Renewal pruning is a method that stimulates new growth while removing unproductive wood or canes.

According to some, renewal pruning refers specifically to plants that produce canes from the root system. I am going to use the broader definition above. The general rule of thumb for renewal pruning is to remove one-third of any older wood each year. These are thinning cuts that take branches back to the main stem or crown, depending on the growth habit. [When making thinning cuts, be sure to avoid damaging the branch collar.] Each species has its own characteristics, which need to be taken into account before you start lopping off branches. Some of the more common approaches to renewal pruning are listed below. 

​Renewal pruning of currants

Currants produce fruit on spurs that emerge from 2- and 3-year old wood. After that, those limbs are far less productive. Use the following pruning schedule on currants:

• Year One -  remove all but up to three stems at ground level
• Year Two - remove all but two or three of the previous season’s new stems 
• Year Three - repeat Year Two
• Year Four and ever after - remove any stems that are more than 3 years old and trim back any low-hanging branches 

Renewal pruning of fruit trees

Fruit and nut trees produce fruit on spurs and on twig tips. Some species only produce fruit on new spurs, while others can use the same spurs for several years. For example, figs, grapes, persimmon, and quince produce fruit on new shoots and one-year old wood. Pears, walnuts, and apples, on the other hand can produce fruit on the same spurs for several years. UC Davis offers a chart of fruiting wood characteristics that can help you decide what to remove and what to leave for another year. Did you know that large, unproductive branches are called bulls? I didn't either.

Renewal pruning of raspberries and blackberries

Some varieties of raspberry and blackberry produce fruit on primocanes. These are fall-bearing varieties that produce the best fruit on first-year canes. While leaving them in place will provide some fruit the following spring, the quality and quantity are usually poor. For these berries, it is better to cut the canes back to ground level in late autumn. This gives the plant time to pull carbohydrates from the leaves down into the crown and root system. These nutrients will be used to grow new canes in spring. Summer-bearing floricanes produce fruit on buds from second-year canes, so removing them at the end of year one would be problematic.

Rejuvenation pruning

Some trees and shrubs can become so out of control that they risk falling over, severe disease infestation, or they simply look awful. In some (but not all) of these cases, rejuvenation pruning can be used to give them a new start on life. These plants are cut to ground level and allowed to start over from an established root system. Before you try this method, be sure to research the plant to make sure this is an appropriate choice. Cutting back some plants in this way will kill them.

Whole tree pruning

Traditionally, trees that produce fruit in new growth, such as cherries, are pruned by removing selective branches. Another method being studied is whole tree pruning, in which all the major limbs are removed each winter, leaving only 12 to 18 inch nubs. This method is not for the faint of heart, but it is gaining popularity among commercial growers.
​
Don’t be afraid to prune your trees and shrubs. It is an excellent way to help your plants to stay healthy and productive. As you move around under the canopy or peaking into the center of your shrub, you may even discover a new pest or disease before it gets out of hand!

​Fresh-from-the-garden, sweet, sun-warmed, juicy tomatoes are probably the number one reason why people start gardening. Be forewarned! No store-bought cousin will ever measure up once you have experienced the real deal!

​Native to South and Central America, tomatoes have been cultivated for over 3,000 years. Prior to Halloween of 1548, Italy had no tomato sauce. It’s hard to imagine, isn’t it? Now, as winter fades, many gardeners feel compelled to plant tomatoes. While starting too soon is a waste of time and seeds, tomatoes can be started indoors 6 to 8 weeks before the last frost date. 
 
Commonly grown as annuals, tomatoes (Solanum lycopersicum) are actually perennial plants, in their native regions. These members of the nightshade family, along with eggplants and potatoes, are self-pollinating. This means that honey bees and other pollinators can carry pollen from one flower to another, on the same plant, to cause a plant to create fruit. Of course, the more plants you have, the higher your pollination rates will be. Plus, you can never have too many tomatoes, right?

​Tomato pests & diseases

Hornworms and blossom end rot are the two most common problems faced by tomato growers. Blossom end rot is caused by an erratic calcium supply, which occurs whenever watering is irregular. A regular watering schedule can reduce blossom end rot in tomatoes, as well as leaf roll, cracked fruit and catfacing, and citrus fruit split. Tomato hornworms are large and can devour an amazing amount of foliage before you even know it. Achemon sphinx moths look a lot like tomato hornworms, but they are mostly limited to grape vines.

​​Other common tomato pests include tomato fruitworms, tomato pinworms, Eriophyid mites, bagrada bugs, blister mites, green fruit beetles, Japanese beetles, nematodes, leaf-footed bugs, leaf miners, oriental fruit flies, stinkbugs, spider mites, whiteflies, treehoppers, weevils, cutworms, and voles. And squirrels. Always squirrels.

Tomato diseases include tomato ringspot, tomato spotted wilt, alternaria stem canker, fusarium wilt, tobacco mosaic virus (TMV), gray leaf spot, anthracnose, verticillium wilt, stem blight, and powdery mildew. Many of these diseases can be prevented with regular crop rotation.

Tomato trivia

Tomatoes grown from seed will develop a taproot. What is really strange is that tomatoes grown from cuttings will not.

If we ever meet in person, be sure to ask me about Wally's s****y tomatoes!

Seedlings are the young plants that emerge each spring as warmth and moisture help them to convert stored food (endosperm) into new growth. Learning more about seedlings can help you get the most from your garden. (You’ll get an awesome vocabulary while you’re at it!)

Hardened off plants can then be installed in the landscape or garden, with a significantly higher chance of success. Be sure to use the information on seed packets and plant labels to determine the proper way to plant and manage your seedlings.

​Thinning seedlings

Too many plants in one place means none of them get enough of what they need. Overcrowding and undesirables used to be eliminated by simply yanking them from the earth. We now know that this isn't in anyone’s best interest. First, it damages neighboring young root systems. Also, it removes millions of beneficial soil microorganisms that help plants find the food they need. Instead of pulling, it is more productive to snip unwanted plants off at soil level. The roots will gradually die (unless it is a particularly tenacious weed), giving the microorganisms the time they need to migrate elsewhere. Weed seedlings can be eliminated with a nice thick (4” or more) layer of mulch.

Seedling pests & diseases

Seedlings often need protection from birds, squirrels, slugs and snails. This can sometimes be easier if you are using raised beds or containers, but the addition of trellising, row covers, and protective wire or netting in any garden location can help keep keep some of these pests away from seedlings. Since seedlings are so tender, they are favorite foods of many garden pests:

• Cutworms emerge from the soil at night and sever seedling stems; they can often be found near missing seedlings in the top 1-2” of soil
• Earwigs also come out at night and may chew leaves, stems, or take the entire plant
• Slugs and snails chew irregular holes in leaves or remove them completely
• Flea beetles are small, shiny jumping bugs that chew dozens of holes in leaves or removes them completely
• Root maggots leave tunnels in older plants and can destroy seedlings; look for brown pupal cases
• Sowbugs, or woodlice, will eat tender seedlings
• Springtails normally feed on decaying organic material, but they have also been known to feed on the roots and leaves of young seedlings; the damage looks like tiny, irregular holes on the leaves and little pitted areas on roots and leaves

Nematodes and boring insects can also damage or destroy seedlings. Fungal diseases, such as Fusarium wilt, Verticillium wilt, damping-off disease, and stem rot, as well as bacterial diseases, can block the developing vascular system of young seedlings, causing them to wilt and die.

Most plants produce an abundance of seeds for good reason: growing up is hard to do. Many seedlings never make it. They are eaten, desiccated, drowned, stepped on, chewed up, or try growing in a location that doesn’t work for them. As a gardener, you can improve the odds of survival for your seedlings by providing an environment rich in nutrients, moisture, sunlight, and protection.

While a single scale insect cannot cause much harm, a single female can produce thousands of offspring in a single season. Left to its own devices, a severe San Jose scale infestation can kill a mature tree in as little as two years.

San Jose scale symptoms

Scale insects often hide in the cracks and crevices of bark, making them difficult to see. Unfortunately, they are particularly fond of apples and pears, with plums, sweet cherries, apricots, peaches, nectarines, and almonds a close second. San Jose scale also attacks nearby ornamental trees and shrubs, where pests can overwinter in relative safety. Often, the first visible symptom of a San Jose scale infestation is purplish-red halos on fruit, leaves, and young bark. A single apple may have over a thousand scale insects on it. When cherry leaves are infested with San Jose scale, they tend to stay on the tree well into winter. Those leaves should be removed and destroyed.

​San Jose scale lifecycle

Female San Jose scales cannot fly. In spring, winged males mate with the females. One month later, tiny yellow crawlers are born. Each crawler has six legs and a bristly beak that is three times the length of its oval body. Crawlers will move around for a few hours before selecting a permanent location. Sometimes they are moved to new plants by wind, birds, people, and garden tools. Once they move in, they build a white waxy house over themselves. This protective coating is about the size of a pinhead, with a nipple-like bulge in the middle. The shell hardens to black and then gray, keeping away predators and pesticides, as they go through several molts. Often, the  scale color is hard to see because it is often covered with sooty fungus. Underneath this private bubble, immature males have eyes, but no legs or antenna, and immature females have no eyes, legs, or antenna. The females stay in this house, while the winged males, once they reach maturity, will take wing in search of females.

