Anderson s La Costa Nursery 400 La Costa Ave. Encinitas, CA 92024 Tel: 760-753-3153 www.andersonslacostanursery.com andersonslacosta@gmail.com June Gardening Tips We usually experience mild weather in the San Diego area in June and the temperate conditions are just right for getting plants off to a good start. Many flowers and vegetables should be planted from bedding plants this month rather than seeds because now is the time for warm weather plants to fully mature. Here is a brief overview of when traditional Southern California and Mediterranean-climate plants begin to bloom: June Bloom: Fuchsia, hydrangeas and lantana are at the height of bloom in June. Fuchsias and hydrangeas need plenty of watering, however make sure they are receiving efficient water with little waste. Lantana is one of the easiest full sun drought-resistant plants to grow. Irrigate plants at ground level. Plumeria: Just now coming into bloom! In order to bloom plumerias require a minimum of 6 to 8 hours direct light each day - preferably full sun. Very easy to grow but they don't like to be over-watered. Water about once a week when the soil is dry - soak thoroughly. Plumerias like acidic conditions. Our tip for planting is 2 parts cactus mix to 1 part potting mix. Feed with Epson salt at a ratio of 1 tablespoon to 1 gal water and add Super Bloomer monthly. Plumerias are considered a deciduous plant. They tend to go dormant in winter months so in October and November expect the leaves to turn yellow and drop. In the dormant months cut back on watering - possibly for the entire winter or once every other month at most. Vegetables and Fruits: Sow or transplant lima and snap beans, beets, carrots, celery, chard, corn, cucumbers, egg-plants and other heat-tolerant and boltresistant lettuces; melons, okra, peppers, sweet potatoes, pumpkins, radishes, New Zealand spinach, summer and winter squash, and tomatoes. Fill small planting areas with heat-tolerant lettuce or spinach. Herbs such as lavender, marjoram, rosemary, sage, savory, and thyme do fine in hot sun with welldrained soil with minimal fertilizer.
On the other hand, basil, chives, coriander (cilantro) and parsley prefer richer soil with more frequent watering. Pinch back herbs, especially fast-growing basil, to encourage bushy, more delicate-flavored growth through the summer. Some vegetables are more efficient than others producing more food for the amount of garden space they use and the time they require. Carrots, cucumbers, onions, potatoes, summer squash, and tomatoes produce the most. Yields of cucumbers, squashes, and tomatoes can be even greater when they are grown on trellises thus saving soil space for growing more crops. The most time-consuming activity in a small garden is harvesting -- it requires twice as much time as weeding. But then, harvesting is so much more enjoyable than weeding! For greater yields, feed eggplants, peppers, squashes, and tomatoes when they blossom. Assure a plentiful set of peppers and tomatoes by increasing the magnesium available to the plants: dissolve one tablespoon of Epsom salts in one quart of warm water and spray or sprinkle the solution on the leaves and blossoms. Pour the remainder in a ring around the plant at the drip line. Repeat this several times during the blossoming period. Keep melon plants growing strongly throughout the season for best quality fruit. Almost half of a melon's final sugar content develops during the last week of maturation so stop irrigating them to concentrate the sugars. Optimum plant spacing for maximum sweetness is six square feet per plant. Harvest celery by the cut-and-come-again method instead of pulling up the entire plant. Pull off individual stalks as you need them or cut the plant off about three inches above the soil level. This will leave enough of the central growing point to send up more stalks. Keep vegetables picked often even if you don't plan to use that day's harvest immediately. Vegetables that aren't harvested soon enough will produce a chemical that inhibits further blossoming. The rich tomato flavor and aroma in raw tomatoes is the greatest when the tomatoes are left at room temperature and eaten just after being cut. Refrigeration kills the fragrance. If you must store tomatoes in the refrigerator for several days before using them harvest them early in the day when they are still cool from overnight. Thick-necked onion varieties are more vulnerable to infection because they dry more slowly and less completely than thin-necked ones - so eat these first. Put netting on trees two or three weeks before the fruit begins to ripen to discourage birds from making a habit of visiting the tree and tie loose ends of the netting so birds don't get trapped inside. Feed fruit trees approximately every three weeks during their growing season to encourage them to produce fruit and grow strongly for next year's fruit. Peach brown rot may result from over watering close to harvest so irrigate trees deeply but less frequently. Salvias: Strong, ornamental, easy to grow, drought tolerant and pest resistant. The Salvia genus is commonly known as sage. Anderson's has many varieties including Mexican Sage, Autumn Sage, Cleveland Sage, Purple Sage, White Sage and Salvia greggii. Hummingbirds love them!
