981 Alden Lane, Livermore, CA 94550 www.aldenlane.com (925) 447-0280
Nursery Hours: Open Daily, 8:30-5:00.
Special Hours Feb 8-12 & 15-19, Open 9:00-5:00
Special Hours Feb 8-12 & 15-19, Open 9:00-5:00
See our Edible Landscape Make over in Livermore!
Sponsored by:
Alden Lane Nursery.
Susan Ballinger Design
Vision Scape Inc.
Cochran Materials
John Deere Landscapes
Sponsored by:
Alden Lane Nursery.
Susan Ballinger Design
Vision Scape Inc.
Cochran Materials
John Deere Landscapes
Landscape Make-Over!
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February Gardening Notes:
Place three inches of mulch around trees, shrubs and flowerbeds to keep weeds under control. Keep the mulch away from the trunks of trees and shrubs as well as the stems of bedding plants to prevent crown rot. Want beautiful blue hydrangea this summer. Start applying Master Nursery Hydra Blue monthly now. Last chance to dormant spray. February is the last month for dormant spray. Apply Miller Microcop with Bonide Copper fungicide or Monterey Liquicop. NOTE: If it should rain within 24 hours of application then reapply material. Rain can make your treatment spotty at best. Remove old flowers on camellias and azaleas to reduce the chance of petal blight. Whether planting a new tree or pruning an established tree, now is a great time to apply Bonide Tree Trunk White to the trunks of fruit trees to prevent sunburn and help manage boring insects. Apply Master Nursery Pre-Emergent Plus Lawn Food NOW to prevent not only Crabgrass, but a variety of other lawn weeds including dandelion and plantain. Prune evergreen shrubs and hedges such as boxwood between mid-February and early March so that pruning cuts are quickly covered with spring's new growth. (Leave frost tender plants like citrus to prune later.) Prune strap leafed New Zealand Flax and African Iris to 4" if a biennial renewal is wanted. (Foliage will grow back with a fresh crop of gorgeous leaves.) Apply Iron or sulfur now to help restore and maintain good green color in acid loving plants such as citrus, camellia, azalea and gardenias as well as many others including jasmine and photinea. A blooming orchid for your love this Valentine's Day says it best! Choose from an assortment of fragrant blooming bulbs, African violets, cyclamen and lush houseplants. |
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Baked, Mashed, or Fried . . . Plant Potatoes!
Cal White: This wonderful boiling potato is also great for scalloped or mashed potatoes. And, it makes a great potato salad. Cal Red: It will produce potatoes that have bright red skins and white flesh. They are ideal for boiling with no darkening after cooking. Norkota Russet: Very similar to Idaho's famous Burbank. The good old fashioned baking potato with the rough skin. This one is much more disease resistant than the Burbank and very productive too. Yukon Gold : An early potato maturing in 65+ days. Buttery yellow flesh is delicious. Makes a good steamer/ boiler or use in salads. Adirondak Blue: A newer gourmet variety that is extremely popular. It has purple skin and purple flesh. They are small to medium in size and offer an excellent flavor for a "baker". Banana: The Banana potato is excellent for salads, it is a favorite among chefs and gourmet markets. Yellow, banana- shaped, waxy-type tubers with firm texture that have wonderful flavor baked, boiled and steamed. Harvest new potatoes when plants begin to bloom in June and more mature |
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Start Seeds Indoors!
February is usually blessed with a few days of stunning weather in the sunny 70s before"Marching" into a few more weeks of stormy-cloudy days; a mix of optimistic inspiration and necessary patience; a perfect time to dream about a vegetable garden and then start seeds indoors. We have all the seeds and supplies. Come in to browse through our beautifully reorganized seed section and enjoy a variety of offerings, including wonderfully illustrated and well explained selections from Botanical Interests Seeds. Botanical Interest Seed company was founded by real gardeners, Judy and Curtis Jones, who actually try out seeds in their own garden and write about them before adding them to their growing collection of 400 plus seed packets. Each seed pack contains nearly the equivalent to an encyclopedia entry about the particular variety of seed therein. So full of information, the text spills over into the inside of the seed packet. You actually read front and back as well as inside to pick up tips and pertinent information for starting and caring for plants in your garden. Some tips from the botanical Interests seed website include: Add fluorescent light for best results. Light from a nearby window is seldom adequate. Placing a fluorescent light as little as 3" from the seedlings will help keep seedlings from becoming leggy. Start seeds in a planting mix made for seed starting, not in native soil. Keep the soil evenly moist but not wet. Take a week to help the seedling transition to life outside. Move them outside only a little while each day, progressively lengthening the duration till a they are 100% outside. Choose these varieties to get a head start on spring: Artichokes • Arugula • Beets • Bok Choy, Lettuce and other leafy vegetables • Celery • Eggplant • Leeks Lettuce • Mache • Mesclun Mix • Micro Greens • Onions • Peas • Peppers • Tomatillos • Tomatoes |
