May is the month to finish up your spring planting by focusing on those heat-loving vegetables. While many of Southern California’s native plants are beginning to shut down for the dry summer months, if you plant your vegetables now and keep them well mulched and watered, they should flourish throughout the summer and provide a bountiful return come fall.

As I wrote in March and April’s blogs, “Creating Your Own Victory Garden” and “Recession Proves Fertile Ground For Fruits & Vegetables,” more and more people are recognizing that the smart thing to do is to take a portion of their beautifully manicured landscape, dig it up and turn it into a vegetable garden – following in the footsteps of Michelle Obama’s famous White House vegetable garden. This isn’t just about saving money at the grocery store, it’s about growing your own and eating you own delicious, natural (even organic) produce.

Planting Vegetables

You can either sow the seeds directly in the soil, or germinate them indoors in individual containers (see Planting Vegetable from Seed) that can be planted directly into the soil. Here is a list of vegetable that should be planted this month:

lima and snap beans, beets, carrots, celery, chard, chicory, chives, corn, cucumbers, eggplants, leeks, warm-season lettuces, melons, okras, green onions, peanuts, peppers, pumpkins, soybeans, warm-season spinaches, squashes, sweet potatoes and tomatoes.

Here are some additional tips for intelligent planting:

• Interplant cucumbers and beans to repel cucumber beetles and prevent the wilt diseases they carry
• Plant potatoes to repel squash bugs
• Plant corn in blocks of at least four rows in each direction to assure good pollination and continue planting only through the end of June, as later planting suffer from severe smut when maturing in September
• Corn stalks make convenient pole bean supports if the beans are planted after the corn is six inches tall, so that the beans don’t outgrow the corn

Using Trellises

A trellis provides support for greater vegetable and fruit production per square foot of soil and for longer periods because more leaf area is exposed to sunlight and more air circulates. Vines grown on a trellis provide shade for a porch, patio or wall. Crops grown on a trellis are easier to pick and cleaner, not available to snails and slugs and not prone to ground rot.

Some vines need more guidance and anchoring onto the trellis than others, but all will grow well with proper fertilization and irrigation.

Mulching

Maintain a good mulch of organic matter covering garden soil throughout the summer. This prevents the cracking of the soil surface, holds in moisture, encourages earthworms, moderates soil temperatures for optimum root growth, improves the soil as it decomposes and prevents weeds from germinating.

A two-to-four inch layer of mulch decreases evaporation from the soil by 70% or more, allowing you to water less often (but still deeply).

For more May gardening tips, please see May Gardening Tips for Los Angeles County Residents, which is the resource for this blog.

Here are five relatively simply ways to save water, an essential commodity of life. While the information is gardening common sense, it’s been complied by a terrific garden resource, Sunset.  Their newsletter is well worth a subscription.

Select Drought Tolerant Plants

Succulents create a marvelous bed. Planted together, these drought-tolerant plants with their outrageous shapes, striking colors and flamboyant flowers will make a striking front yard or flower bed and will require a fraction of the water a lawn or normal bedding plants require. See my blog on Succulents.

Sensible Watering

Irrigate deeply and infrequently, then allow the soil to dry out a bit between waterings. Water early in the morning, when the air is calm and temperatures are cool. If you have sloping ground or clay soil, water more often but for less time to minimize runoff.

Get Rid Of Your Putting Green

Here in the West, lawns are the number-one consumer of residential water outdoors. Reducing their size, restricting them to spaces where you actually need them (like kids’ play areas), or eliminating them altogether are the most effective ways to reduce your own outdoor water use.

Mulching Saves Water

Organic mulches (ground bark, wood chips, compost) save water by cooling the soil, reducing evaporation, and encouraging healthy roots. They also help eliminate water-hungry weeds. Mulches break down quickly, so you’ll need to reapply them quite often; 2 to 3 inches is usually enough.

