Sanhedrin Nursery – Garden Blog

• Pansies will brighten your flower beds with their happy faces. They will bloom all through the spring.

• Plant seeds of broccoli, cabbage, lettuce and other spring vegetables now.

• Many fine varieties of flowering dogwoods, tulip magnolias, Japanese maples and other specimen plants are now available at nurseries for winter planting.

• Blueberries are a delicious fruit that can be planted now from young plants. Give them a rich, acid bed prepared with lots of peat moss.

• Roses should be pruned in February near the end of the dormant season. You can clean them up now, however, by removing all the old leaves on and around the plants.

Pollination Is Essential In the Home Orchard

The job of a fruit tree is to make seeds which will make more trees. The fruit is merely part of the package, from the tree’s perspective. But seed development requires pollination which can be done either by wind or insects. The pollination required by most fruit trees is performed by bees, wasps and hover flies.

For a successful home orchard, it is important to be aware of the pollination requirements of the trees you plant. Some trees are called self-fruitful. This means that their blossoms can be fertilized by pollen from another flower on the same tree. They will produce fruit even if they are far from any other tree of their kind. Most peaches, apricots, sour cherries and some apples, pears and plums are self-fruitful.

Partially self-fruitful trees will produce a crop on their own, but they will produce a larger crop, up to twice as many fruit, if cross-pollinated. Many apples and pears are partially self-fruitful.

Some fruit trees only set fruit when they receive pollen from another variety. Their own pollen is defective or sterile. Most sweet cherries, some apples and plums and a few peaches fall into this group. For example, if you plant a Bing Cherry, you must also plant a Van or a Black Tartarian or another pollenating cherry tree nearby.

For trees to cross-pollinate, they must bloom at the same time. Blooming time does not necessarily correspond to fruiting time. A late apple can bloom early, so check to be sure you are planting the correct varieties together.

A fruit tree that needs a pollenizer needs it close by. Trees should be planted within 50 feet of each other. This is because the bees that carry the pollen must visit both trees on the same trip. To protect those bees, do not spray pesticides while trees are in bloom.

To ensure good pollination, either plant the trees fairly close together, or plant a combination tree with several varieties grafted onto the same tree. You can also graft a branch of a variety with fertile pollen onto a tree that needs pollination. Crabapple trees often make excellent pollenizers for regular apple trees.

Even if you have compatible trees in place, other factors can interfere with pollination. One of the most frustrating foes of pollination is the weather. Flower buds can be injured by spring frosts or heavy rains. The more developed the bud, the more sensitive it is to injury. Fortunately, not every flower bud on the tree needs to survive to have a good crop. But each incident of frost further decreases the fruiting potential.

When you plan your orchard or decide to add a new tree to it, be sure to check on pollination requirements so you’ll be able to enjoy fruit and not just blossoms a few years from now.

• Bare root fruit trees are now available. Choose one tree or a whole orchard and get them planted while the weather is good for digging.

• Strawberries can be planted any time now. Get them in early, and you’ll be picking strawberries this summer.

• Primroses will give you the most color during this cold weather. Choose some pretty ones now for your boxes and beds.

• Prune fruit trees, grapes, berries, and ornamental trees this month. Take in a pruning class and sharpen your shears before you start.

• Spring flowers and vegetables can be started from seeds now on your window sill. Try pansies and snapdragons, broccoli, cabbage and lettuces.

Mouthwatering Cherries

Cherries are without a doubt one of the most popular summer fruits. It seems like you never get enough of them, and the prices in the stores are so high, why not try growing your own?

There are two types of cherries, sweet ones and sour ones. The sweet ones are found in the markets. Most popular are the large, black, juicy, sweet Bing cherries with top quality flavor and appearance. They account for 60-70% of the cherries grown in California. Van is similar to Bing and is good fresh, cooked, canned or frozen. Black Tartarian has very large heart-shaped fruit and rich, red juicy flesh.

Less known is Lapins Cherry, a dark red cherry with good sweet flavor. It is the latest sweet cherry to ripen, extending the cherry season into mid-July. Utah Giant, considered the best sweet cherry by Utah folks, is large and firm with outstanding flavor. Dark red and sweet, it has good disease resistance.

