Smart & Sustainable, Green Garden Design, Coaching & Seasonal Maintenance


Friday, January 28, 2011

To Cal Expo for the Home and Landscape Show!

Lest forget ... here's a 2 for 1 savings from the Sacramento Bee for this weekend's show!
Northern California Home and Landscape Show
I'm excited about this weekend's Northern California Home and Landscape Show. Having done a garden display for last year's inaugural, California State Flower and Garden Show, I have enormous appreciation of the work that goes into creating the landscape showcase gardens. Having cozied up with various merchants at the show, I know what it takes for them to arrive, set up, and involve their businesses in these ventures. I'm a backstage baby, I love knowing what goes on on the other side of the curtain!


Robert Walker Landscape Design

So, tomorrow I plan to attend. I won't see it all, cuz that wears me out, but I will see the 3 featured gardens and attend a couple of workshops. Absolutely! One of the garden displays will feature the parasoleil panels of my friend, Theodora of Living Green Landscape Design. Theodora and I worked together last year, and plan to encore that this year. I love her stuff! She's working with Roberta Walker who is known for her drought tolerant landscapes. (I'm also looking forward to Roberta's  talk at 4 o'clock, Lush Gardens Using Low Water.)  I'm eager to see Verde Creations' garden, as well, and its many water-wise features: "...drought tolerant plants to save water, permeable surfaces to recharge ground water and reduce run-off, and efficient irrigation practices." The third garden is by ProScapes Landscape and Design.Their design looks charming. That's all I can say so far! My final activity (or perhaps first, depending on what time I arrive) is Michael Glassman's talk at 2, Add Instant Curb Appeal, Focus on the Front Porch. Since I have a huge interest in revitalizing our front yards, especially in a "green" way, I'll be taking lots of notes, believe me! I don't think I'll be able to make it for this one, but, my other recommendation would be the Sacramento Bee's, Debbie Arrington's talk on roses, Sacramento Roses 101: Everything You Need to Know to Grow Great Roses.

That's my Saturday plan. Theodora's spending the night at my house (yea) so we'll be a-buzz about all things gardening. And, perhaps, a glass of wine, or two?

Spending next week pruning dormant roses ... gotta be done. Need any help with yours?

Whether you need garden design, coaching, seasonal maintenance or planting, Geno's Garden can help!
Call me at (916) 764-5243, or email hansonja@aol.com.

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Wordless Wednesday at the WPA Garden

... a quick trip to/thru the WPA Rock Garden at William Land Park to seek pictures of different varieties of flowering quince ...

Chaenomeles japonica

and, as a bonus, my favorite, the green dotted, "Summer" Snowflake,

Leucojum aestivum

 and, the, "what is this"? Seriously, I mean it ... do you know what this is?

?
... but, then, sometimes we want words, now, don't we? From the Rock Garden's own, Daisy Mah: "It's a native coast silk tassle Garrya elliptica 'James Roof' which burned pretty badly this summer, but sure is lovely with it's male catkins."

Spending the week pruning dormant roses ... gotta be done. Need any help with yours?

Whether you need garden design, coaching, seasonal maintenance or planting, Geno's Garden can help!
Call me at (916) 764-5243, or email hansonja@aol.com.

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Flowering Quince

Chaenomeles japonica
Chaenomeles japonica - Japanese Flowering Quince
Origin:  Japan and other parts of Asia
Characteristic: mounding, arching, somewhat open. Most are thorny.
Size:  varies, can be up to 10' or low growing at 2 - 3'
Foliage:grows alternately along stems. Ovate to oblong, up to 2: or more. Serrated margins. Stipule (leaf-like growth at base of new leaves that falls off as true leaf matures). Medium green, with pale green undersides.
Flower, Fruits and Seeds: solitary flowers all along the stem appear prior to new leaves. The species is deep pink to red, but many colors are available in varieties ... salmon, yellow, apricot, pink, white, bi-colored pink and white, etc. Fruit is a pomo (similar to apple).
Environmental Preferences: full and part sun, likes regular moisture, acidic pH and organics.
Uses: accent, specimen, cut flower, indoor forcing, formal and informal hedges, japanese gardens, utility (jams and jellies), blossoms attract birds
Pests/Diseases: Indistructible
Propagation: seed, cuttings
Pruning: can take pruning to shape or limit growth at any time, but bud and bloom season is a good time for the job, as the branches can be used for indoor arrangements.
Sunset Zones: 1 - 21
Comments: In the Sacramento area, flowering quinces are one of the earliest of the blooming shrubs, breaking bud around the end of January. It is a delightful, bright spot when the days are overcast. After blossoming the larger shrubs can become gangly, so don't be afraid to keep it in check with your pruning tools..