Check Your Sprinklers

You can often tell if your system is not working efficiently by watching it run. Or look for signs: Brown spots mean your lawn isn’t getting enough water; wet spots and runoff signal too much water. Make use of your water department’s local lawn-watering guidelines.

Along with April showers comes National Landscape Architecture Month, Earth Day – celebrated on April 22 and on April 26, the birthday of Frederick Law Olmsted, the father of landscape architecture and the designer ofNew York’s Central Park, Brooklyn’s Prospect Park, thegrounds of the U.S. Capitol and many other extraordinary gardens and parks though out our country. So, I thought April would be the perfect month to consider “The Value of Your Front Yard“.

I wrote about the added value of landscaping to real estate in last September’s Eva’s Notes & News, “Does Landscaping Add Value To Your Home. However, it’s worth repeating that,

“Your front yard is the face of your property. Not only does it greet you every day, it’s the first thing potential buyers see should you ever decided to put your home on the market. Therefore, ‘curb appeal,‘ isn’t just a real estate catch phrase, it’s a reality. According any number of studies, a well landscape property can increase it’s sale price from 7% – 15%.”

On the website, About.com Landscaping, David Beaulieu, its author, makes a very important point when considering doing any kind of substantial work on your landscape:

To continue reading … Eva’s Notes & News

As a follow-up to my previous posts, Creating Your Own Victory Garden and Growing Tomatoes In Southern California, a client was thoughtful enough to send  me an interesting article from “Advertising Age.” While the article’s focus was on Miracle-Gro Maker Reaps Bounty as More Turn to Vegetable Gardens, what my take-away was this:

“Hope springs eternal at the Scotts Miracle-Gro Co. — and not because the growing season came early in much of the country. A vegetable-gardening boom spawned largely by the recession is blossoming into enduring behavior paying dividends for the company.

Early spring throughout much of the U.S. has lawnmowers fired up and people headed to garden-supply stores for planting weeks ahead of schedule. A break in the drought in Texas has returned that huge state to the market for gardening products. That’s had Scotts Miracle-Gro moving up production and shipment schedules as well as TV, radio and online-media plans by weeks.

The better news for Scotts isn’t about the vagaries of weather, but something more permanent. For the first time in the recent National Gardening Association survey, growing fruits and vegetables emerged as the top reason that people garden — supplanting growing flowers or beautifying the home, said Tom McLoughlin, VP-gardens and landscapes.“

My reason for blogging about this article is not to promote “Miracle Grow” but rather to draw attention to the fact that gardeners and people who are interested in gardening are coming to realize that a garden can be so much more that flowers and grass. While having a beautiful garden and a well-manicured lawn is wonderful, and creating and maintaining such is the bulk of my business, there is so much more that one can do with a garden beyond filling it with beautiful plants.

Your garden can be both beautiful and bountiful. All it takes is a little planning, a little work, a little tending and a little patience. Not to mention … there is nothing more delicious than “home grown.”

You would think that with our long growing season Southern California would be the ideal climate for growing tomatoes. But according to the University of California, our ideal conditions are not so ideal: high temperatures can delay fruiting and intense sunlight can burn and cause improper ripening.

Selecting the right tomato?

According to the U of C experts the most important consideration for the successful growing of tomatoes is breeding: specifically, disease-resistant varieties that have been adapted to your specific area, (coast, inland, valley, desert). These should be available at your local garden store or greenhouse. And make sure to look for plants that stand 6 to 12 inches high and to avoid tall, lanky plants with pot-bound roots.

Prior to planting.

After you’ve purchased your plants it’s important to place them in a sheltered location for a few days so that they can acclimate to your outdoor conditions. Once acclimated, move them to the sunny area where they are to be planted for a day or two.

Planting

1. If you’re planting more than one plant, be sure to space them far enough apart so that the vines can be staked or you can place tomato cages for the vines to grow through.
2. Dig a hole deep enough to cover the root system so that the bottom leaves are about one inch from the soil.
3. If you have really poor soil, (see our newsletter “Soil Isn’t Sexy But It Is Essential” to learn what constitutes good soil) enlarge the hole and mix potting soil, or compost with your own soil and use it to pack gently around the plant’s roots. Water until the soil is evenly moist.
4. It’s important to keep the plants watered but not to the point that the soil becomes soggy. Consistency is important because periods of drought or excessive watering can cause blossom-end rot, cracked skins or limited yields.

