In the Garden with Pat Rubin

Bee garden writer Pat Rubin writes about everything that grows, from flowers and trees to vegetables and lawns. Pat volunteered for several years as a Placer County Master Gardener and has written about gardening for many national and regional publications. In addition to gardening, she spends time raising and showing miniature horses and miniature donkeys.

In the Garden will include news, events, advice and other gardening tidbits. Pat will also answer reader questions.

• Ask a question

« March 2008 | In the Garden front page | May 2008 »

April 30, 2008

Worm composting update

My vermicomposting project is doing well. I’m using a worm bin called Can-O-Worms, which is a series of three trays that sit on top of a fourth tray. The top three trays are where the worms live and eat. The bottom one is designed to catch excess water so the worms don’t drown.

When tray 1, which is the lowest tray, gets filled up, you add tray two. As the worms finish with tray one they migrate to tray two, then eventually to tray three. At that point tray one will be full of compost and need to be emptied into the garden. It then becomes the top tray.

My worms are in tray two, and it’s about half full. I feed them decomposing kitchen scraps, wetted cardboard and paper, coffee grounds and tea bags. The instructions say you can even feed them the dust and lint from vacuum cleaner bags. I haven’t tried that.

I’ve been pleasantly surprised at how easy it’s been. I check them every few days, make sure they get food once or twice a week, and that’s it.

I have to admit, though, the bin is still in the kitchen. It’s unobtrusive and there’s no odor. I put it in the garage for a while, but I find when it’s where I see it every day, I pay attention to it. Plus the temperature is milder in the house than outside. I worry about them getting too hot in the summer, even in the garage or in a protected spot outside. That's probably silly, but, oh well.

Posted by Pat Rubin at 01:20 PM | Comments

April 29, 2008

Plants the deer don't eat

Q: What is good deer resistant groundcover? We live at 2000 feet, occasionally get snow, and am looking for something easy to maintain, pleasant to look at. Flowers are OK. One side of the house is sunny, the other shady.
Tony and Jo Ann Creel, Placerville

A: I have great appreciation for the perseverance, frustration and patience gardeners in deer country must have to keep gardening. It wasn’t until I moved from rural Auburn to more rural Meadow Vista that I appreciated a deer’s insatiable and varied appetite.

They seem to eat everything. But they don’t. In fact, I’ve been pleasantly surprised at what they don’t eat.

Here are a few suggestions gleaned from “Deer in My Garden, Volume 2: Groundcovers and Edges” (Garden Wisdom Press, 2008, 210 pages, $19.95) by Carolyn Singer who has gardened among the deer in the Grass Valley area for many years.

Achillea: Also called yarrow, it comes in many sizes, from a tight ground-hugging mat to a 30-inch tall clump. Drought tolerant, sun-loving, the taller varieties needs some clean-up each year.

Ajuga: One of my favorites for covering lots of ground. it has gorgeous green/purple foliage, and in late spring sends up spires of blue flowers. It tolerates lots of conditions, prefers sun, likes regular (weekly) water.

Creeping manzanita (Arctostaphylos uva-ursi): This one can spread ten feet wide, but usually stays around a foot tall. Can grow in full or part sun, isn’t picky about soil, doesn’t need a lot of water once established. The leaves are a pretty gray-green, stems have a reddish tinge.

Artemesia: If you’re looking for something a bit more on the shrubby side, and love silver, this is your plant. ‘Powis Castle’ makes a great groundcover, rooting as it goes. It gets a bit bedraggled in the winter time, responds well to being cut back, and is a tough plant.

Cotoneaster: Singer says C. apiculatus ‘Tom Thumb’ is reliably deer resistant. It makes a mound less that six inches high and spreads to about two feet. Leaves are dark green. It gets small white flowers in summer. Leaves turn red and gold in the fall and when they’re gone, the plant has tiny red berries.

Erigeron: Also called Santa Barbara daisy, it makes a mounding groundcover covered most of the season with tiny white flowers. Singer calls it a great edging plant, though it goes dormant in winter.

Lamium: Easily available in green or silver leaved varieties, lamium is a groundcover for shady areas. It likes good soil, regular water. Beautiful year round.

Creeping Jenny (Lysimachia nummularia): A stunning groundcover with rounded, yellow-green leaves. Sends out trailing stems that grow almost flat to the ground. Prefers part shade.