Whether you need garden design, coaching, seasonal maintenance or planting, Geno's Garden can help!
Call me at (916) 764-5243, or email hansonja@aol.com.

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Roses in the Sacramento Valley - Part 3

...we've got some work to do ... grab your gloves and let's get at it!

rose gloves



Essential Pruning Tools


Leather gloves – invaluable for protection when dealing with thorns!
Pruners – hand-held shearers that can cut up to ¼” stems. Most gardeners prefer by-pass over anvil-styled pruners.
Hedge Shearers – like a giant scissors
Loppers – long-handled pruners, can reach inside rose to cut back the old, dead or diseased canes up to 1 ¼” in diameter.
Small pruning saw – a special gardening saw, you may need if you’ve got some gnarly old rose canes.



A Few Rose Terms


Cane – a rose stem, flexible when new, hardens with age. The really old canes become unlikely to generate new growth (canes, and eventually flowers)

Dormant Stage – comes from latin, dormir, “to sleep” Roses have a hibernation stage in the winter when they stop growing. This is best time to prune them.

Dead Head – removing spent blooms (promotes more blooms - mostly a summertime thing)



Pruning Roses


Whereas all roses will benefit from having dead, diseased or twiggy growth removed, many of the shrub, groundcover or landscape roses can be shaped pretty quickly after that with your loppers. Your hybrid teas, will need a bit more sculpting. The time to prune your roses is before they start to wake up from their winter dormancy and put out new growth. In the Sacramento Valley and many of the temperate parts of our state, this will best be done between late December and early February. Since the hybrid teas are the most popular roses, and most likely to be in your garden, we're going to concentrate on them.

my sister's rose garden



Pruning Your Hybrid Tea Roses


These roses (like my sister's roses above) will need to be aggressively cut back to 3 – 5 sturdy stems, or canes in the dormant season (now). This will allow a good structure to support new growth in the spring. Here’s how:

If the rose hasn’t been taken care of for a while or still has a lot of leaves on it (like in my California garden), cut everything back to about 3 feet from the ground. This will allow you to see what you’re doing on the next steps. Remove any remaining leaves.
  • Cut back any dead canes (branches) to their base.
  • Cut back any crossing or rubbing branches (these can create wounds that allow disease to enter) to their base.
  • Cut back diseased branches to below the troubled zone. A dark center in the middle of the branch can be evidence of rose borers that have tunneled into your branch.
  • Remove any stems smaller than a pencil; those skinny stems will be too floppy to support new growth.
  • Choose 3 – 4 canes and eliminate the rest. Don’t cut below your knees, unless you’re going all the way!
  • Using a slanting cut (45 degree angle), prune the remaining canes to an outward facing bud, ¼ inch above the bud. These canes will be about 2’ tall.

Cecile Brunner climbing rose
 photo credit: Farmer Fred (Hoffman)
  • You don’t need to paint the cuts.
  • Clean up all leaves and cuttings and throw in trash, not the compost.

(On the other hand, there's my climbing Cecile Brunner rose, that grows every which way ...over the grape arbor, along the power lines, up the liquid amber. As you can see it's a beautiful display, during its one big hurrah in the spring, after that, it's a wild race to see whose going to win . So far, it's Cecile.)



Caring for Your Roses


The big question: chemicals or organic control? But before that's addressed, the thing to know in life, in your garden, with your body, is that the best defence against illness and disease is being healthy. With plants that means regular water, cleaning up the garden so pests aren't harbored and infection can't spread from diseases in the leaves, mulching to keep soil from drying out (4 - 6" is recommended), making sure you "feed" them (they need their minerals!). Planting they where they get their required daily sunshine and making sure they have good drainage. It's the same with us. Good nutrition, good sleep, exercise, water ... you know the drill. It's the same for our plant friends.

So, to reiterate, what do roses need? Sun (at least 6 hours ... and like many plants in our Sacramento summer gardens, they might like a wee bit of shade in the hot afternoon), regular water - drip is best, make sure you time your system so that the entire root zone gets watered a couple of times a week, good drainage (if your clay soil is really a bog, your roses won't like it, try a raised bed), mulch in your soil so it doesn't dry out. These things will go a long way to prevent diseases and pests from attacking your beauties. And they need some sort of fertilizer, whether organic or chemically based, applied at the appropriate intervals.