San Jose scale control

So, how do we get rid of San Jose scale? First, you have to make sure you have a problem. Pheromone traps can be used February 25 - March 1 to monitor for the flying males. If they are present, spraying dormant oil can suffocate the crawlers and unprotected adults, as long as leaves are not present. If leaves and buds have already emerged, horticultural oil should be used. Larger, older trees are harder to treat because full coverage is more difficult. Sticky barriers can be used to reduce the migration of crawlers to other trees. Sticky barriers will also block the ants that may protect and farm scale insects. San Jose scale have many natural predators, but these beneficials are generally not able to provide enough protection.

​Compounding the problem, San Jose scale was the first U.S. insect to show resistance to a pesticide. According to UC Davis, San Jose scale rarely occurs in organic orchards. Trees should be checked twice a year, in spring and fall, for signs of infestation. One method for determining the best time to treat for San Jose scale is called the Degree Day model. You can look up your local degree days using the UC Davis CA weather data (assuming you live in California). We will learn more about Degree Days in a later post. Generally speaking, in the Bay Area, crawlers begin to emerge between mid-May and mid-June, depending on weather.

Contrary to its name, San Jose scale originated in China. It travelled to San Jose, CA on a flowering peach tree in the 1870s. Within 20 years, this pest was found nationwide. Ah, yet another example of why buying local is better...

Luscious summer pears are worth the effort it takes to grow them.

European pears (Pyrus communis) actually hail from Western Asia and modern day Iraq and Iran. People have been growing pears for over 4,000 years and Bartlett pears have been the standard for over 200 years. In the world gardening and agriculture, that's pretty amazing.

Pear varieties

Pears do require a cold rest period, called vernalization, each winter. Silicon Valley only averages 400 chill hours, while Bartlett pears need 800 chill hours each winter. You will need to identify a species suitable to your microclimate. Pears are categorized by the season in which they ripen. Summer pears have thin skins, ripen on the tree in July through September, and most are small to medium sized, and the fruit is fine-textured. Winter pears feature gritty textured fruit that ripens September through November. Below is a list of popular pears with notes, chill hours, and best zones for growing:

• Bartlett - summer, early, yellow, long chill requirement, 800 hours, zone 5-8
• Bella Di Guino - summer, earliest ripening
• Bosc - winter, russet, 700-800 hours, zones 4-9 
• Buttria Precoce - summer, large tree, large fruit, ripens in August
• Comice - winter, midseason, 200-600 hours, zones 5-8
• D’Anjou - winter, green, 800 hours, zone 5-8
• Kieffer - winter, fire blight resistant, yellow skin, crisp white fruit, 350-400 hours, zones 4-9
• Orcas - winter, yellow
• Red Clapp’s Favorite - summer, red skin, tastes like a spicy Bartlett, zones 5-8
• Rescue - winter, large fruit, red-orange skin, smooth flesh
• Seckel - summer, natural dwarf, red russet fruit, fire blight resistant, 300-800 hours, zones 5-9
• Ubileen - summer, large fruit, zones 5-9
• Warren - summer, extra sweet, brown, tear-drop shaped

How to grow pears

Unless you select a self-fruitful variety, you will need at least two trees for a fruit set. Also, keep in mind that full size trees may take up to 20 years to reach full production, while semi-dwarfs take 5 to 8 years. Most bare root stock available in garden centers are 2 or 3 years old. Choose a site that can accommodate the tree’s full size and provide full sun. Pest and disease problems can be reduced by providing good air flow around each tree. Pear trees are best pruned into a “Y” shape. They tend to grow very upright and need trimming to create a healthier, more spread out growth. Pear fruits do not require as much thinning as apples. You can leave 2 or 3 fruits per cluster without problems.

Pear pests & diseases

More pests attack pears than any other fruit tree that I know of. These pests include aphids, San Jose scale, mites, pear psylla, codling moth, redhumped caterpillars, Eriophyid mites, birds, and squirrels. Common pear diseases include fire blight (Erwinia amylovora), crown gall, leaf spot, pear scab, and apple scab.

Pear tree care

These seasonal chores can help keep your pear trees healthy:

• Winter - spray with dormant oil, prune out 20% of the new growth, remove dead & diseased limbs
• Spring - spray with fungicide, thin fruit to 6inch spacing, fertilize with 1.5 lb. urea or 40 lb. manure
• Summer - fertilize young trees monthly using .75 lb. urea or 20 lb. manure, spray for codling moth, irrigate every 2 to 3 weeks
• Autumn - fertilize using spring rates, remove mummies and fallen fruit, destroy or compost fallen leaves

Pear ripening

If you allow your pears to ripen on the tree, you will probably never get to enjoy one. Pears are a favorite food of squirrels and birds. I once lost an entire season’s crop because the squirrels were willing to harvest the pears two days earlier than I was. Pears ripen from the inside out. The easiest way to tell if it is time to harvest a pear is to use the Cradle Test. To do this, cup one hand under a pear and use the other hand to swing the fruit from its 6:00 position to a 9:00 position, with a twisting motion. If the fruit falls, it’s ready. 

Actually pears taste better if they are harvested when they are mature but not fully ripe. Then place them in the refrigerator for a few days, up to two weeks for summer pears, and 3 to 4 weeks for winter pears. After the fruit has been chilled, bring it back to room temperature and enjoy. Oh, by the way, don’t bruise the fruit at any point in this process. As I said, growing pears is not an easy process.

The sweet, juicy flavor of a fresh, properly ripened pear, however, is exquisite.

Currants are edible plants, native to the northern hemisphere.

Not to be mistaken with the tiny black raisins made from black Corinth grapes, currants are members of the Ribes family, along with gooseberries and jostaberries (a cross between currants and gooseberries).

​Most Americans are unfamiliar with currants because they were banned in 1920. This ban was put in place because currants are co-hosts, along with white pine, to white pine blister rust (Cronartium ribicola). This fungal disease was devastating to white pines on the east coast. That ban was lifted, in 1966, as resistant cultivars were developed.

​The small, pea-sized fruits can be red, pink, white, or black and are produced in clusters called ‘strigs’. Currants are tart, so they are not usually eaten fresh. They are more commonly used for jams, jellies, pies, syrups, wine and brandy. The flowers are also edible.

Currant plants are thornless, deciduous shrubs that make excellent additions to native gardens. They are drought tolerant and provide food and shelter to many indigenous birds. Native Americans frequently used currants as both food and medicine. In particular, they used currant roots to treat menstrual and menopausal problems. Scientists have found that currant roots and seeds contain high levels of gamma-Linolenic acid, a chemical known to be effective for those same issues.

Currant varieties

According to Wikipedia, there are black currants, red currants, and white currants. According to the University of Massachusetts, “Species are Ribes rubrum (most red currants and some whites), R. petraeum (white), R. vulgare (pink, white, and red), and R. nigrum and R. ussurienses (black). Native currants… belong to the species R. odoratum."

My order of Golden Currants (Ribes aureum) just arrived. Clearly, there is some confusion. Here’s the bottom line, as well as I can figure: 

• Ribes rubrum - red and white currants are really the same plant with different colored fruit; an upright shrub from northern Europe
• Ribes sativum (R. vulgare) - a large-fruited spreading shrub from western Europe
• Ribes petraeum - a vigorous shrub from Europe and north Africa
• Ribes aureum (R. odoratum) - native to North America (except southeastern U.S.); drought tolerant; smaller shrub with yellow flowers; loses its leaves in late August

How to grow currants

Traditionally, currants grow in cool climates with fertile, well-drained soil, where they are found in full sun or partial shade. Currants prefer heavier soil and more shade. Mulch can be used to keep roots cool and moist in summer. Most currant bushes reach 3 to 5 feet in height, but they can go as tall as 9 feet, under ideal conditions. Currents can be grown in large containers. Currants are normally purchased as bare root stock or young saplings that were propagated from hardwood cuttings. These young currant bushes need a lot of water to get established, but are very drought tolerant later on. Currents also need a lot of potassium. My clay garden soil tends to have plenty of that, so no treatment is needed around here. Most currant plants are self-pollinating, but production is significantly higher per plant with multiple plants nearby.

Pruning currants

Currants can be pruned as shrubs or trees, depending on your preferences and the plant’s location. Currants should be pruned once a year in winter using a method called renewal pruning. Renewal pruning ensures that there are fruit-producing 2- and 3-year old stems each year. Use the following pruning schedule on currants:

• Year One -  remove all but up to three stems at ground level
• Year Two - remove all but two or three of the previous season’s new stems 
• Year Three - repeat Year Two
• Year Four and ever after - remove any stems that are more than 3 years old and trim back any low-hanging branches

Pests & diseases of currants

Aphids, mites, currant borers, and the larva of some moths and butterflies are really the only pests that bother currants. Problems are more commonly caused by mineral imbalances in the soil or improper irrigation. Rust, powdery mildew, anthracnose, and leaf spot can sometimes appear on currants.