Creeping Oregon grape (Mahonia repens): A shrubby groundcover, it can grow to three feet high. Glossy green leaves, bright yellow flowers in spring. Spreads by runners.

Rosemary: Trailing stems of needle-like dark green leaves, blue flowers all summer, rosemary makes a great groundcover you can almost ignore completely once established.

Lambs ears (Stachys byzantina): Soft, fuzzy silvery gray leaves. Spreads by underground stolons, can be a pest, but what a beautiful one.

Thyme: Check your local nursery for the many varieties of thymes. There are green, silver and yellow leaved varieties. Most creep and crawl along the ground, some hugging the ground tightly,others growing to three or four inches high. The taller sorts can be sheared back like a lawn, and they’ll respond with beautiful new growth.

Posted by Pat Rubin at 03:15 PM | Comments

April 28, 2008

It's not too late to start a vegetable garden

Q: Is it too late in the year to start vegetables? The only vegetables we have ever grown were tomatoes, but your grid garden has got us excited about the possibilities.
Matt Shadle

A: No, it isn't too late at all. In fact, now is the best time to plant because the weather is dependbly warm. Summer vegetables like tomatoes, cucumbers, beans and squash love warm soil and warm days. Those of us who planted our gardens earlier in April have watched them just sit there and not do much growing. In fact, we risked losing tender plants like basil to frost.

Bottom line: get planting.

Read more about our square foot gardening method in The Sacramento Bee.

Posted by Pat Rubin at 01:09 PM | Comments

Spittlebug season

It’s spittlebug season.

You’ve seen them. They look like masses of foamy spit against the stems of plants. In my garden, they seem to love the yarrow, the asters, the mint and the roses. Whenever I see them, I wash them away, and after a few days, that seems to discourage them enough that they don’t come back. Look when you wash the spittle away, and you'll see a soft looking, little greenish-brown insect, only about ¼ inch long, hiding inside. That’s the spittlebug nymph, and, like the spittlebug adult, it sucks plant sap. A large infestation can weaken plants.

According to “Insect, Disease & Weed I.D. Guide” by Jill Cebenko and Deborah Martin, (Rodale Press, 2001, 308 pages), they’re also called froghoppers. Adults are brown or green, oval shaped, with a blunt frog-like head. Nymphs are wingless. They feed inside the frothy bubbles for as long as seven weeks, then molt to the adult stage. The adults lay their eggs in August and September, and the eggs overwinter until the following spring when the cycle starts again.

Cleaning up debris each fall - cutting away the herbaceous plants, cleaning up old mulch, raking leaves, and hauling away or composting the remains - will help cut down the number of overwintering spittlebugs.

Posted by Pat Rubin at 11:51 AM | Comments

April 25, 2008

Drat those gnats

Q: I have gnats in one of my houseplants. Any suggestions on how to get rid
of them?
Phyllis Percival, Sacramento

A: They’re more of a nuisance than they are destructive to the plants, but I agree, the gnats need to go. I’ve had them in house plants, too.

Called fungus gnats, they aren’t directly harmful to plants, says Seth Taylor, sales manager for Capital Nursery on Freeport Boulevard in Sacramento. “They’ll lay eggs in the soil, and the larva feed on decomposing matter in the soil and on some of the plant’s root hairs. They aren’t harmful to the plants unless you have a large infestation or a really sensitive plant.”
The gnats we see flying around live only a few weeks, but the larvae can live for two or three months in the soil.

Fungus gnats show up when we water too much. They’re attracted to the moisture, Taylor says.

“To control the gnats, let the surface of the soil dry out between waterings, and they’ll start to disappear,” Taylor says. Adding a layer of sand to the soil surface can also help, he says, since it dries out so quickly. Next, make sure the plants don’t sit in saucers of water. He suggests using sticky whitefly traps placed near the plants to attract the gnats.

Chemical controls are available. Bonide Systemic Houseplant Insect Killer, which sells for about $6, is a granule that kills fungus gnat larvae.
For an organic approach, you can use beneficial nematodes, which are microscopic organisms that can control fungus gnat larvae.

The nematodes are available in a sponge-type product that costs about $17.
“It’s a sponge impregnated with the nematodes,” Taylor says. “You put it in water and the nematodes are released into the water and then you water the plants with it. A little goes a long way.”

