Let Spring’s Floral Fireworks Begin

February 28, 2024

March brings our “Bud Break” Season. Spring bloomers are waking up from their winter rest and are ready to put on a SHOW! Here are some of our favorites.

Plums, almonds, pears, apples, peaches & nectarines lead the way when it comes to ornamental and fruit-bearing trees. Ranging from white to soft pink, blossoms light up the bare branches. As the petals release and flutter in the breeze, we enjoy our version of a soft snowfall.

Magnolias are real show stoppers. Their big fuzzy buds will give way to the tulip and daisy-shaped flowers. The architecture of the plant coupled with stunning lavender to white blossoms is a real eye-catcher. Find a garden spot that has a shade break in the heat of the afternoon and these plants will thrive for years.

Forsythias are easy to grow and real knockouts. When you see lemon yellow flowers covering its branches, you know spring is around the corner. Plant in full to half day sun nestled into your evergreen border and it will surprise you each year with its sunny blooms.

Enjoy the Spring Garden Color Explosion!

March Garden Checklist

February 28, 2024

checkbox Feed! Feed! Feed! It’s time to refresh your garden plants. Fertilize all of your plants to support spring growth. For landscape shrubs and trees feed with Master’s Formula 49 All Purpose Plant Food. If you have citrus or avocado trees, use Master’s Citrus Food. Early March is an ideal time to start feeding fruit trees, grapes, and berries. We recommend Master’s Fruit Tree & Vine Food for the nutrition your plants need to produce the best crop ever! Your roses will appreciate a monthly feeding of Master’s Rose & Flower Food.

checkbox Prune azaleas and camellias into shape after their blooms have faded. Feed them with Master’s Camellia, Azalea and Gardenia Food and Iron Plus monthly through October.

checkbox Place Yellow Jacket traps out early this month to catch the queen before she starts her family. Prevention is the best cure!

checkbox Give your lawn “a meal – not a snack” with Master Green Lawn Food.

checkbox Control snails with organic Sluggo Plus and pet-safe Sluggo.

checkbox This is a good time to think about lawn renovation.

checkbox Add a lilac to your garden and enjoy its fragrant spring blossoms.

checkbox Remember to plant gladiolus bulbs (corms) every two weeks, and you’ll have armloads of cut flowers through the summer.

checkbox Remember to water plants under eaves and in containers. It’s important now to deep water trees and shrubs if it isn’t raining on a regular basis. Their root systems are starting to grow now.

checkbox Start annual morning glories from seed this month and establish them in the garden or a pot by summer! Morning glories are one of the most stunning of the old fashioned garden flowers. Flowers are huge – three to five inches across – and bright, colorful blue, purple or pink. Best of all, morning glories are easy!

checkbox Combat Citrus leafminer organically. Hang traps in your citrus to catch the flying adult, doing so will reduce damage to new growth of your lemons, oranges and other citrus plants.

pH Adjustment for Citrus

February 13, 2024

Citrus plants and other acid-loving plants often suffer from yellow leaves. Yellowing leaves are usually related to low fertility, alkaline soils, or low levels of available iron. Now is a good time for corrective measures.

Citrus food can address the fertility, Iron Sulfate or Soil Sulfur can improve the soil pH by steering alkaline soils toward acid, both make the existing iron in surrounding soil more available to the plant. Iron Sulfate also adds additional iron for quicker nutrient uptake.

Our citrus grower recommends a little bit of citrus fertilizer each month of the year. We offer Master Nursery Citrus Food or EB Stone Citrus Food (the organic option).

We also recommend treating the soil with either Soil Sulfur or Iron Sulfate 3 to 4 times a year. Now is an ideal time because remaining rains will carry these products down into the soil. The impending spring growth will benefit immediately from this nutrient blast. Iron products such as Iron Sulfate help prevent yellow leaves on citrus, blueberries, azaleas, camellias and also keep a lawn greener with less mowing.

Most products containing iron can stain paving. Take extra precautions to be sure you don’t stain your patio or driveway. Iron Plus will not stain.

Plants take nutrients up from the soil most efficiently when soil pH is neutral or slightly acidic. pH Adjuster Plus gently acidifies the soil and allows nitrogen, iron and other essential nutrients and elements to be released for uptake by plant roots. Apply these granular products over the soil surface and let the rain water them in. The result is a healthier, more beautiful plant with brighter, greener foliage.

pH Adjuster Plus is a pelletized soil sulfur that is much easier to apply than more conventional soil sulfur (no annoying dust).

Almost all plants will appreciate 3 to 4 applications per year, but those plants that respond most dramatically to a pH adjustment include citrus, blueberries, camellias, azaleas and rhododendrons, gardenias and other plants that develop a seasonal yellowing of the leaf related to iron deficiency. Most likely you can think of at least one plant you have around your home that suffers from leaf yellowing. Apply and then water or time your application to let winter rains do the watering for you.