Since currant flowers tend to appear early in the season, sometimes as early as February, they provide pollen and nectar to our earliest pollinators. This helps set the stage for a more productive year overall. Each bush can produce up to 10 pounds of fruit, so it won’t hurt to leave some behind for the birds.

Add some native golden currants to your home garden in early spring or late fall for many years of fruit and flowers!

Plum orchards once covered The Valley of Heart's Delight (what is now known as Silicon Valley). Many homes are still graced by individual specimens of these prolific fruit producers, and it is easy to add one to your landscape, as well.

​Plums are members of the Rose family, in the Prunus genus. This makes them cousins to other stone fruits, such as peaches, nectarines, and cherries. One variety of apricot (Prunus armeniaca) is so closely related that it is actually a plum! Fruits of the plum tree are called drupes.

How to grow plums

Plums love mild winters and hot, dry summers. While they prefer more sandy soil than many gardens tend to have, they are pretty tolerant of clay, as long as the drainage is good. They do need a lot of sun. Plums are best started from certified disease-free root stock. You can also start a tree from a friend or neighbor’s tree by taking one of the many suckers that tend to appear. Suckers root more easily if they are dipped in rooting hormones (auxins), but they will create their own auxins in a day or so. If starting from seed, plums should be planted 3 inches deep. Be sure to mark the spot so you don’t lose track of your new baby!


Plum tree care

Plum trees thrive here in warm regions. Trees do require the following seasonal care:

• Winter - prune into an open center shape, removing dead and/or diseased limbs and 20% of the previous year’s new growth; spray with dormant oil
• Spring - treat with fungicide, such as fixed copper; feed mature trees 1-2 lbs. of urea or 20-40 lbs. of manure, and young trees (April - July) with 4-8 oz. urea or 10-20 lbs. manure; water deeply every 2-3 weeks; thin fruits to 4-6” apart; check for aphids
• Summer - continue feeding young trees; keep weeds and grass at least 3 feet away from trunks using mulch; water deeply every 2-3 weeks
• Fall - harvest; remove all mummies and fallen fruit; feed and water after harvest; after leaves fall and just before heavy rains, treat with fixed copper

Plum tree pests & diseases

The most common plum pests are aphids, mites, and San Jose scale. Other pests include Oriental fruit fly, plum curculio, mealybugs, redhumped caterpillars, green fruit beetles (Cotinis mutabilis), and mealy plum aphid (Hyalopterus pruni). Sticky barriers can reduce the impact of many crawling insect pests. Fungal diseases that affected plum trees include canker, brown rot (Monomania fructicola), and shot hole, also known as Coryneum blight.


One of the most common problems faced by plum tree owners is overproduction. Overproduction, or overbearing, can cause broken limbs, so it is important to thin fruit to no more than one fruit every 2 to 4 inches. Don’t be concerned if your plums have a whitish coating on them. This is a protective epicuticular wax known as “wax bloom” and is easy wiped off.


​Add a plum tree to your landscape this spring for decades of delicious summer fruit and year-round jams and jellies!

The large floral disk of sunflowers, jam packed with seeds, hardly needs description, but there is a lot more to this cheery bloom than meets the eye.

Ancient history & sunflowers
​
Sunflowers are native to North America. Recent research has shown that they were also growing in Central America way back into antiquity. There are some interesting name exchanges in primitive languages that lead archeologists to believe there were far more cultural exchanges between the two regions than was previously thought. According to researchers at the University of Cincinnati, “sunflowers were domesticated thousands of years and hundreds of miles apart” making them an interesting topic in human history. More currently, sunflowers are one of the world’s top oil producing plants. Each year, nearly 45 million tons of sunflowers are grown worldwide!

The sunflower family

Sunflowers are part of a plant family called Asteraceae. The sunflower family includes asters, artichokes, dahlias, yarrow, marigolds, endive, dandelions, and Echinacea, just to name a few. Sunflowers can be annual or perennial, depending on the variety, microclimate, and growing conditions. Some varieties grow as a single fat, hairy stalk, while others grow several branches. There are several species of sunflower (Helianthus annus). Some dwarf varieties are only a foot and a half tall, while others can reach twelve feet!

Benefits of sunflowers

If the happy blooms and tasty seeds weren’t reason enough to add them to your garden, sunflowers also attract many beneficial insects. Honey bees, lacewings, butterflies, hoverflies, and parasitic wasps enjoy the nectar, pollen, and prey insects found on and near sunflowers. Personally, I love the tiny finches that are so fond of eating the wide, spade-shaped leaves. Local squirrels and seed eating birds can become problematic, or you can simply plant a few extras near the fence line.

Heliotropism

Heliotropism refers to a plant’s ability to track the sun’s movement and sunflowers are masters of heliotropism. Sunflowers use phytohormones called auxins and an internal circadian clock to follow the sun across the sky each day. During the night, they turn their west-facing blooms back toward the east, in anticipation of the dawn. Scientists were surprised to discover that bringing outdoor sunflowers indoors, with a constant overhead light source, the plants still went through their east to west cycle for a few days. It was also found that certain genes tell the east side of the plants grow more quickly during the day, while the west side of the plants grows more at night. As the plants mature, this movement slows, leaving most sunflowers facing east, rather than west. The reason? Scientists found that eastward facing flower heads (capitula) heated up more quickly than their westward neighbors. This added warmth attracted FIVE TIMES more beneficial insects, for better pollination and pest protection!

Sunflowers and children

Sunflowers grow quickly and often to impressive heights, which makes them an excellent choice when gardening with children. In fact, if you plant your sunflower seeds properly, you can create a fort, a maze, or a magic castle right in your own back yard! Or, to watch germination as it occurs, you can place sunflower seeds inside a clear glass with a dark colored sponge. Place the seeds between the glass and the sponge and add water. Before you know it, the magic happens! Then take your sunflower sprouts and add them to a salad or plant them in the garden! In either case, they make a healthy snack and provide your children with a sense of ownership.

How to grow sunflowers

Most sunflower plants are grown from seed. A few species also propagate using creeping roots, which makes them a noxious weed in some agricultural areas. Sunflowers need lots of sun, water, and nitrogen, but they are less picky about soil than many other plants. Seeds can be started in cell flats or other small containers and then transplanted, or they can be directly sown into the garden or landscape, after the last chance of frost has passed. Seeds should be planted one inch deep and watered daily until they sprout. After they have sprouted, plants will need an inch of rain or irrigation each week, depending on the weather. For optimal growth, space your sunflower 2 ½ to 3 feet apart. Dwarf varieties only need 6 inches. Seedlings often need protection from birds, squirrels, slugs and snails. Sunflowers can take up to 3 months to reach full size. Sunflowers need lots of nutrients, so adding aged compost to the planting area will help them to get a good start. They do, occasionally need staking.

Sunflower seeds contain a chemical that is toxic to grass plants, so you should harvest the seeds before they start falling on your lawn or near other members of the grain family (Poaceae), such as corn, millet, wheat, barley, or bamboo. You can also plant sunflowers much the way Native Americans did, using the Three Sisters Method, by replacing corn with sunflowers. The squash or melon leaves will shade the ground around your sunflowers and pole beans will climb the stalks and provide a nitrogen boost before they go to seed themselves.

Sunflower pests & diseases

Sunflowers tend to be sturdy plants that fend for themselves rather well. Keep a look out for ant trails going up the stalks that can indicate an aphid problem. Sticky barriers can be used to block the ants, which makes the aphids more vulnerable to their natural enemies. Other sunflower pests include dried fruit beetles, cutworms, carrot beetles, some foliage-feeding caterpillars, leaf beetles, spider mites, thrips, and the dreaded sunflower bud moth. Fungal diseases, such as crown gall, downy mildews, powdery mildew, rust, and Verticillium wilt can be a problem, but this occurs more in agricultural fields than in backyard gardens.

Harvesting sunflowers

Once your sunflower head has reached full size, it will probably be bent over and surprisingly heavy. If you stroke the face of the flower head with your hand, dozens of tiny dried bits (pappus) will fall away. Personally, I give all my sunflowers a quick rub to dislodge potential pests and to remove these bits. Before removing the head from the stalk, use your fingernail to nick out a few seeds and open them up. Are the seeds plump? If not, give them some more time. You certainly don’t want to harvest a head of empty shells! Seeds have normally reached maturity around the same time the petals start to fall from the flower. You can protect immature heads from birds with netting or large paper bags.

Once the seeds have reached maturity, cut the stem an inch or two below the flower head. Seeds can be allowed to dry in the head, or they can be rubbed loose over a newspaper or old sheet. Be sure to blow away any chaff that may harbor pests or disease. I always save several of the largest, healthiest looking seeds for next year’s crop. After that, allow seeds to dry out completely before storing in an airtight container. You can also salt and/or roast your seeds. If you suspect seed pests, freezing your sunflower seeds will kill off any eggs that may be lurking in the shells. Sunflower seeds stored in the refrigerator or freezer are good for a year, while raw seeds stored at room temperature are only good for 2 or 3 months. Roasted, shelled seeds have a shelf life of 3 to 4 months, and unshelled roasted seeds can last 4 to 5 months.