Bottom line, however, is to cut back on the water. Not only does overwatering attract fungus gnats, it will eventually kill the plant.

Posted by Pat Rubin at 12:16 PM | Comments

April 24, 2008

Growing great guns

The Bee garden is just a few weeks old, and already it’s changed
considerably. It doesn’t look anything like its early pictures. The
cucumber seeds have sprouted. The arugula has grown six inches. The
romaine seedlings are now a few inches high. The radishes are ready to
pick. Ditto the red and green lettuce. In fact, the lettuce has filled its
square.

Amazing.

Also, there have been a few minor problems. The recent cold weather
damaged the cucumber seedlings just a bit. It looks like only the seedling
leaves were damaged and the plants will grow out of it and be fine. The
tomatoes, eggplant and pepper plants made it through the cold unscathed,
but haven’t grown much yet. I suspect the chilly weather is to blame.

Still, I’m ready to harvest the radishes and plant something else. I’m
thinking of either red romaine lettuce or peppers. I have several heirloom
varieties of peppers still to put someplace in the garden.

So far the square foot gardening method has been easy. It’s been fun. The
checkerboard of plants looks beautiful.

Posted by kmckenna at 04:08 PM | Comments

April 18, 2008

Check out our online interactive raised bed garden

www.sacbee.com/hg

Posted by Pat Rubin at 12:50 PM | Comments

April 16, 2008

The cucumbers have sprouted

It didn't take long with the nice weather we had for the cucumber seeds to sprout in The Bee Garden.

I planted them April 7, and on April 14 there they were peeking their cotyledons out of the soil.

I planted more than I needed, of course. I'll gradually thin the clump to one seedling. I'll see which one is the toughest, biggest, most promising.

Posted by Pat Rubin at 03:58 PM | Comments

April 14, 2008

First harvest

The Bee’s Square Foot Garden is already producing cool weather crops.

Radishes are ready, as well as red and green lettuce, arugula and endive. I couldn't resist adding a few marigold flowers for a festive touch for this photograph.

When I started picking lettuce leaves it didn’t seem like much at first. Then suddenly I realized I had enough for salad for two.

Amazing.

Posted by Pat Rubin at 03:17 PM | Comments

No broccoli now

Q: I planted 6 broccoli plants in October and they have each grown a leaf or two, and no broccoli crowns have appeared. The tag said they would mature in 60 days, which would have been around Christmas time, but they certainly didn't do that. Should I continue to wait for them to grow or pull them out?
Sue Gilson, Roseville

A: I doubt you’re going to get any broccoli now. Most likely the plants will send up flower stalks, which means as far as they are concerned the season is over and it’s time to make seed for the next one.

Broccoli should be planted in August or September. October is just too late.
Pull them out, and try again this August.

Posted by Pat Rubin at 03:11 PM | Comments

April 11, 2008

Looking for inspiration

Q: I am finally able to rid my front yard of a thirsty lawn and wanted some
ideas for plants, shrubs and flowers that are California natives, have low water
needs, are compact for a suburban front yard and may also attract
butterflies for our young son to enjoy seeing (I am hoping he'll love
gardening someday). Do you have suggestions or resource ideas?
Karen Goldstein

A: There’s nothing like visiting gardens filled with the sort of plants you love and desire for inspiration, so I suggest taking a few field trips to some stunning local gardens that are open to the public.

WPA Rock Garden: An acre or more of California natives, Mediterranean-climate plants and succulents. Paths lead you through the garden. Located in Sacramento's William Land Park across the parking lot from Fairy Tale Town.

Ruth Risdon Storer Garden/Mary Wattis Brown Native Plant Garden: Both part of the UC Davis Arboretum. The Storer Garden highlights valley-friendly plants designed to give color or interest year around and many attract birds and butterflies, while the native plant garden restricts plantings to California natives, many of them wonderful garden plants.

Water Efficient Landscape Garden: Features deer resistant, fire-safe, low maintenance, low water use perennials, shrubs, etc. 9935 Auburn Folsom Rd., Granite Bay

Hamilton Square Perennial Garden, Old City Cemetery: A delightful perennial garden full of color in the heart of the Old City Cemetery. Plants chosen for their ability to stand up to our summers, provide color, attract beneficial insects, butterflies. 1000 Broadway, Sacramento.