Fertilize

Tomatoes need fertilizing beginning when the fruit begins to set and every four to six weeks thereafter.  Use balanced granular fertilizer designed specifically for tomatoes and according to the directions or rotted manure.

Dealing with problems

1. Use shade cloth to screen the plants from intense afternoon heat or sun.
2. Intense heat (85 degrees Farenheit) for more than a few days can cause tomato blossoms to drop and fruit fail to set. If this happens, continue to care for the plant and once cooler temperatures return, the should resume setting fruit.
3. To avoid two common Southern California problems, solar yellowing and sun burn, consider growing your tomatoes in containers and move them to a shady location during very hot weather.

Resources:

There are countless website and resources on growing tomatoes, here are several that I think are important:

Pat Welsh’s Southern California Organic Gardening

Learn How To Grow Tomatoes with Pat Welsh on You Tube

Texas A&M: Vegetable Gardening in Containers

Word War II Victory Garden Poster

The term “Victory Garden” came into being during World War I, was brought out of retirement during World War II and while it’s not actually in use – except by me – its concept – people growing their own vegetables – is making yet another appearance in our nation’s gardens.

As I mentioned in the August 2011 edition of Eva’s Notes & News, (“Vegetable Gardens – Great For You Health & Pocketbook“), our country’s First Lady, Michelle Obama, turned 1,100 square feet of White House lawn into a vegetable garden, planting 55 varieties of vegetables. The Obama family and their guests consume much of this produce. What isn’t consumed at the White House is donated to a local soup kitchen and food bank. Good nutrition is the reason behind Michelle’s decision to plant and it’s an awfully good one for anyone interested in healthy eating.

March and April are the ideal times to get your garden planted. This includes most summer annuals and perennials, warm-season and cool-season lawns, some cool-season and warm-season vegetables, and almost all permanent garden plants, such as trees, shrubs, ground covers and vines. But I would hold off planting tropicals for a couple of months until the weather warms up. So get in gear and get your garden in shape!

And since there is so much that needs to be done, here is list of things you should consider:

Purchase & Plant:

• Drought-resistant plants
• Trees, shrubs, vines, ground covers
• Flowerbeds with warm-season flowers
• Perennials
• Tigridias, gladioli, tuberous begonias
• Cuttings: herbaceous and softwood
• Citrus, avocado and macadamia trees
• Fuchsias from cuttings
• Lawns
• Summer vegetables plus green beans, potatoes, artichokes, tomatoes, culinary hers and edible flowers

Trim, Prune, Mow, Divide:

• Prune begonias, cannas, ginger, ivy, pyracantha and Sprenger fern
• Dethatch warm-season lawns
• Deadhead annual and perennial flowers
• Tie into knots the floppy leaves of bulbs until they turn brown
• Prune camellias, tropical hibiscus and epidendrum
• Pinch fuchsias to make them bushy
• Propagate bamboo
• Mow all grass lawns

Fertilize

• Citrus trees, avocado trees and macadamia trees
• Fuchsias
• Ornamental trees, bushes, lawns and ground covers
• Container-grown flowers with liquid fertilizer
• Cool season flowers if growth slows
• Roses
• All lawns
• Treat blue hydrangeas with aluminum sulfate.

Water (when there isn’t sufficient rain)

• All garden plants according to their needs
• Fuchsias
• Roses
• Spring-flowering bulbs
• Don’t let azaleas dry out

Control of Pests, Diseases & Weeds

• Control slugs and snails
• Check roses for pests and diseases
• Control cutworms
• Pull weeds
• Spray cycads for scale
• Control giant whitefly

Do Something Special

• Plant herbs in a window box or garden

If you want to know more about what to do in the garden in March, check out Pat Welsh’s “Southern California Gardening – A Month-by-Month Guide, from which the majority of this information was excerpted, or Google, “Southern California Gardening March.”