Sunflower trivia

Sunflower oil can be used as a horticultural oil, but I definitely prefer it as sunflower butter on toast or in place of peanut butter in cookies. Yummy!

One variety, the giant whorled sunflower (Helianthus verticillatus) was first seen in 1892. Then it was believed to be extinct until 1994 when it was discovered by Vanderbilt University student, Jennifer Ellis. The giant whorled sunflower is currently listed as an endangered species and is only found in Alabama, Georgia, and Tennessee - the birthplace of the sunflower species.

In the 1500s, Spanish conquistadores banned the use of sunflowers in Mexico, believing that they were an aphrodisiac.

Add some sunflowers to your garden today! (No matter what the Spaniards said!)

Sweet potatoes v. yams

Before we get too in-depth, let's make sure we know the difference between sweet potatoes and yams. If you live in the U.S., you’ve probably never had a yam. Yams are from Africa and they can grow up to 6 feet in length and weigh in at as much as 150 pounds! Yams tend to be starchy and they need to be cooked before they are eaten, to get rid of toxins.

Sweet potatoes (Ipomoea batatas) are an entirely different critter. Sweet potatoes are from tropical South America, they tend to be sweet, and are significantly smaller than yams. The whole sweet potato/yam confusion began in the U.S. because sweet potatoes have two different growth varieties: firm and soft. Firm sweet potatoes were sold first, then the softer variety arrived. To differentiate them from their firmer brethren, soft sweet potatoes were called yams. Nutritionally, sweet potatoes far surpass yams. If you are going to invest space, water, and time: grow sweet potatoes. Here’s how.

How to grow sweet potatoes

Sweet potatoes love hot summers. These herbaceous perennial vines need only 30-39 inches of rainfall (or irrigation) a year and they prefer temperatures in the 75 to 95-degree F range. Sweet potatoes prefer loamy soil with a pH between 5.0 and 6.2. Like regular potatoes, sweet potatoes are easily grown in large containers, so soil pH adjustments are relatively easy. Simply add an acidifier to the soil mix at planting time. Sweet potatoes are started from transplants and vine cuttings. These cuttings are called ‘slips’.

​While it may be tempting to use grocery store sweet potatoes to start your crop, this is not a good idea. First, many growers treat store-bound produce with growth inhibitors. Plus, you have no way of knowing if your grocery store sweet potato is carrying pests or diseases that can compromise your soil for a very long time. It really isn’t worth the risk. Invest in sweet potato plants or bare root slips from reputable suppliers. The plants will last a long time and are worth the investment. Plants prefer full sun and should be installed in early spring. Plants should be placed in large containers or in hills that are one foot high and 3 feet apart. Cover the roots with soil but leave the stem above ground and water lightly. Mature plants only grow about a foot tall, but can spread 3 or 4 feet, so plan accordingly. Being highly frost sensitive, plants may need protection in winter.

Sweet potato pests & diseases

Like regular potatoes, sweet potatoes are susceptible to many fungal diseases, so be sure your plants never sit in water or soggy soil for long. Common diseases include crown gall, bacterial wilt, Alternaria, Anthracnose, Fusarium wilt, gray mold, rust, root knot, and root rot. Weevils, aphids, flea beetles, leafhoppers, and wireworms are the most frequent sweet potato pests.

Living on a rather busy residential street, my boxwood hedges take a beating. Dogs marking their territory, car exhaust, dust… And sometimes that beating is more literal that figurative. July 2016, our house was hit by a car. The only thing that prevented the car from shearing off our gas main (and blowing up our home?) was the boxwood hedges that lifted the car above the main. The hedges have been replaced, along with the fence, but my peace of mind may never recover completely.] Checking on my hedges yesterday, I noticed patches of little white squiggles all over the place. The wooly aphids have arrived.

Wooly aphid identification

​Wooly aphids (Eriosomatinae) protect themselves by creating white waxy filaments that look like cotton or wool around themselves. To their many predators, these waxy filaments are believed to look like nasty tasting fungal growths, so they are left alone. [Green lacewing larva and Harvester caterpillars do the same thing.] Adult wooly aphids fly from place to place, laying egg masses. The eggs hatch and the nymphs that emerge cluster together in large cottony groups.

Wooly aphid host plants
There are several different types of wooly aphid and most of them are host specific. This means they have a strong preference for one or two specific types of plant. Their names generally indicate their hosts of choice. Some of the more common wooly aphids include:

• ash leaf curl aphid (Prociphilus) 
• cabbage aphid (Brevicoryne brassicae)
• hackberry wooly aphid (Shivaphis celti)
• mealy plum aphid (Hyalopterus pruni)
• rosy apple aphid (Dysaphis plantaginea)
• woolly apple aphid (Eriosoma lanigerum) - also feeds on pear, pyracantha, hawthorn, ash, elm, oak

Wooly aphid damage

Like other aphids, the woolies are sap suckers. They have piercing mouthparts which they insert into leaves, buds, bark, and even roots to feed. As they feed, they leave behind a trail of honeydew, which feeds ants and creates habitat for sooty mold. Sooty mold covers leaves and prevents photosynthesis. Wooly aphids can also act as vectors for diseases such as powdery mildew. Wooly aphids will not kill a mature plant, but they can cause deformed leaves, chlorosis, twig dieback, and overall poor health. Since a single female aphids can produce 600 billion offspring in a single season, the damage can add up.

Wooly aphid controls

Aphids have many natural predators. These include ladybugs and their larva, hoverfly larva, parasitic wasps, green lacewings and their larva, and crab spiders. You can make your garden more attractive to these co-workers by avoiding the use of chemical pesticides and by planting a wide variety of nectar sources. Aphids are also susceptible to many fungal, bacterial, and viral infections of their own. Since aphids are soft-bodied insects, a strong spray from the hose is often all that is needed to dislodge these pests from their hosts.

What is nitrogen?

Nitrogen is an element, like hydrogen or oxygen. The Earth’s atmosphere is 78% nitrogen, but it is in a form that plants cannot use. Nitrogen is the first number you see on a bag of fertilizer. It is the “N” of NPK. Since pure nitrogen boils away at -320 degrees Fahrenheit, you won’t be buying a bag of pure nitrogen at your local garden center. [If you’ve ever had a dermatologist “freeze” off a wart or precancerous area, they are often using nitrogen.]

How plants use nitrogen

Nitrogen is a fundamental building block for chlorophyll and plant enzymes and proteins, including a plant’s DNA. Without nitrogen, photosynthesis cannot occur. Some crops use more nitrogen than others. Cucurbits, such as melons and squash, are relatively light feeders. Heavy feeders include sage, artichoke, potatoes, onions, lemongrass, and corn. If you are growing plants in containers or straw bales, plants should be monitored closely for signs of insufficient nitrogen.

Not enough nitrogen

Stunting and chlorosis are the two most common signs of insufficient nitrogen. Nitrogen is highly mobile within the soil and in plants. Nitrogen deficiencies are frequently seen as a pale area down the middle of each leaf, with older leaves affected first. This happens because the plant pulls nitrogen from older leaves to feed newer leaves. Nitrogen deficiencies in peach and nectarine tend to show as red areas on leaves (where photosynthesis is no longer occurring properly). Heavy clay also reduces nitrogen levels in the soil.

​Too much nitrogen

Too much nitrogen can be just as bad as not enough. Excessive nitrogen is seen as darker than normal leaves and more vegetative growth than fruit or flowers. Too much nitrogen can burn plants, and it can cause erratic or reduced budbreak. Too much nitrogen can also stimulate new  growth that may be vulnerable to cold weather, thrips, leaf spot, Verticillium wilt, aphids, and scale. This is why the timing the use of fertilizer is so important.

Types of nitrogen

The Nitrogen Cycle refers to the conversion of atmospheric nitrogen into chemically reactive forms that attach themselves to other elements, creating ammonia or nitrate based fertilizers. Crops that prefer more acidic soil, such as blueberries and potatoes, seem to prefer ammoniacal nitrogen based fertilizers over nitrate based fertilizers. As plants absorb nitrates, they increase the soil pH, making it more alkaline. When plants take up ammonium, the soil becomes more acidic.

Nitrogen - a fleeting plant nutrient

Nitrogen is quickly used up by nearby plants. It also deteriorates rapidly and is leached out of soil by rain. This deterioration is largely a function of moisture and temperature. As temperatures rise, there tends to be less organic matter in soil. As moisture increases, so does organic matter. This is why it is so important in hot, dry weather to regularly add compost to our gardens and landscapes.

Nitrogen sources

​Native Americans used the Three Sisters Method of growing corn, beans, and squash together. Beans, being a legume, are host to bacteria that convert atmospheric nitrogen into forms usable by plants. Planting them all together provided the corn and squash with extra nitrogen early in their growing season. Some tribes added dead fish or eels when planting, which provided even more nitrogen. Fish emulsion is a mild source of nitrogen. According to study by the Washington State University Extension Office, coffee grounds contain 10% nitrogen after brewing. Blood meal, cottonseed meal, alfalfa meal, and feather meal are all good sources for nitrogen. Urea and urine both provide high levels of nitrogen.