As to handling diseases and pests that get by your healthy regimen, there are great organic products as well as natural predators (like lady bugs) that are available at your local nursery, and there are chemical-based products that combine fertilizers with pesticides as well. I'll be adressing this subject in the spring, as well as as identifying the most common rose problems. But, you've got enough right now to get started.

Have fun in your garden... it's almost spring!


Want More? In case you missed it ... here are the links to the other 2 parts of this series on roses in the Sacramento Valley: Part 1, an introduction, and Part 2, where we discuss types of roses, great rose retailers, public rose gardens and some useful online resources. Hope this is useful in some way. Feel free to call me if you have any questions, or would like some in-your-garden help.

Whether you need garden design, coaching, seasonal maintenance or planting, Geno's Garden can help!
Call me at (916) 764-5243, or email hansonja@aol.com.

Saturday, January 15, 2011

Roses in the Sacramento Valley - Part 2

Sally Holmes rose, at the Sacramento City Cemetery

Roses are beautiful and can help us to create gardens full of color and fragrance. According to the Sunset Western Garden Book, it's "undoubtedly the best-loved flower and most widely planted shrub in the West and all other terperate parts of the world." However, when you start learning about roses, it's easy to be washed overboard, and drown in the ... Sea of Too Much Information! If you're lucky, however, there's a Sunset Garden Book nearby!


Knowing what type of rose you're looking at will give you prediction on how often and when it will bloom and what kind of pruning and care it will need. This post will cover some basic info about the different types of roses, where to see roses, buy roses, learn about roses. The next, and last part of this series, will cover how to prune and care for your roses.

Here's a breakdown of the 6 major groups, caged from that book of books, my Sunset Garden Book.

Six Types of Roses

Modern Large-Flowered Roses (Hybrid Teas and Grandiflora): long-blooming rose, most cut roses sold by florists, great single flowers for cutting garden or the floral trade.. These have been developed by rose breeders to have a loooong blooming period with increasingly more and more disease resistance.
First Prize, my sister, Julie's pretty hybrid tea rose
Modern Landscape Roses (Floribunda, Polyanthas, shrub roses, hybrid musks, ground cover or carpet roses): these are roses that produce clusters of roses, rather than single roses, thereby creating a big landscape effect..
my neighbor's modern landscape-type rose coming into my yard, note the squirrel
Old Roses – any rose that existed before the 1st modern rose was introduced in 1867, either old European or Asian in origin. (Gallica, Noisettes, Tea, Alba, China roses, Hybrid perpetuals...whatever, the big thing, is they were there before the modern rose fiddling began in 1867. So, there)
Modern Climbing Roses (either natural climbers with large flowers or climbing sports of bush roses): – climbers have sturdy stems, ramblers grow long flexible stems yearly (often used on low fences), pillars are like climbers, but not as tall (frequently grown on a post or a pillar-like structure as a garden accent).
High Hand Nursery in Loomis using a row of rose arches to enclose the outdoor cafe
Miniature Roses -good for containers and window boxes or as ground-cover type plants. These are replicas of larger roses, grown to 1 - 1.5' tall.
Species Roses - (wild species roses) These are roses that have retained their originality, free from cross-breeding influence of other roses. One example is the Lady Banks Rose, Rosa banksiae, that you can see in full glory in the spring at the Sacramento City Cemetary.

Public Rose Gardens


Eglantine Avenue
One of the lovely lanes at the City Cemetery where you can see historic roses of all descriptions, with names like Grandmother's Hat and Hoffman von Fallersleben. There's also a perennial plant garden and a native plant section at the cemetery. It's a peaceful place. If you've never been there, I think you'll like it.


Shopping Places!

It's Bare-Root Season! While the roses aren't in bloom, they are inexpensive, and a lot of nurseries are having sales. Big box stores like Home Depot and Lowe's have bare-root roses in stock right now, but the independent nurseries have the best selection and the newest varieties. These nurseries will also have more established, larger, mature roses ... always nice if you want instant satisfaction! Many of these nurseries are offering pruning classes in January and  February, so you can ask questions and see how it's supposed to be done while you're there, SHOPPING!



Some Great Online Resources

A useful online tool for pictures, terms, trivia … www.helpmefind.com/rose.
Lifetime master gardener, 2 local gardening radio shows: meet The Professor, Farmer Fred (Hoffman) (Hint: while you're at it, check out his recommendations of the best 10 roses for Sacramento)
Rose Images A great source for pictures and information on roses!
Don’t let those roses be lonely…give them a few friends! Companion Plants for Roses
The Sacramento Rose Society - lots of info and links useful to us Valley folk


Buddy Up with Other Rose Lovers

My choice is the Sacramento Perennial Plant Club...which meets at the Sheppard Garden and Arts Center on the last Thursday of the month. This month's meeting includes a presentation on the Best David Austin Roses for Sacramento. But, there are lots of clubs and they're all happy to welcome new members and guests.