Magnesium Sulfate (Epsom Salts) has also shown to have a great greening effect. A little bit goes a long way and should only be applied twice a year; once in early spring and again in early fall.

A Dozen Roses for Your Love

January 31, 2024

It is no secret that we are mad about roses around here. They are standouts in our gardens, love the sun and can be quite drought-tolerant once established. A new rose for the garden would make a wonderful Valentine’s Day gift. Remember, we are happy to foil wrap and add a bow for a perfect presentation. Here are a few Valentine’s inspired roses to consider:

Pluots – Delicious Fruits for your Backyard Orchard

January 31, 2024

pluot-cluster Pluots are amazing hybrid fruits that are part plum and part apricot in heritage. These fruits were initially developed in the late 20th century by Floyd Zaiger in neighboring San Joaquin Valley and are now happily grown commercially and in backyard orchards in parts of Washington and California.

Pluots have a majority of plum parentage and therefore, have smooth skin like plums. Some varieties of pluots are sometimes called interspecific plums or dinosaur eggs.

Check with us about varieties for cross pollination.

The pluot is often confused with the aprium which is another plum and apricot hybrid with mostly apricot heritage. Like apricots, apriums have a slightly fuzzy skin. Pluots and apriums are known for their sweetness and flavor; the sugar content of these fruits is much higher than that of a plum or apricot alone. Each of these varieties requires another pluot or a Japanese plum to pollenize.

Flavor King
Taste test winner. Unique plum-apricot hybrid with a sensational bouquet and sweet, spicy flavor. Reddish-purple skin, crimson flesh. Naturally small tree.

Dapple Dandy
Taste test winner. Ranks with Flavor King Pluot® among the all-time top five best-flavored fruits at Dave Wilson Nursery tastings. Creamy white and red-fleshed freestone with wonderful plum-apricot flavor. Skin greenish-yellow with red spots, turning to a maroon and yellow dapple.

Splash
Small to medium size red-orange colored fruit with very sweet orange flesh. Round to heart shaped fruit is excellent eaten fresh, dried or in desserts. Upright tree sets large crops once established. Chilling requirement 400 hours or less.

Multi-Grafted Pluot Tree
Enjoy 3-4 varieties of pluots on one tree. These trees have several grafts from different varieties on a single trunk. Pluots taste amazing, but a multi-graft tree brings the benefit of progressive ripening through the season. Some are ripe early, and some are ripe late…Plus, the different varieties pollenize each other.

goldrush200 We recommend Gold Rush planting amendment when planting fruit trees. Gold Rush is a blend of Fir Bark Compost and 15% Chicken Manure.

As a compost, fir bark holds up well over time. The addition of chicken manure provides a needed boost of nitrogen plus other trace nutrients.

Mix Gold Rush with existing soil at a ratio of 50/50.

February Garden Checklist

January 31, 2024

checkbox Choose your Camellias now! Seeing is believing, so choose now while they are in bloom. The selection is sizable, and you’ll be able to pick just the right color for your winter garden.

checkbox Feed the lawn monthly especially during cold, wet winter months. Feeding often not only maintains its attractive green color all winter it also minimizes rust disease and other problems resulting from malnutrition (let winter rains water it in). Masters Fall and Winter Lawn Fertilizer is formulated for the winter season.

checkbox We are eagerly awaiting our shipment of bulbs which will arrive this month. All the bulbs you plant this spring will fill your summer gardens with armloads of beautiful cut flowers. Think about what great addition dahlias, gladiolus, and lilies will provide to a summer bouquet.

checkbox Prevent crabgrass in your lawn before it starts. Apply Bonide Crabgrass & Weed Preventer now to prevent crabgrass seeds from sprouting.

checkbox Place three inches of mulch around trees, shrubs, and flower beds 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.

checkbox Prevent Petal Blight. Pick up and remove old flowers on camellias and azaleas to reduce the chance of petal blight. If you have had trouble with petal blight before, treat soil around the plants with Captan before flowers open.

checkbox Seed Potatoes are available January into March. Choose from certified disease-free white, red, blue, and gold varieties. Harvest new potatoes when plants begin to bloom in June and more mature potatoes when plants start to die down midsummer. Pick up our handy planting guide.

checkbox A new houseplant for your love this Valentine’s Day says it best! Choose from an assortment of fragrant flowering bulbs, African violets and lush houseplants.

checkbox Sweet Daphne – An old-fashioned fragrance for your garden! Budded and blooming now. Perfect for bright shade. Great container plant. Waxy pink and white flower clusters will perfume a room.

checkbox 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.

checkbox Apply Iron-Sulfur or non-staining Iron Plus now to help restore and maintain green color in acid-loving plants such as citrus, camellia, azalea, gardenias, Japanese Maples, and Blueberries as well as many others including jasmine and photinia.