Starting seeds is the joy of spring gardening. It reflects confidence in natural cycles, the self-discipline needed to plan ahead, and the patience to wait for results. ​

As an experienced gardener, it is all too easy for me to take some tasks for granted, having done them for so long. My husband pointed out the error of my ways last summer when, during my annual desert outing, the aboveground portion of our backyard lawn died. He  protested, saying it wasn’t his fault, that I had told him to not water it. My (incorrect) assumption was that he would know the difference between watering for growth and watering for survival. The mistake was mine. In an effort to avoid the same problem for beginning gardeners, this set of instructions will walk you through one of my favorite spring gardening activities: starting seeds.

Seed selection

Before you can plant seeds, you need to figure out what you want to grow. You will also want to ask yourself if you want only organic seeds, open pollinated seeds, or hybrids. Browsing through seed catalogs can be intoxicating. Rather than ordering everything that looks good, ask yourself which plants are:

• suitable to your microclimate
• able to be grown with a reasonable amount of water
• those you will actually eat and/or enjoy
• non-invasive

Soil selection

Some seeds can be planted directly into the ground. This is called direct sowing. While all growing areas will serve your plants better if they are fed with aged manure and compost, this is not particularly true for seeds and seedlings. Compost is swarming with microbial activity. Some of those microbes might cause problems for tender new growth. So can too many nutrients or, more commonly, nutrient imbalances. Simply adding nutrients on a schedule, whether as fertilizer or compost, backfires more often than not. Too many nutrients is just as bad as not enough. In some cases, it is worse. So get your soil tested by a reputable lab before you start transplanting or amending the soil. It will save a lot of time, money and effort later on. 

Seeds are better off started in small pots filled with high quality potting soil or starter mix. You can also use soilless mixes. Do not use planting soil. Planting soil, also called topsoil, is formulated as a soil amendment to be added to the ground. Potting soil is a special mix of vermiculite or perlite, peat moss, and/or shredded pine bark that are added to the soil to make it easier for containerized plants to thrive.​

​Your seeds have a much higher chance of success if you use this information. I save seed packets for future reference. Some gardeners turn emptied seed packets into plant labels. I have found that the paper packets don’t last very long, exposed to sun and rain, unless they are in a plastic bag. Instead, I have a plastic bin with a tight-fitting lid that holds all my seed packets, empty and full, in alphabetical order, for easy access.

​Select containers

I have found that starting seeds in small containers is the easiest. Placing one seed into each small container allows tiny roots to develop unchallenged. It also makes transplanting less stressful, since you don’t need to pull entangled roots apart from multiple plants. [Leeks and scallions are the only exception. They prefer sticking together and it doesn’t hurt them to be planted in this way.] Personally, I hang on to those plastic seed starting pots, called “cell flats” whenever I buy seedlings. It is important to clean and disinfect them each year to avoid spreading pests or diseases from one year to the next. Old cell flats should be soaked in a household cleaner, such as Lysol, for 30 minutes to eliminate pathogens. Once I have used up all of my cell flats, I turn to seed starting containers that can be planted directly into the ground, once the seedling is strong enough. The following biodegradable seed starting containers can be made or gotten for free:

• paperboard egg cartons
• newspaper pots
• toilet or paper towel tubes
• food packaging boxes

.You can also buy biodegradable seed starter pots made from peat moss, shredded wood, or paper, or sterilized manure (for extra nutrients). Many people save take-out food containers, with clear plastic lids, for seed starting. The plastic covers keep warmth and moisture in. Just be sure to remove them as the plant gets taller!

Start planting!

I’ll bet you thought I’d never get to it! Just like painting, planting is far more about preparation than the actual name implies. Once you have your seeds, containers, and potting soil, I strongly urge you to collect a pen or marker and a bunch of popsicle sticks or other material to use as a plant label for each cell flat or other collection of starter pots. Please believe me - I speak from experience. It really stinks when you forget to do this because many young plants are very difficult to tell apart until they are long past the transplanting stage. I have a container that we use to collect popsicle sticks throughout the year. Come spring time, they are very handy.

Follow these steps for successful seed starting:

1. Fill all containers loosely with potting soil.
2. Gently tamp down the soil. (I use another cell flat, since they fit perfectly.)
3. Place one seed in the soil, in each cell, to the depth specified on the seed packet. If no depth information is available, the general rule of thumb is to plant seeds 2 or 3 times deeper than the seed’s thickness. Some seeds need light to germinate, so they will be left on the soil surface.
4. Add a plant label to each group of cell flats. You may also want to write the date the seeds were planted on the back of the label.
5. Then, either place your cell flats on a bench or other surface that won’t be harmed by getting wet, or on a tarp, with the edges raised to hold a little water. You will want to protect these containers from slugs and snails and birds.
6. Gently and thoroughly water your cell flats. For seeds left on the soil surface, use a mister to water to avoid washing the seeds away or pushing them too deeply into the soil. Soil should be kept moist, but not soggy, until the first true leaves are seen.
7. Flats should be placed where they are both protected and will receive 6 to 8 hours of sunlight each day. 
8. Some plants, such as peppers, require extra heat. You can use specially designed seed heating mats, or choose varieties best suited to your local climate.

As difficult as it may be to wait for warmer temperatures, seeds planted too early tend to grow into spindly, less productive plants. Using the seed packet information is to your advantage. 

Now your seeds are started and the waiting begins! Use this time to prepare garden beds, raised beds, containers, towers, and other planting areas so they will be ready when it is time for transplanting!

Spindly legs and quiet demeanor have probably protected more crane flies than deserve it as they cling to our walls and ceilings. Frequently allowed to remain in a home or on a patio because they were believed to eat mosquitoes, most adult crane flies don’t eat at all. Those that do, generally only eat nectar. Their offspring, however, are another story all together. Two of the most common crane flies are the marsh crane fly (Tipula oleracea) and the European crane fly (Tipula paludosa). Globally, there are over 15,000 different types of crane flies.


​Crane fly lifecycle

Like most flies, crane flies have a multi-stage lifecycle that goes from egg, to larva, to pupa, to adult. Crane fly pupa do not feed. Instead, starting around May, they lie under the surface of the soil as an adult develops within. In late summer, adult crane flies emerge. Adult females mate and lay eggs within 24 hours of emerging from their pupal stage. Eggs are laid in the soil, underneath lawns and pastures, in late summer and early fall. Those eggs hatch, releasing crane fly larvae into the soil. Crane flies are often found near creeks, streams, and leaky sprinkler systems. 


Crane fly larvae

Crane fly larvae are much tougher than most other larval forms. They are so tough that they are called leatherjackets. Leatherjackets feed on the roots, root hairs, crowns, and leaves of your lawn and other members of the grass family (Poaceae or Gramineae). This includes corn, wheat, barley, millet, lemongrass, oats, sorghum, and rye. Feeding continues through the fall until winter arrives, weakening plants and making them susceptible to other pests and diseases. During the coldest months, crane fly larvae hibernate in the soil.  As soon as temperatures start to rise, they take up feeding again. During the day, the larvae mostly feed underground. On warm, damp nights, they may emerge to feed on the aboveground parts of your grass plants. Lawn damage is most commonly seen in March and April as dry patches.


Crane fly controls

Crane flies have many natural enemies, such as birds and predatory ground beetles. Heavy crane fly populations can be treated by drenching the infested area with Steinernema feltiae nematodes. These cultural controls can help reduce the damage caused by crane flies:

• maintaining healthy plants with proper feeding and irrigation can help them to recover from feeding damage
• eliminate water leaks
• ensure proper drainage
• dethatch lawns regularly
• aerate soil

Crane flies are not a big problem in most backyard gardens. That being said, I can’t help cringing when I hear people share misinformation. While a stream side crane fly larva may end up eating a mosquito larva, crane flies, as a group, are not the Skeeter Eaters of our childhood. 

Pheromone traps use chemicals to trick insect pests.

We all know that smell is a powerful trigger for many species. Smell is why we are drawn to freshly baked bread, why we are soothed by lavender and vanilla, and why we wear cologne and perfume. The chemicals that stimulate these and many other responses are called pheromones.

Pheromones are chemicals that stimulate a response within a species. Since most insects only live for a single season, reproduction is critical to species survival. Insects frequently use pheromones to find each other. Pheromones are categorized according to the response they stimulate: 

• sexual pheromones tell males that there are receptive females nearby
• aggregating pheromones attract both genders
• alarm pheromones send insects running away

Sexual pheromones

Most over-the-counter pheromone traps are of the sexual variety. They use synthetic female pheromones to attract males. Chemical signals loft into the wind and are picked up by sensory receptors on a male insect’s antenna. He follows the trail in search of love. What he ends up finding, in most cases, is a paperboard tent lined with a deadly stickum, right next to a little tab of luscious pheromones. In other cases, he may find a tray filled with powdered female pheromones. He joyfully rolls in it, finds nothing, and flies away - smelling like a female. Alas for him, in either case.