Stella has large, richly flavored sweet cherries that are nearly black in color. This is an excellent cherry for eating fresh with sweet, juicy flesh.

Craig’s Crimson is a very fine sweet cherry. It is dark red, with a wonderful spicy flavor and very firm texture. It rates very high in taste tests. The tree is naturally semi-dwarf, growing about 2/3 the size of a standard tree.

Then there are the yellow sweet cherries. Best know is Royal Ann, used mainly for canning and to make Maraschino Cherries. But Royal Rainier has replaced Royal Ann as the best yellow cherry for California. It has a very sweet flavor and is large, firm and juicy and its yellow skin has an attractive red blush. It is delicious for out-of-hand eating as well.

The sour cherries aren’t as bad as they sound. In fact they are famous for making outstanding pies and cobblers. Montmorency is the most widely grown with large, light red fruit which have yellow flesh.

Correct pollination is important for cherries. Most sweet cherries require two different trees for cross-pollination. However, Stella, Lapins, and Craig’s Crimson will fruit on their own. Not all sweet cherries will cross pollinate, so check with your nursery to be sure you buy varieties which are compatible. For best pollination, trees should be planted within 50 feet of each other. Sour cherries are self-fruitful and will set fruit alone.

Sweet cherries become large trees, about 30 feet tall. With pruning you can keep them smaller, so it’s easier to pick the fruit and to cover the tree to keep the birds away. Sour cherries grow only 20 feet tall and are more spreading in form.

Cherries require good soil drainage especially through the spring rainy season. They bloom late and usually escape the frost so you get a nice crop most years. Make room for cherries in your yard!

• Living Christmas trees make a fine tradition. Slow-growing Colorado spruce trees can be used for 3 to 5 years before they need to be planted. Water them every other day while indoors.

• Spray for peach leaf curl with copper sulfate. Peach and nectarine trees may suffer from this fungus disease without a protective spray.

• Wind chimes make wonderful gifts that fill the air with music whenever the wind blows.

• Water living Christmas trees frequently while they are indoors, and put them outside after a week or ten days.

Make this Christmas One for the Birds

Watching birds feeding, bathing and playing in your backyard is a joy for almost anyone. The birds are beautiful, of course, but their visits serve an important purpose, reducing plant damage from insect pests. Birds are a welcome addition to the garden.

You can attract birds to your yard with bird feeders, bird houses and bird baths.

There are different types of bird feeders. The best all-around type is the cylindrical plastic feeder. Fill them with a good birdseed mix and they will attract a wide variety of birds, including nuthatches, chickadees, juncos, rufous-sided towhees and sparrows.

Window feeders allow you to watch the birds close-up from inside the house. They stick to the window with suction cups. They are especially nice during bad weather so you can still enjoy the company of your feathered friends.

Niger seed feeders, or thistle feeders, are tubular plastic feeders with very small holes for thistle seed. They are especially popular with goldfinches who will entertain you all day long as they squabble over the perches.

The feeding table attracts larger birds that like to dine together. Robins, finches and evening grosbeaks will gather happily at backyard feeding tables.

Hummingbird feeders are filled with sugar solutions that supplement their diet of flower nectar. Anna’s Hummingbird winters in this area so will come to feeders year-round.

Oriole feeders are bright orange and attract brilliant orange-yellow orioles to the garden, where you can enjoy their distinctive whistle along with their colorful plumage.

Birdbaths will attract birds throughout they year, both to drink and to bathe. Watching the activity at the birdbath can be very entertaining, and there are styles of birdbaths to go with any garden decor.

Birdbaths made out of concrete are very stable and make an attractive addition to the garden as well as providing water for the birds. Hanging birdbaths may work best in some locations. Site your birdbath near trees or bushes where the birds can retreat to dry off and preen in safety.

In addition to food and water, birds need a safe place to raise their young. Nesting boxes, or “bird houses”, will encourage the birds that visit you in the winter to stay. The size and type of the nest box and its entrance will determine which birds use it, because different species are attracted to boxes of different dimensions. Specialty boxes are available at stores which handle bird supplies.

Make this Holiday one “for the birds.”