Fair Oaks Horticulture Center: A stunning garden that integrates low-water use plants, plus a demonstration vegetable garden and home orchard. A great example of what you can create in limited space. Located at Fair Oaks Park, 8100 Temple Park Drive, Fair Oaks.

Posted by Pat Rubin at 10:00 AM | Comments

April 09, 2008

Flowers & veggies mix it up in the garden

I can’t resist planting flowers - mostly marigolds - in the vegetable garden. To me, it wouldn’t be a vegetable garden without flowers, including marigolds, pansies, petunias, asters, zinnias and, of course, masses of sunflowers.

I started planting flowers in the vegetable garden after the earwigs ate the marigolds that I’d planted in the flower bed. Overnight they’d turn them into ragged skeletons. It was ugly. So I started putting the marigolds among the tomatoes, then next to the eggplant, alongside the peppers or as a edging along the raised beds. Then a few cosmos sneaked into the garden, followed by asters, zinnias...you get the picture.

I’m told the flowers can attract beneficial insects or act as trap plants for the bad guys. Doesn’t matter to me. I just think they’re pretty and they make the garden a fun place to be. I can gather produce for the evening’s salad and pick flowers for the table at the same time.

Posted by Pat Rubin at 11:04 AM | Comments

April 08, 2008

Those bloomin' chives

My chives are blooming.

I’m not sure whether it’s good for production or bad since none of the vegetable gardening books I checked addressed this situation, but the lilac-purple flowers are certainly attractive. They give the vegetable garden a cheerful look. I like to think of the flowers as a bit of decoration.

Blooming and going to seed is Mother Nature’s way of ensuring more chives live to grow and bloom another day. But you can also divide chives to spread them around the garden or to share them with friends and neighbors.

I’ve been cutting the flower stems away at ground level and putting them in a vase, but I’ll likely let a few go to seed so I can plant chives in other parts of the garden.

Posted by Pat Rubin at 11:02 AM | Comments

Don't pull out those seedlings

Radishes, lettuce, carrots, basil, even tomato seeds usually get planted too closely together and gardeners have the reluctant task of thinning them.

It’s hard to discard those extra seedlings, but if you don’t, you’ll get a cluster of leggy, poorly producing tomato vines, or radishes packed so close together they don’t have room to spread out.

So thin you must.

But instead of pulling the extra seedlings out of the ground - and disturbing the roots of the ones left behind - snip them off at ground level instead. That way you won’t also be tempted to plant those extra seedlings.

When I sow basil, for example, I plant five or six seeds to insure good gemination. As the seedlings grow I snip away the weaker ones. At first I'll snip one or two away, then give the remaining plants a few days to keep growing. Then I'll snip a couple more of the smaller, weaker ones away until I have one stout, healthy growing plant left.

Posted by Pat Rubin at 10:53 AM | Comments

April 04, 2008

Did you know......

In 2006, 81 million U.S. households participated in lawn and garden activities.

Each year U.S. homeowners use about one million tons of fertilizer.

The average DIY homeowner apples fertilizer to the lawn 1.6 times a year.

The millions of acres of lawns in the U.S. absorb 5% of the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, and collect about 12 million tons of dust, dirt, and smoke, which is trapped partly by the leaves and absorbed into the soil.

About 39% of gardeners use only conventional products; 5% use organic products only; 35% use a combination of both.

Homeowners are expected to spend $9.1 billion in packaged lawn and garden consumables in 2010.

Source: Scotts Miracle-Gro Company

Posted by Pat Rubin at 01:02 PM | Comments

April 03, 2008

Finches eat sunflower leaves

I LOVE sunflowers as they are great cut flowers and so pretty. However the finches just eat the foliage to a skeleton. It’s awful. Is there any remedy that you know of?
Bernie Kringel, Alta Sierra

The finches eat the leaves of my sunflowers each year, too. I’ve watched them nibbling happily away at the leaves until they reduce them to mere skeletons. I don’t know of any deterrents, and while I’d love to prevent them from decimating my sunflower leaves, I also don’t want to do anything to harm the birds.

Readers, do you have any suggestions? Send your answers to h&g@sacbee.com.