What pheromone traps can and cannot do

Pheromone traps interrupt mating. They do this by confusing the males with all the extra aromas and by trapping them on the sticky goo. Contrary to packaging claims and popular opinion, pheromone traps are not effective at eliminating a specific type of pest. In fact, they can do just the opposite! Your lone apple tree may have skirted a codling moth disaster until you hung a pheromone trap in it. Suddenly, every codling moth on the block wants to party at your house!

Proper use of pheromone traps

To be effective, pheromone traps are used to monitor specific areas for invasive or particularly destructive pests. Pheromone traps to help you to determine the best time for particular treatments.

How to use pheromone traps

Since pheromone traps are species specific, you must first identify the pest you are trying to monitor. Next, you need to learn the best time of year to employ pheromone traps. These tips can help you make the most of pheromone traps:

• traps should be placed in the same location each year
• use more traps in heavy infestation areas
• traps should be hung 6 to 8 feet above ground, in shady areas, preferably 1 to 3 feet inside the canopy in the northern quadrant of the tree
• traps should be inspected twice a week 
• record and remove trapped insects

As the number of trapped insects changes, you can see become more aware of the rise and fall of breeding populations. This provides you with the information you need when deciding on which insecticide or other treatment plan is best suited to your garden or orchard. [If you feel like getting really technical, you can also calculate degree days for more effective information.]

Insects monitored using pheromone traps

Since reproduction is so important to short-lived species, pheromone traps continue to be an effective monitoring device for a large number of insects. Some of the most troublesome insect pests that are monitored using pheromone traps (during specific time frames) include:

• armyworms
• artichoke plume moth
• citrus leafmining moth
• codling moth (budbreak; late March to early April)
• navel orangeworm moth (mid-March)
• obliquebanded leafroller (early fruit set; mid-April)
• omnivorous leafroller (just before budbreak)
• orange tortrix (late December)
• stinkbugs (early April)
• peach twig borer (March 20 - April)
• peach tree borer (April - September)
• San Jose scale (February 25 - March 1)
• vine mealybugs (April - June)

Crops best suited to pheromone trapping

Pheromone traps do not provide benefits to all crops. The most common applications of pheromone traps include:

• apples
• almonds
• apricots
• grapes
• pears
• prunes
• walnut

Don’t be put off by this shift from quick-fix solution to data collection and informed decision making. The extra knowledge and effort can spell the difference between hosting a party of undesirables or producing an abundant crop of delicious food.

Light brown apple moth (LBAM) is certainly more than one garden word, but these Australian invaders have been on the agricultural radar since they were first seen in 2007. You can protect apple and many other crops across the nation by knowing what to look for as you play in your garden.

​Benefits of the Three Sisters Method

Planting these three sisters together allows them to benefit each other in several ways:

• corn stalks provide a climbing structure for the beans
• young beans add nitrogen to the soil
• wide prickly leaves of the squash shade the ground, stabilizing temperature, reducing evaporation and competition from weeds, and deterring pests

In some areas, a fourth plant was added to the mix. This was usually a flowering plant used to attract pollinators, such as honey bees, to increase yield. Just as the three plants benefit each other as they grow, eating them together provides fatty acids and the eight essential amino acids needed to form complete proteins.

​Planting by the Three Sisters Method

Rather than planting in rows, the Three Sisters Methods calls for flat-topped mounds, 12” high and 20” wide. Several corn seeds would be planted in each mound. In some areas, rotten fish or eels would be added at the same time, to act as fertilizer. Some areas planted all three types of seeds at the same time. Others would wait until the corn was 6” tall before adding squash and beans. Seeds would be alternately planted around the corn. Two types of beans were used: common beans (Phaseolus vulgaris) and tepary beans (Phaseolus acutifolius), which are more drought tolerant.

You can create your own Three Sisters garden design using the same companion planting concepts. Since corn has higher pollination rates when planted in blocks, rather than rows, you can set aside an area of the yard, or a raised bed, as your very own Three Sisters garden.

The corn will grow up, the beans will climb the corn and add nitrogen to the soil, while the squash protects the ground with its wide leaves. Come autumn, your family will be able to enjoy a high protein meal of beans and corn with a side order of baked or steamed squash, with very little effort on your part.

Give it a try this growing season and see how well it works for you!

Mealybug identification
​
You will probably never see a male mealybug. They are simply too small to notice. Orange or yellow egg masses are laid in cracks and crevices of bark and in the calyx (flower end) of fruit, and hatch in June in early summer. Oblong crawlers, or nymphs, which emerge in spring, can be red, yellow or white, and they may or may not have the hairlike filaments seen on adults. Nymphs move from the bark to the base of new shoots or fruit clusters. As they mature, they turn purple and then gain their characteristic white powdery wax covering. They look like scale insects but without the armored covering.

​There are different mealybug species, including citrus, longtailed, obscure, golden, and pink, among others, along with the dreaded vine mealybug. Adult females are only 3/16 of an inch long, but they tend to congregate in large groups which makes them easier to spot (and more devastating to their host plants). Mealybugs are often mistaken for wooly aphids, and with good reason. Take a look at the images below to see why.

Mealybug damage

Cousin to aphids and whiteflies, mealybugs are sap eaters. They feed on new buds, shoots, and leaves, causing erratic or reduced budbreak, slowed growth, and twig dieback. Mealybugs are frequent pests to basil, grapes, stone pine, pomegranate, chamomile, apple, plum, pear, peach, ferns, orchids, and, well, quite honestly, pretty much everything growing inside or outside of your home. Mealybugs produce honeydew, which provides the perfect growth medium for sooty mold. They can also carry bean mosaic.

Mealybug control

Prevention is, as usual, much easier than eradication. Placing new plants in quarantine areas can prevent the spread of mealybug infestations to the rest of your garden or landscape. Mild infestations can be tolerated by healthy plants, but water-stressed or otherwise unhealthy plants cannot. Mealybugs have many natural enemies, such as hoverflies, mealybug destroyers, pirate bugs, ladybugs, and several parasitic wasp species, so encouraging these beneficials can make your job easier. Globe allium is a good choice for attracting these natural helpers.

​Heavy infestations can be treated with neem oil or insecticidal soaps, as they provide effective organic treatments against mealybugs. The trick is spotting these pests before they drain your plants of too many nutrients. Chlorosis and early leaf drop are common signs of mealybug infestation, but you will want to check underneath leaves regularly as a normal preventive maintenance.

The physical properties of your garden and landscape location directly impact plants are soil, sun, and climate. Soil supports your plants. If you use containers or raised beds, soil composition is easy. Just add potting soil. If plants will be grown in the ground, get your soil tested by a reputable local lab. These tests are inexpensive and invaluable.

Top dress your soil with aged compost at the beginning of the design process. As you plan and decide, worms, microorganisms, and other beneficial critters will improve the soil for whatever you plant.

Sun exposure dictates which plants will thrive in your yard. Whatever the design, you will need to work within the parameters created by how much sunlight each area of the garden gets at different times of day and throughout the seasons. Color code your drawing to show which areas get full sun, partial sun, partial shade, or dappled shade, taking hourly notes.

Your microclimate includes plant hardiness zone, annual rainfall, wind, slope, pollutants, and even tap water chemistry, all affect which plants will perform well in your garden.

Principles of design

Professional landscape architects use specific design principles to help them make good decisions, and you can, too. Below, you will find a description of eight design principle with questions to ask yourself about your own space.

1. Boundaries

The limits of your property certainly create boundaries, but you can use garden beds to build boundaries within boundaries. As you create boundaries within your garden, see if they feel right. Whether fences, hedgerows, or walls, boundaries can keep chickens out of the salad patch, nosy neighbors from seeing in, and hide any eyesores. Identify fixed boundaries already in place and those you want to add.

2. Lines

Lines are visual cues that pull our eyes along a path. Lines can be straight, curved, vertical, or horizontal. Buildings, fences, pools, existing plants, and paths create lines. A row of tall sunflowers will draw your eyes skyward. A curving stone path quietly invites you in to explore. Look at the lines that already exist in your yard and see how each of them makes you feel. Do they fulfill your goals? If not, how can they be changed?

3. Surfaces

Imagine walking through a garden on a concrete sidewalk. Now imagine walking through that garden on a path made of wooden planks, wood chips, or cobblestones. The feel of the entire space changes. Do the surfaces currently in your garden allow for proper drainage? Are they durable? Are they comfortable or safe to walk on? Do they match your Dream Garden?

4. Form

Form and shape have an impact on how a space is perceived. Shapes are two-dimensional. Forms are three-dimensional. Geometric forms, like circles and squares, create a more formal garden. The more natural forms of streams and shrubs create a relaxed atmosphere. When shopping for plants, keep their mature form and shape in mind, as well as size. What shapes and forms will create the feel you want in your garden?

5. Texture

Texture refers to a plant’s bark, foliage, flowers, and overall structure. Texture can be coarse, medium, or fine. Coarse-textured plants attract attention and delineate space, while fine-textured plants soothe and create openness. Buildings, paths, and other design components also have texture. Create a sense of expansion by putting finer textures around the edges, medium textures inside the perimeter, and one or a few coarse-textured plants closest to the house. Reverse those plantings to create a sense of closeness. How many different textures do you currently have in your garden? Do those textures create the feel you want from your garden? If not, what can you change?