Want More? Here's the link to the other 2 parts of this series on roses in the Sacramento Valley: Part 1, an introduction, and Part 3, where we wrap it all up with a discussion of tools, terms, pruning techniques and the best way to keep your roses healthy and disease free. Hope this is useful in some way. Feel free to call me if you have any questions, or would like some in-your-garden help.


Call if you need some help with your rose pruning
Whether you need garden design, coaching, seasonal maintenance or planting, Geno's Garden can help!
Call me at (916) 764-5243, or email hansonja@aol.com.

Monday, January 10, 2011

Roses in the Sacramento Valley - Part 1

My dad was a backyard farmer, as was his father before him and my Irish great-grandfather before him (although he had an actual farm!). I remember my grampa’s deep, narrow lot in San Francisco where he grew corn. My dad grew asparagus and planted fruit trees and vegetables in Southern California, my mom canned. My brother and I sold avocados door to door. Small wonder I fancy gardening. It’s my heritage.
Golden Showers, a climbing rose
Golden Showers, my front porch climber (first introduced in 1957)

Now, farming is a highly practical activity … you grow something you can use at home or sell at the marketplace. It’s a straight-up activity. Gardening for fun, however, is another thing. My dad had strong opinions about roses … too hard, too fussy! Well, as I’ve become a more experienced gardener, I’ve found that this isn’t true. Sorry, Dad. Roses are actually quite hardy, having strong root systems that can keep them growing thru quite a bit of abuse. Treated smartly, they can be quite disease resistant. They are also incredibly beautiful and worth the effort to learn how to care for them.

Ballerina Rose
my Ballerina shrub rose, introduced in 1937

I think the thing that can throw a newcomer off is there is so much information and so much terminology! There are so many types of roses … old roses, miniature roses, carpet roses, climbers, shrub roses, ramblers …and it’s enough to really confuse a new gardener. As a garden coach I believe that success breeds success. Learn something about the subject, put it into action, watch what happens.

In the next week or so I'll be blogging about roses  ... we'll take a look at some of the basics, from pruning (which generally happens in January), to understanding the various types of roses and then we'll cover their general care.

Today's gardeners like to mix it up in their gardens, with ornamental plants like roses cozying up to an assortment of herbs and veggies. In my dad's day it was all vegetables-in-a-row, fruit trees in the orchard and a lawn in the front yard. Perhaps my dad's resistance to growing roses was in his day they were more disease prone. Could that be it? Certainly we have unlimited choices, and with today's online mailorder nurseries, easy access to it all. Whatever ... love my dad, love my roses. It's all good!



Want More? Here are the links to Parts 2, where we discuss types of roses, great rose retailers, public rose gardens and some useful online resources, and Part 3, where we wrap it all up with a discussion of tools, terms, pruning techniques and the best way to keep your roses healthy and disease free. Hope this is useful in some way. Feel free to call me if you have any questions, or would like some in-your-garden help.

Whether you need garden design, coaching, seasonal maintenance or planting, Geno's Garden can help!
Call me at (916) 764-5243, or email hansonja@aol.com.

Monday, January 03, 2011

California Incense Cedar


Flicker Photo Credit: col and tasha

Calocedrus decurrens - California Incense Cedar
Origin: Western Oregon to Baja, mountain ranges from elevations of 2500 - 4000'
Character: Upright, columnar to pyramidal evergreen tree. Solid structure when young, opens up with age. Dense with  a fine texture.
Growth Rate: moderate to rapid, up to 3' per year is common, ultimate height being 75 - 100' x 15 - 30'.
Foliage: medium to dark green scale-like needles form  flattened branchlets
Flowers, Fruits and Seeds: the Incense Cedar bears both male pollen flowers and small female cones.
Environmental Preferences: full to partial sun, regular moisture, partly drought tolerant because of deep tap root, needs good drainage
Uses: accent, screen, windbrake, lawn, shade, Christmas tree, cut foliage, furniture
Pests/Diseases: most problems come from poor drainage.
Propagation: seed, cuttings
Sunset Zones: 1-12. 14-24
Comments: wood prunings smell like pencils, attractive redish stems.


Whether you need garden design, coaching, seasonal maintenance or planting, Geno's Garden can help!
Call me at (916) 764-5243, or email hansonja@aol.com.