New Roses for 2024

January 22, 2024

Multi-Graft Fruit Trees add Flavor in Less Space

January 17, 2024

multi graft fruit trees Multi-graft fruit trees include several varieties of fruit on the same tree. They save both space and effort while giving you variety and successive ripening in a small yard.

The multi-graft approach is practical. You don’t need to have multiple trees when just one tree will do the job of several. Each fruit variety grafted branch grows independently from the others on the same tree, and the different fruits always retain their characteristic flavor, appearance, ripening time, etc.

Many multi-graft fruit trees have been deliberately crafted to give you a staggered fruit harvest. By combining fruit varieties that bloom at different times, and harvest at different times, you get the added advantage of an extended fruit harvesting season. As one goes out of season, the next one comes in! This feature also means you get the benefit of a long-term fruit harvest without the “glut” of too much of a good thing all at once that you might have with a single species fruit tree.

Multi-Graft fruit trees are perfect for today’s smaller yards. Trees grow on semi-dwarfing rootstock; small size means anyone can have their multiple fruit harvest within a 10 x 10 patch of yard or less. So even the smallest of gardens can be a source of fresh homegrown fruit. It is not the fruit that is small, but rather the tree.

Come in for more details on how multi-graft fruit trees can give you the satisfaction of having your multi-variety fruit orchard in a smaller space than you might have thought possible.

Houseplant Helpers

January 10, 2024

Was your house full of decoration during the holidays and feels empty now? We have the perfect solution!

Houseplants have made a huge resurgence in popularity recently probably because they can not only decorate our interior environment but also benefit our mental health. Plants can be a visual reminder of when, and how, to take care of ourselves.

They promote mindfulness

When we take time to check on our plants – for dead leaves, water needs and adjustments for light, etc. – this little bit of caring for something else (who isn’t talking back) helps calm & center you. This is an example of mindfulness, a very helpful practice for coping with stress and anxiety.

They provide “low expectation” companionship

There is nothing better than connecting with friends and family, but sometimes it’s nice to have a companion that isn’t expecting a conversation or a give-and-take interaction. You can lean on your green friends.

They improve well-being

Not only does gardening restore mood, but additional studies have also shown that even tiny doses of nature in our everyday lives can have big benefits for our happiness and well-being.

Taking care of your “plant babies” is a great way to focus positive energy on the little things which can help ground you.

They are happy reminders of nature

Just as we decorate our spaces with comforting touches of family photos and travel souvenirs, bringing plants indoors makes our homes more beautiful and aesthetically pleasing. They can help bring the joy of nature inside. Science has shown that reminders of the natural world inside our homes can evoke various positive effects on your mood.

And last but not least, they are SOOO pretty.

Add Color to the Garden with Shrubs

December 11, 2023

We typically reach for flowers when thinking about adding a dash of color to our gardens. But for true season-long interest in the garden, consider a shrub that will give you lasting color. When you plan your garden using colorful shrubs, their leaves lend a rainbow of hues to enjoy. The different shades and textures offer a burst of color – some even change colors throughout the year.

Take a look at these colorful shrubs which are real standouts in the landscape:

Coprosma repens (Mirror Plant) – The glossy leaves change color as colder weather approaches. Small, inconspicuous blooms in the spring. This hardy evergreen shrub needs protection if the temperatures dip below 25°.

Laurus noblis (Sweet Bay) – An aromatic evergreen available in shrub or tree form. This Mediterranean native is where the “bay leaf” used in cooking for seasoning comes. This can grow into a fairly large plant.

Pittosporum tobira – A popular dwarf shrub that is evergreen and mounding. Good to use as a low boundary or for poolside plantings. (‘Wheeler’s Dwarf’ is a popular variety.)

Abelia grandiflora – The Abelia has attractive foliage and gracefully arching branches. The eye-catching leaves (and sometimes the stems!) come in different colors and often change throughout the growing season. When in bloom, the flowers are popular with pollinators. (The variety ‘Kaleidoscope’ is a colorful choice.)

Rhaphiolepis indica (Indian Hawthorne) – A spreading, compact broadleaf evergreen that bears deep pink flower in shiny foliage that changes color with the seasons. Berry-like, dark blue fruit follows flowers.

Coleonema pulchrum (Compact Breath of Heaven) – This popular shrub is evergreen, hardy and mounding to about 3′ tall. Small, showy blooms in spring often repeat in fall. If you are looking for a larger shrub (think 6-10′), the non compact Coleonema is an option.

Olea europaea (Little Ollie) – All the beauty of the attractive grayish green leaves without the mess of a fruiting olive. This one can grow large at 5-15′ tall, but can be controlled with pruning. The dense growth is great as a hedge, low screen, accent or small tree.

Nandina domestica (Heavenly Bamboo) – In every season this versatile plant is a garden standout. Serves as an excellent accent or container plant. Choose neat mounding or softer upright forms. Make sure the soil is well draining. (‘Firepower’ is a great choice if you are looking for a red variety.)