6. Color

If everything in your garden were green, it would eventually get boring. What colors occur in your garden during each season? Are there times or spaces that need help? You can use color schemes and a color wheel to create balance and add contrast to your garden design. The color wheel refers to the three primary colors (red, yellow, and blue), three secondary colors (green, orange, and purple), and so on. Color schemes can be monochromatic (all one color, in addition to green foliage), analogous (any 3 to 5 colors that are next to each other on the color wheel), or complementary (colors opposite each other on the color wheel).

The buildings, paths, and other existing features of your yard are part of this color factor. What colors already exist on your property? Are there places you can alter to create a more pleasing experience? Research has demonstrated that color plays a role in our moods. What mood do you want to get from your garden?

• Red - passionate, powerful 
• Orange - playful, energetic
• Yellow - friendly, happy
• Green - stable, prosperous
• Blue - serene, inviting
• Purple - mysterious, romantic
• White - purity, sophisticated

7. Garden furniture and art

Most gardens offer a place to sit, relax, and enjoy a cup of coffee or a glass of wine. Patio furniture, awnings, yard art, pergolas, picnic tables, fire pits, and all the other elements of your space influence the overall feel of your garden. Looking at what you already have, ask yourself if those items fit in with your overall design, color scheme, forms, and textures.

8. Lighting

Lighting can provide safety and add atmosphere to a landscape. Solar lights are a popular choice for illuminating a garden at night, but some plants, like some people, need the lights out to sleep well. Consider directing outdoor lighting onto paths, doorways, and seating areas to avoid distressing plants.

Themes

Your garden is your own. There is no right or wrong garden design, as long as your plants are healthy and you enjoy it. If you are unsure about how to start, consider these garden themes:

• Butterfly garden– floral variety sure to lure our fluttering friends
• Children’s garden – fast-growing and aromatic plants create paths, hideaways, and storybook reminders
• Cottage garden – informal floral abundance, picket fencing, stone animals, quiet bench
• Formal Renaissance garden – parterres, topiary animals, fountains, tidy lawns
• Herb gardens – formal and informal plantings of herbs and spices
• Kitchen garden (or potager) – successive plantings of vegetables, fruits, and herbs for year-round food
• Rock gardens – create dry stream beds and rockeries with small, shorter plants

 
Plant selection

Plant selection is similar to painting a room. You know what you want the result to look like, so you buy your paint. A week goes by, and you are still sanding, spackling, and taping. Adding plants to your garden or landscape, like the paint, is the last step in a process that takes time. Permit yourself to take the time you need to plan and prepare. After analyzing soil, sunlight, surfaces, lighting, lines, location, boundaries, form, furniture, color, texture, and art, you can finally decide which plants will suit your purposes and microclimate.

Companion plants

While deciding which plants to put near each other (and which ones need some space), you may want to consider companion planting. While there have been a lot of false claims and propaganda about companion planting, there are some scientific facts you can put to work for you, such as the Three Sisters Method of growing corn, squash, and pole beans together, used by Native Americans.

Quarantine

As tempting as it may be to install your new plants as soon as you get home, it is a far better idea to place them in a quarantine area until you are sure that they are free of pests and diseases, saving you a lot of time and money in the long run.

Plant installation

When installing plants, ensure that each location provides the correct sunlight and wind protection. It is nearly always a good idea to install larger plants first, starting with trees, then shrubs, then perennials, and ending with annuals and ground cover. Not only will this plan help you to stay focused on the design, but it will also protect smaller plants from being damaged by the installation of larger plants.

Print a Google Maps image of your property for an easy place to start. Heck, print a few of them! Then play around with it. Explore each of the design principles. Pencil some new plants in. Use your eraser and different colors. Add what you already have and try new ideas before picking up a shovel!

Take some before and after photos and enjoy what you accomplish!

A reader asked me about dried fruit beetles in their compost and worm bin, so let’s learn more about these pests to see if we can help him and prevent the same problem for ourselves.

Dried fruit  (or driedfruit) beetles, along with sap beetles, are members of the Carpophilus family. They have been California pests since the mid 1700’s. You can even read an excerpt on these pests that was written in 1758, and re-published by the Entomological Society of America in 1915!

Dried fruit beetle description

These small black or brown beetles are only 1/10 to 1/5 of an inch long. They have clubbed antenna and some specimens have light yellow spots on their wing covers. The larva is a small white grub with a brownish head, three pairs of true legs, and two tiny horns at the back end. Larvae will try to hide when disturbed. The pupae look like tiny white packets.

​Dried fruit beetle lifecycle

Female dried fruit beetles (C. hemipterus) lay between 1,000 and 2,000 eggs in their lifetime, usually on ripe and rotting fruit. Eggs hatch rapidly, in as little as 1 to 5 days. The larva cause significant crop damage as they feed. When they have eaten their fill, they burrow into the soil (or compost) to pupate. As soon as they emerge, they mate and egg laying occurs within 1 to 8 days thereafter. These pests can have a new generation every three weeks! They can live for over a year, but most individuals live for 100 to 145 days.

Damage caused by dried fruit beetles

Dried fruit beetles enter ripening fruit through naturally occurring openings, such as the eye of a fig, or through entry points created by other insects or physical damage. If their presence wasn't bad enough, dried fruit beetles can also carry bacteria that make fruit rot or turn sour, which then attracts other pests, such as naval orangeworms and vinegar flies. Dried fruit beetles can be found in stored beans, bread, sugar, honey, cornmeal, nuts, and cereals. In the field, they attack a wide range of plants, including:

• apricot
• corn 
• cowpeas
• nutmeg
• oats
• pineapple 
• sorghum
• sunflowers
• tobacco

Preventing dried fruit beetle infestations

Prevention is key here (Sorry, David). Dried fruit beetle life cycles can be interrupted in the field by ensuring that fallen fruit is removed regularly. This is especially true for citrus fruit, since dried fruit beetles seem to prefer laying their eggs in fallen citrus fruit. Be sure to harvest ripe fruit right away. By eliminating the food supply, these pests can generally be kept under control.

Dried fruit beetle controls

Many gardeners have had success using funnel traps baited with fermenting fruit and water, or yeast, sugar, and water. High moisture levels are needed for these pests to thrive. Removing excess moisture can cut the dried fruit beetle lifespan in half, reducing the number of potential offspring. Low humidity significantly increases the time it takes for larva to develop. It also interferes with egg-laying (oviposition).

In commercial environments, severe infestations are treated with fumigation. Generally, these pests will not harm the worms in a worm bin, but they tend to indicate sanitation issues elsewhere on the property (or on nearby properties, since the adult beetles can fly).

Unlike our glandular bodies, each cell within a plant is able to produce its own hormones. These hormones dictate flower, leaf, and stem formation, the timing of leaf drop, seed growth, flowering, flower gender, and, the really Bog One, fruit development and ripening. These chemicals also tell which tissues to grow down (roots) and which tissues to grow up (stems), and even how long a plant will live.

​Appropriately enough, the word hormone comes from a Greek word that means to set in motion. Phytohormones, more commonly known as plant growth regulators, or PGRs, trigger certain cells to respond only at certain stages of the cell’s life. New, undifferentiated meristem tissue produces a lot of phytohormones. After the cells have used all that they need, any remaining phytohormones are moved to other locations within the plant where they are needed, or they can be inactivated and stored for later use. In some cases, phytohormones are cannibalized for their various parts, or chemically destroyed within the plant.

What do plant hormones have to do with gardening?

For one thing, it means that every time you prune out a branch or stem, you are altering the hormonal activity within your plant. The auxins that prohibit bud development further down a stem are mostly found at a growing tip. Remove that tip and hormone levels change, allowing more buds (read fruit) to develop further down the stem.

Secondly, upright, vertical stems tend to produce leaves over buds, because they contain a phytohormone called auxin. Bending a vertical stem into a horizontal position suppresses auxin development, allowing several flower-bearing buds to develop that otherwise would have remained dormant. Bottom line: more fruit.

Also, some bacteria create the plant hormones auxin and cytokinin, which can result in tumor-like crown galls.