Posted by Pat Rubin at 03:09 PM | Comments

April 02, 2008

Spring means flowers...and baby raccoons

Spring means daffodils and lilacs, trees leafing out, lambs and wildlife babies. Chances are you might stumble upon a baby rabbit or squirrel or even a baby bird that might have fallen out of its nest.

What do you do?

In a recent press release, Laura Simon, field director of urban wildlife for the Humane Society of the United States offers these tips:

Baby squirrels: If they fall out of a tree you’re cutting down, stop cutting, and leave the baby for the mother to retrieve. If the other doesn’t come back for her baby by nightfall, call a wildlife rehabilitator.

Fawns: It’s normal for does to leave their fawns alone for long periods, Simon says. Fawns have no scent, so don’t attract predators like the mother deer. If the fawn is wandering around and bleating, or if you find the mother dead, call a wildlife rehabilitator.

Baby rabbits: Like deer, Simon says, they’re often left alone during the day. Only call a wildlife rehabilitator if the animal is injured or ill.

Baby raccoons: Simon says raccoon cubs are rarely left alone, so if you find baby raccoons alone for more than a few hours, something may have happened to the mother. Call a wildlife rehabilitator.

Baby birds: “It is a myth that if a baby bird is touched by humans, the parents will reject it. The reality is that birds have strong maternal instincts and the best thing to do if you find a fallen chick is to put it gently back in its nest,” Simon says in the press release. Fledgling birds, those learning to fly, often have parents nearby watching over them.

In Sacramento County, call the Sacramento Wildlife Care Association at (916) 965-9453 (WILD). If you live in a different area, they can direct you to the proper contact person.

Posted by Pat Rubin at 12:33 PM | Comments

April 01, 2008

Leggy seedlings

I have to admit that, despite my best advice and knowing better, I have leggy seedlings.

The zinnias and cosmos are stringy. The lettuce seedlings are floppy. The tomatoes are a bit tall, but remain strong.

I've tried my best to get them outside for some sunshine and fresh air whenever the weather is cooperative. Trouble is, I'm at work all day, and don't want to risk moving them outdoors too soon or for too long, or risking the weather turning chilly while I'm gone. So the only time I have to harden off my seedlings is weekends and evenings (thanks to daylight savings time).

Still, I think all will be OK. I've been rubbing my hand across the tops of the seedlings several times each evening to help them develop strong stems, and it's working. I put them outside on the sunny deck whenever I'm around to watch them, and I'm sure they'll eventually make their way into the garden and grow into fine, healthy and tasty vegetable plants.

I'm counting on it.

Posted by Pat Rubin at 12:01 PM | Comments

"Heeling in" buys time

Q: I purchased several varieties of strawberry plant roots, but haven't been able to plant them yet because I've yet to construct a suitable planter bed to hold them. How long can I get away with waiting to plant until these things die on me? I've had them for about three weeks.
Bill Bird, Sacramento

A: Whether it’s strawberry plants, a fruit tree, asparagus crowns or a variety of other plants, we’ve all been guilty of buying something at the nursery we had to have now, and then gotten home in time to realize we didn’t have a place or the time to plant it. Sometimes, if the item is a bare root fruit tree or rose, time is of the essence, and something needs to be done as soon as possible to get those roots into the soil before the plant dies.

The answer is heeling in. That simply means putting the plant in the garden and covering the roots with soil temporarily. You don’t have to actually plant the plants, but rather, lay them in the garden and cover the roots with a bit of soil.

If the strawberry plants you bought are packed in sawdust or peat, leave them. Take them out of the plastic bag, however, so the roots and packing material can breathe and not get moldy. Keep the roots moist but not wet. If you've done this all along, they'll be fine.

Check the roots. Are they soft and pliable. Do they break when you bend them? Are they dried up?

My advice is get them in the ground soon, or even a pot where they can grow until you decide where you want them.

Posted by Pat Rubin at 11:56 AM | Comments

---

Ask a question

Please use the form below to submit your question. Because there is a 100-word limit for questions, a word counter is located directly beneath the box where you enter the your question.

Name:

City:  State:

E-mail:

Garden question:

Your letter contains of 100 words allowed.  Count words


Your IP Address has been recorded as 38.103.63.17 and will be included with this submission.

---