| Well the first weekend of fall did not really feel like it but after the nice soaking rain we just had and the cooler temperatures, it feels like fall. This is a great time of year and as we always tell our customers it is the best time to plant. Trees and shrubs get established without the heat but before the cold and are set to put out new growth in the spring with well established roots that will take them through their first summer without the stress from the heat that a plant with a less established root has.
Trees are starting to show fall color now with the cool nights so you can see what color you will be getting when you buy your trees. Â The selection is good and the colors will be beautiful over the next few weeks.
Fall is also the time to plant bulbs for spring color. Tulips and daffodils are available now and we have them on sale at 20% off for the month of October. Daffodils are deer resistant and gopher resistant and will naturalize in this area. When planting them use a bulb food or phosphorous in the bottom of the hole to encourage the root development. Tulips are also available for planting now. However you do need to protect them from gophers. Line the whole with a gopher basket or wire to protect them or the gophers will eat them. We are having a bulb planting clinic on Saturday October 8th at 10 am.
If you have fruit that has fallen off your fruit trees that you were not able to use be sure to clean it up regularly. Fallen fruit and leaves should be cleaned up from under your fruit trees so they don’t give a place for fungus to grow. And don’t forget to plan for dormant spraying of your fruit trees. The three date to remember are Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Valentines day. Lime sulfer spray is no longer available so the spray to use for dormant spray is copper spray. We mix a dormant oil such as Saf-T-Side with the copper spray. We get better results than spraying the copper by itself because it helps it to cling to the tree rather than running off. It also helps to kill overwintering insects. Remember to spray three times during the dormant season to avoid leaf curl.
If you have not done fall fertilizing, now is the time to get it done. The weather is cool and you want to get it done before plants go dormant. If the plants go dormant, then they do not utilize the fertilizer. This fertilizing is important since it helps with vigor going into the winter and gives them food to store for next spring that they will use when they first come out of dormancy.
Plant your winter vegetables now. Get this done soon so they can get established before the weather gets cold. We have them available now. If you were not able to attend the winter vegetable gardening clinic, ask for the handout when you come to get your vegetables. Lots of good information in it.
We will be getting our berries and artichokes and asparagus in November. Our bare root fruit trees will be available in January. We have the list of fruit trees and berries that we will carry available now. I am attaching a copy to this email but sometimes the attachment does not open. If that happens let me know and I can send you one via email.
One final note. We love to here feedback from our customers. Let us know how we are doing. Ideas, suggestions, clinics you would like to see, anything you would like to say. We like to here from our customers on how we are doing or for anything else.
We hope to see you soon for all your fall planting and gardening needs. |