Classes of phytohormones

There five basic classes of PGRs. Please don’t let the chemistry scare you off. After reading the descriptions, you will find a handy poem at the bottom to help you remember:

1. Abscisic acid (ABA) - growth inhibitor; closes the stoma of water-stressed plants; prevents seeds from germinating in unripe fruit, or when weather is too cold; slows growth in mature areas of the plant to promote new growth elsewhere; used by nurseries to keep plants dormant during shipping
2. Auxins (IAA; indole-3-acetic acid) - travel downward from shoot tips to stimulate root formation; encourages plants to grow toward light sources (phototropism); inhibit bud formation lower on stems; toxic to plants in large doses, especially to dicots; synthetic versions are used as herbicides, such as Agent Orange, and as root stimulants on cuttings
3. Cytokinins - move up the plant to promote promote axillary (side or lateral) bud development, cell division and cell formation; delay aging; affect internodal length and leaf development; counteract auxins (when a plant is injured, higher auxin levels increase root development/repair, while higher cytokinin levels increase stem development and repair)
4. Ethylene - a gas that is produced when plants are growing rapidly, especially in the dark (underground); at first, more ethylene gas is produced than can escape the plant, causing  shoot development; as levels decrease, leaf development occurs; this gas helps new shoots push their way through the soil; stimulates fruit ripening and rotting (which is why one ripe banana makes all the unripe ones ripen faster!) and leaf drop; some producers spray unripe fruit with ethylene to cause the appearance of ripening (but the flavor aspect never really catches up)
5. Gibberellins - mobilize nutrients within seeds to stimulate germination; cause stems and leaves to grow long; initiates bolting; stimulates pollen tube growth; counteracts abscisic acid

​See if the poem below can help you sort all this information out:

 
Germinate with gibberellins, then ethylenes break ground
Auxins push them higher, abscisic acid slows things down
Cytokinins make them longer, keep them young and stronger 
Always working in the garden, in flowers, shrubs and trees
I wish there was a cytokinin made especially for me!

Okay, so it doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue. How about trying your hand at creating an easy pneumonic and share it with your friends and fellow gardeners!

There’s more to sunny marigolds than meets the eye.

These brightly colored annual and perennial flowers add gold, yellow, white, red, and copper to the landscape through summer and fall. The simple daisy shapes or full to bursting carnation-like blooms, members of the sunflower family, are able to thrive in our scorching hot summers long after fainter hearts have collapsed. If that weren’t reason enough, there is magic in marigolds!

Marigold magic

The magic of marigold lies in its scent. While we may (or may not) enjoy it, many animal and insect pests really don’t like it. These makes marigolds an excellent natural deterrent to pests that will attack your tomatoes, eggplant, potatoes, and sweet peppers. Deer, rabbits, moles, and voles are also said to dislike the scent enough to forage elsewhere. Chemicals in the roots even attract and then kill nematodes. While nothing works 100%, marigolds can help reduce some nematode populations as they give your edibles a lovely floral border!

Types of marigolds

Marigolds used to only be available in yellow carnation type blooms. Now, the range of colors and bloom shapes is astounding. As you shop for marigold seeds or seedlings, keep in mind that there are three main types of marigolds:

• American, or African, marigolds (Tagetes erecta) - tallest variety, reaching 3 to 5 feet (they sometimes need staking)
• French marigolds (Bushy Tagetes patula) - plants grow 6 inches to 2 feet tall
• Signet, or Rock Garden, marigolds (Tagetes tenuifolia) - love hot, dry weather

Be forewarned, marigolds in the Tagetes genus are generally not edible. If you want edible marigolds, go for the Calendula, or pot marigolds.

Growing marigolds

Marigolds can be grown in containers, on windowsills, or in any sunny spot in the landscape or garden, as long as they are not near legumes. Some people claim that marigolds should not be grown near legumes. They say that the chemicals that make marigolds beneficial, can also interrupt the nitrogen-fixing capabilities of legumes, such as peas and beans, but I don’t know if this is true. Larger varieties of marigolds should be placed 2 to 3 feet apart, while the smaller, lower growing varieties can be one foot apart.

Seeds can be started indoors before the last frost, but they will want a site with plenty of sunshine. While they prefer full sun, marigolds can also be grown in partial shade. Marigold seeds germinate quickly. As they start growing, seedlings will benefit from a layer of mulch placed around them. This mulch will shade the soil, add nutrients, and reduce competition from weeds. After that, they never need fertilizer. In fact, too many nutrients encourages leaf growth, rather than flowers.

Flower production can be encouraged by removing, or deadheading, spent blooms. Do not use overhead watering. Instead, water near the base of each plant, allowing the soil to dry out between waterings.

Marigold pests & diseases

Damping-off disease can be a problem when seeds are started indoors. Marigolds are quite hardy and drought tolerant. Too much moisture can cause bacterial spot, powdery mildew, gray mold, Alternaria leaf spot, and root rot. Aphids and mites may try infesting your marigolds, but a quick spray from the hose early (in the morning), or brushing the pests off with a soft brush, is all the treatment that is needed.

Many butterflies are attracted to marigolds, and they make excellent dried flower arrangements. Add marigolds to your garden shopping list and spread some beneficial color!

Sweet, juicy melons are a gardening favorite. Easy to grow, productive and delicious, what’s not to love?

It just wouldn’t be summer without slicing through the hard outer rind of a melon and devouring the sweet, refreshing wetness within. 

How to grow melons

Melon seeds are big and easy to work with. In warm rgions, melons can be planted in May and June. They really love hot weather. Prepare the planting area by digging compost into the soil and creating hills. Each hill should be approximately 4 feet square. Plant 3 to 5 seeds, one inch deep and two inches apart, into the middle of each hill. Water the area well. Once your seeds have sprouted and grown into seedlings with a few sets of leaves, snip the smallest plants off at ground level, rather than thinning by pulling them out. This lets the remaining plant’s roots and helpful soil microorganisms stay undisturbed. Melons need to be watered every 2 or 3 days during the peak of summer. Sometimes even more. Regular watering can help prevent the fruit from splitting open. Side dressing melon plants with aged compost during the growing season also improves both crop quantity and quality. Side dressing simply means putting compost next to the plants and watering all those yummy nutrients into the surrounding soil. Easy and effective.

You may want to add a layer of straw or sawdust under your melons, to get them up off the ground. This helps prevent rotten areas, and insect and fungal infestation. Melons can also be grown in containers, towers, or straw bales, and trellised. The fruit itself will need personal hammocks if you use a trellis. You can tell a melon is ready to harvest when you see a slight crack around the stem where it is attached to the fruit. This is called the “full slip” stage. Crenshaw, casaba, and some honeydew varieties do not develop a slip. Casaba and honeydew melons can be stored for several weeks, while other varieties are best eaten right away.

Troubleshooting melon problems

Melons are susceptible to the same problems as cucumber, pumpkin, and squash. Use the symptoms listed below to find (and solve) your melon problems!

• Curled leaves - aphids on underside of leaves - insecticidal soap
• Fine stippling & webbing - spider mites - insecticidal soap or oil
• Chlorosis - whiteflies - remove infested leaves (look for white spiral egg laying pattern)
• Coarse, white stippling - leafhoppers
• Tunnels in leaves - leafminers
• Wilting plants; clumps on roots - nematodes - crop rotation
• Angular dead areas on leaves - leafspot - avoid overhead watering
• Holes in leaves; damaged runners, fruit, & crown - cucumber beetles - hand pick insects
• Small yellow spots on leaves that turn brown - squash bug - hand pick insects
• White, powdery areas - powdery mildew - avoid overhead watering; dust with sulfur
• Yellow spots on top of leaves, gray undersides - downy mildews - use resistant varieties
• Stunted plants; mottled leaves - mosaic virus - remove infected plants (fruit is edible)
• Deformed or bitter fruit - inadequate pollination, soil fertility & irrigation - attract bees, water regularly, get your soil tested
• Wilting; older leaves die first - Verticillium wilt - crop rotation
• Sudden wilting; rotten roots - Sudden wilt (Pythium fungus) - water regularly; ensure good drainage
• Runners turn yellow; plant collapses - Fusarium wilt - use resistant varieties; rotate crops
• Sunken dark areas on fruit - belly rot - trellis fruit; rotate crops; improve drainage
• Excessive vegetative growth - plants too close together 

     
Cutworms, wireworms, crickets and grasshoppers, various beetles, earwigs, stinkbugs, and thrips may also try getting into your delicious melons, so be vigilant! (A light dusting of diatomaceous earth might help, too.)

Cross-pollination myth

All too often, gardeners hear the myth that members of the Cucurbit family can cross-pollinate. This is simply not true. Pollination between different species does not occur. What can happen is two different types of melon can cross-pollinate. In fact, that’s how Crenshaw melons came about - Persian melons were crossed with casabas.

As you prepare to start growing your own melons, be sure to Plant It Forward with any leftover seeds!

Clay soil is prone to compaction.

​Healthy soil is loose enough to allow roots and earthworms to move around freely, while still providing support and structure. Unlike sand (which has its own problems), compacted soil has too few macropores and micropores (larger and smaller spaces) between soil particles. These spaces are needed to hold air, water, and nutrients for plant roots.

Compacted soil can prevent water from moving into the soil (infiltration), through the soil (permeability), and out of the soil (drainage). Standing water can drown plants and create mosquito habitat. It can also make life difficult for tender new seedlings trying to get a healthy start by reducing nutrient uptake and poorly anchoring plants to the ground. Soil compaction hurts mature plants, as well, by reducing nitrogen levels in the soil, as well as other nutrients.

What causes soil compaction?

Every step you take presses down on the soil beneath your foot. Healthy soil can spring back. Soil that is walked on too frequently loses that ability and it becomes compacted. Other common causes of soil compaction include:

• Overwatering
• Digging wet or overly dry soil
• Insufficient organic material
• Digging repeatedly in the same area