Newsletter & Tips

Bare root season continues through February. The selection of bare root fruit trees and roses is still very good. The rain this year has been spaced out fairly and the weather has stayed cool to keep the trees dormant so it is an excellent time to plant bare root fruit trees. At the end of the month we pot up what has not been sold bare root and then the price goes up. Take advantage of bare root prices and selection and get your fruit trees in now. Final Dormant Spraying is Due This Month The third and final dormant spraying to prevent leaf curl is due this month. Don’t delay. Get it done before the trees bloom. I spray all the deciduous trees in the orchard. It prevents leaf curl and also helps to prevent fireblight on pears and apples, although not completely, and greatly reduces the aphid and insect problems on all the trees. The third and final spraying is the most important one. You should have done two applications already and the final one should be done before flowers come out. We will be spraying the nursery orchard for the final time this week. In between the …

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Fall has been taking a while to get here this year but lately the nights are nice and cool and the days very comfortable. It is the best planting time of the seasons. Fall is the ideal time for planting trees and shrubs as you can see in the diagram above. Take advantage of the beautiful weather we are having and get fall planting done now. Your fall installed plants will do much better next spring and summer than those planted in the spring. This is also the time to plant fall bulbs for spring bloom. Plant wildflower seeds this month as well when the rains start coming regularly. Dormant Spray on Fruit Trees This month you will need to be thinking about spraying your first dormant spray on your fruit trees to prevent leaf curl. Use liquid copper and horticultural oil to spray the trees when they are dormant. Looking at the orchard here at the nursery, it looks like about 3 weeks or so and they will need their first spraying. Once the trees have lost their leaves, is when you want to do your first application. You will do two more applications after for a total of …

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The weather has cooled off significantly since July and early August. The end of August felt like fall and next week by the forecast will be very much Fall weather. FALL IS THE BEST TIME FOR PLANTING. We have an excellent selection for fall planting and if we don’t have it in stock we can get it usually within a week. Fall fertilizing should be done this month. Use a balanced fertilizer for most of your trees and shrubs. We carry 15-15-15 in 50 pound bags and organic all purpose fertilizer in 6#, 25# and 50# bags. If you have only a few plants, we also have it in 1# boxes. Be sure to fertilize your deciduous plants and perennials before they show signs of dormancy. With the cooler weather coming, trees and perennials will start to go into dormancy probably later in the month or early October. Weather depending. Fertilize citrus now, then let them go through the winter without feeding but do protect them if there is freezing weather in the winter. Use a citrus fertilizer on your citrus trees. Give roses fertilizer now and enjoy some more blooms before the winter. This should be the last feeding …

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August is a good time to start planning for the fall planting and if it is not too warm you can get a jump on the fall planting season. Looks like we will be cooler for a couple of weeks starting next week. Well, cooler than the summer has been so far. Remember that fall is the best time for planting trees and shrubs. Especially trees. I know the ground is hard after the summer but if you start a hole and soak it and then dig a little more and soak it, pretty soon the hole you need for the tree or shrub is done and it is a fairly painless way to dig a hole. Watering and Mulching Continue to water established plants deeply for the balance of the summer and into fall. Check the mulch you added at the beginning of the summer, and if it is getting thin, add more to keep the moisture you are applying in the ground. Fall Planting We have a very large selection of trees and shrubs for fall planting in stock as always. If you want to get a jump start and plant now, just be sure to keep the …

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June has been very nice so far as well as the rest of this spring. Only a few hot days but mostly cool and nice spring weather. Summer will be here though so it’s good to plan for it with respect to your gardening. WATERING Watering becomes much more important to make sure it is done well as the weather warms up as we are going into the summer. When watering trees, be sure to give established trees a deep soak once or twice a week depending on temperatures. Newly planted trees should be watered daily for the first week or so then cut back to about two or three times per week. Do not give short daily watering. Give good deep soaks. A good rule to use is to give 10 gallons of water per week for every inch of trunk diameter and be sure to soak to a depth of at least 12 inches. On larger trees you’ll want to soak to a depth of 2 to 3 feet. Use slow drip and let it run long enough to soak deep. Add 3″ of mulch around your trees and shrubs to hold the moisture in the ground and …

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After a dry February, March was pretty wet and as I write, we are getting rain that the predictions say will be 2 to 3 inches here. I just checked the rain gauge and it is at 2″ and it’s supposed to rain most of the night and into tomorrow so I guess the predictions are right. The late season moisture is keeping things green and the ground soft and making for excellent gardening weather as soon as the rain stops. My long range forecast for the next 15 days shows one day at 75 degrees and everything else is upper 60’s and low 70’s. Perfect weather for planting and enjoying. Dogwoods are blooming now here at the nursery and lots of color on so much stuff and the flush of new growth on the Japanese Maples makes it so beautiful here. Many things are needing to be done in the landscape during April. Rhododendrons should have the flower trusses that are spent snapped off at the base as soon as they fade. Don’t wait until all the flowers have finished blooming to remove them because the plant will expend energy making seeds that would be better used to add …

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Lots of things going on in December. Our roses are all in and are now selling. The bare root fruit trees will be in next week. I will let you know when the fruit trees are in and ready. Complete lists of fruit trees and roses are available at the nursery, or request one and I can send it to you via email. If you are wanting bare root fruit trees, don’t delay when they arrive. We have already pre- sold lots of fruit trees. We usually don’t re-order unless it is a substantial quantity and depending on availability. So when things are gone, they are likely gone for the year. Also, we cannot hold any items without payment. Dormant Spraying Fruit trees should have lost their leaves by now. Your first dormant spraying should have been done a couple of weeks ago. If you have not done it, you should get your first dormant spraying done. Use copper mixed with horticultural oil or neem oil and spray the entire tree. Spray all of your deciduous fruit trees. Even if leaf curl is not an issue, it will help to prevent other diseases and to kill overwintering insects. Be sure …

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