to produce lots of roses not just a few of exhibition size. Aim for a vase-shaped bush with an open center.

Prune old garden roses that bloom once in the spring after flowering. Climbing roses require little pruning. Cut out extra stems if there are too many and also cut back long established canes to about the place where they are slightly thicker than a pencil. Then cut each side stem down to several inches. This will cause the cane to flower along its complete length for a beautiful spring display.

Wait to prune back perennials that may have their new foliage damaged in a late frost. Same goes for shrubs that might have gotten hit by frost. That damaged foliage can protect the plant from further frost damage. Mid-March is the estimated date of hard frost in our area or at least it used to be. We gardeners are always betting Mother Nature will go our way and our efforts will not have gone in vain.

Prune fruit, nut, shade trees and deciduous vines like clematis.

Cut back ornamental grasses if you live where you rarely get frost. I?m pruning California fuchsia, salvia ?Bee?s Bliss? and hummingbird sage now. They look okay but I want the encourage new, compact growth.

And now I?m making myself a cup of tea and watching the chipmunk action in my garden. All of nature is getting ready for spring.

Dog Days of Summer, perennials, roses

The Dog Days of Summer

They?re called the Dog Days of summer. You know those sultry days with the hottest summer temperatures. The Romans associated the hot weather between July 24th and August 24th with the star Sirius which they considered to be the ?Dog Star? because it?s the brightest star in the constellation Canis Major (Large Dog). The Old Farmer?s Almanac uses slightly different dates but the Dog Days of summer are definitely here.

Dahlia- a repeat bloomer

Recently I moved to Bonny Doon where gardening in the hot, sandy soil is very different than the shady clay I was used to. One thing I?ve noticed is the existing drip system has not been modified to allow for the growth of the plants. The emitters which were originally placed at the base of each plant are not even close to covering the current size of the root zone. The crown of the plant is getting overwatered with each cycle but the rest of the plant is bone dry. Time to add more emitters maybe even downsizing to half gallon ones and moving them away from the middle of the plant. No sense wasting water that?s not doing the plant much good.

As summer rolls along you may become more aware of the different microclimates in your garden. With the drier and hotter weather this year some of your plants that used to get along just fine might be showing signs of stress. Taking note of these changes in the performance of your plants is what makes for a more successful landscape. When the weather cools towards the end of September you will want to move or eliminate those plants that aren?t thriving. Be sure to keep a thick layer of mulch on the soil around your plants to conserve that precious water you do allocate to each of your irrigation zones.

Roses with Baby’s Breath- deadhead regularly

The dog days of summer may be affecting our garden but it doesn?t have to stop us from being out in the garden. . The joy of gardening can take many forms including adding a wind chime, bird feeder or bird bath. Groom plants that need some cleanup. Many perennials benefit from a little haircut at this time of year to extend their blooming into the fall season. Santa Barbara daisies fall into this category. Lavenders will keep their compact shape by pruning a third of their branches now. This forces new growth in the center so the plant doesn?t get woody.

Deadhead flowering annuals and perennials as often as you can. Annuals like marigolds, petunias, zinnia and cosmos will stop blooming if you allow them to go to seed. The same is true of repeat blooming perennials like dahlia, scabiosa and lantana.

These plants know they’re on this earth to reproduce. If they get a chance to set seed, the show’s over- they’ve raised their family. Try to remove fading flowers regularly and you’ll be amply rewarded.

Strike it Rich rose

Fertilize shrubs lightly one last time in August or early September. All shrubs, especially broad-leaved evergreens such as rhododendron, pieris, camellia and lilac need to calm down, stop growing and harden off to get ready for the winter cold. Some plants have already set next year’s buds.

Roses will appreciate a bit of fertilizer now, encouraging them to bloom another round in September and October. To keep them blooming make a habit of pinching and pruning off old flowers. Always cut back to an outward facing branch-let with five leaves. There are hormones there that will cause a new rose to grow much sooner than if you cut to one with only three leaves.