I hoped the title might get your attention because succulents are a wonderful and extremely eco-friendly addition to any garden or planter, and, if you don’t already, you should know more about them.

Besides creating colorful planters, as you will see by these photographs, I have included a couple of shots of a front yard I designed using nothing but succulents.

While ripping out a lawn and planting succulents does require a certain up-front expense, in the long run you can save thousands of dollars in water bills, many man-hours of tending, as well as tens of thousands of gallons of water – a great savings for both your pocketbook and environment.

To continue reading … Eva’s Notes & News

In order to have a successfully garden you need good soil. Plants anchor their roots in it and get most of their nourishment from it; therefore, the health of your plants, in large part, depends on the condition of your soil.

If your plants are growing well and look healthy, if water sinks easily into the ground instead of running off or forming puddles, and if the soil doesn’t dry out too quickly, the chances are your soil is in basically good shape.

However, if your plants are doing poorly, looked stressed out and are growing slowly or not at all, and if drainage is either very slow or so rapid that water runs right through, your soil needs improvement.

To continue reading … Eva’s Notes & News

If you’ve been thinking about re-doing your back yard, front yard or the whole nine yards, now is a good time to begin formulating a plan. So here are 5 tips to consider.  I’ll be along with an additional 5 tips next month

1. Plan What You’re Going To Do

Planning is paramount when you’re designing a garden or landscape. I know how much fun it is to walk around a nursery or garden store and pick out plants, but before you ever set foot in one, you need to have a clear idea of what it is your doing. Here are some things to consider:

• play areas for your children
• space for pets
• seating and/or dining areas
• water features (pools,fountain, streams)
• hardscape: walkways, paths, structures, power lines
• update or expand sprinkler system
• outdoor lighting
• equipment storage
• unsightly air conditioner units and service building
• the amount of sun or shade your garden experiences

How are you going to handle each one of these?

2. Research

The best way to learn  how to make it happen is to see how others have creatively dealt with similar situations.

• Get a selection of landscaping, home or gardening magazines and cut out pictures of what you like.
• Go to the library and look through landscaping design books and photograph the pictures you like (use that camera-phone creatively).
• Drive through neighborhoods and take photographs of yards you like, or a particular way an area has been designed.
• Buy gardening books and read the chapters on what concerns you.

3. Continuity Of Design

The landscaping of  your home does not exist in a vacuum, it should be the exterior  extension of your home. The landscaping designs that are most successful are those that effectively blend the materials, styles and colors of your home with the out-of-doors. Therefore a successful design is not just about the selection of plants and their placement and the purchase of patio furniture, it should incorporate paths, driveways, walkways, walls, columns and, of course, the view.

4. Scale

The size of one object in relations to another is what scape is all about. I often see property owners that are afraid of selecting accents like bird baths, sculptures and garden statues that are relative in size to the size of the yard. Typically, most homeowners select a smaller size than what is actually needed. Remember, the scale of an object or objects should be relative in size to the objects around them.

5. Plant Selection

This is the very heart of good landscape design because if the plants you select don’t survive and flourish,  not only have you wasted a great deal of time and effort, you have also wasted a good deal of money. Therefore, before deciding on whether to plant roses or gardenias, you need to be clear about a number of things:

• how much sun does your property get
• what kind of tress are on your property
• what is the PH balance of the soil
• do you have tillable soil or is there too much clay or sand (see my newsletter, Soil Isn’t Sexy But It Is Essential.

All of these elements need to be evaluated in order to determine the kind of plant material that is appropriate for your environment. Once you have all this information at hand you can begin the process of designing your garden.

Need Help?

Should you want help in this process, in addition to designing landscapes I also consult with those folks to want to do it themselves.  If you’re interested in setting up a consultation, email me or give me a call at 323-788-3831.