UC Master Gardener Terry Lewis released a set of gardening recommendations for the week of April 10 to 16, offering advice on seasonal tasks and plant care.
The guidance aims to help gardeners maintain healthy plants during the spring season. Lewis encourages residents to celebrate spring by sharing baskets of flowers or vegetables and provides a checklist for garden upkeep.
Lewis suggests pulling weeds regularly, checking irrigation systems after mulching, and using water streams to remove aphids from rose bushes. Pruning advice includes removing dead branches from shrubs, deadheading roses, thinning fruit on certain trees, and utilizing trimmings as compost or mulch. For fertilizing, Lewis recommends feeding bedding plants with high-phosphorus fertilizer and following directions when fertilizing citrus.
Planting tips cover summer vegetables at two-week intervals and highlight suitable perennials such as million bells and lily-of-the-nile. Recommended bulbs include fortnight lily, while suggested fruits are cantaloupe and chayote. Trees like bougainvillea are also mentioned alongside annuals such as verbena. Gardeners are reminded to enjoy current blooms including bachelor’s button and California poppy, with edible harvests like cherries and cucumbers also noted.
Additional advice includes watering hillsides from above the slope with emitters and monitoring for slugs or snails in the garden. The article was prepared using information adapted from “A Gardener’s Companion for the Central San Joaquin Valley” by UC Master Gardener Terry Lewis.
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