Bougainvilleas, Transplanting & Care: Quite drought resistant, fabulously colorful and easy to grow. Getting them started takes care: Choose plants with the color and growth habit you want. Choice of vines or shrubs in 5 gallons will make a faster start than 1 gallon. Choose a spot in full sun and dig a hole twice as wide and the same depth as the container. Loosen the soil at the bottom of the hole and for a heavy clay soil and add gypsum. Cut out the bottom of the pot and plant to allow root spreading downward - this will minimize root transplant shock. Add some more soil to make the top of the root ball level with the ground and add organic all-purpose fertilizer (we sell plenty). Mix with the back fill under the plant and around the top under a small layer of compost. Bougainvilleas are extremely fragile when young so take GREAT care when planting to avoid breaking the roots or crown. Once the ground has been prepared and the bougainvillea planted, make a watering basin surround and water right away. Water once a day for 3 days unless if your soil is slow draining, then twice a week for the next few weeks, then cut back to once a week. Bougainvilleas are drought resistant once established because their roots extend deep into the ground. When young they need more water - don't let them dry out but avoid over watering. While establishing fertilize once a month between April and August. After 3 to 5 years when they are well established, fertilizing and watering needs reduce significantly. Irises: If bearded irises are not blooming, either they aren't getting enough sun or they need to be divided. They need full sun at the coast. After 3 to 4 years in the ground they become crowded and roots intertwine. If you need to divide do so after blooming season - in June or latest in July. Also, some colors of irises can take over what was originally a mixed bed. This can happen if the irises are overcrowded in the bed and the strongest will prevail. This is a sign they need to be divided. Cymbidium: This is a good time to check your older cymbidiums and see if they are crowding their containers. If they are it is time to move them to a larger container. In the new pot surround the original root ball with coarse organic material that drains well. Keep container plants well-watered or transfer to the ground. During the summer, plants in pots and containers need to be thoroughly watered, not just sprinkled. Pay careful attention to plants growing in containers as their water needs are much greater than plants grown in the soil. You can lose container plants in a short period of time when their irrigation requirements are not met. Try putting them in partial shade so they don't dry out as fast. Soil should be kept moist but not soggy. Choose transplants that aren't root bound. Confined roots can't spread out fast enough now that the weather's warming to absorb enough moisture and nutrients to survive summer heat -- so they wilt frequently or die. Gently loosen the root balls of transplants before planting them so roots can quickly reach out into surrounding soil to establish themselves.
Citrus Care: Unlike deciduous fruit trees, most citrus trees don't require yearly pruning. However, you can often revitalize older citrus trees if you remove the dead branches and twigs from the interior of the tree. That said, fruit is produced on new wood so remove entire branches (thinning) rather than shortening them (heading back). To redirect branches trim them to a leaf pointing in the direction you want new growth to go. Lemon trees require more pruning than most citrus trees. Keep citrus and avocados well-watered (deeply every two or three weeks) and add a three-inch-thick layer of mulch to maintain uniformly cool temperatures. They are more tender than other fruit trees and cannot withstand the stress of alternate moisture and dryness. Citrus roots grow beyond the tree's drip line so create a large water basin area. Ornamentals: Sow or transplant alyssum, globe amaranth, celosia (cockscomb), cleomes, coreopsis, cosmos, foxgloves, gazanias, marigolds, nasturtiums, nicotianas, portulaca (moss and sun rose), salvias, statice, sunflowers and zinnias. Keep seed trays or beds moist until seeds have germinated and seedlings have two true leaves. Then water less frequently to encourage deep rooting. Time to transplant: ageratum, asters, fibrous begonias, caladiums, calendulas, campanula, clarkias (godetia), dahlias, gloriosa and marguerite and Shasta daisies, dianthus, dusty miller, forget-me-nots, gaillardias, geraniums, hibiscus, hollyhocks, hostas, iceplant, ivies, impatiens, lantanas, lavenders, linarias, lobelias, Michaelmas daisy, penstemons, periwinkles, petunias, phlox, rudbeckias, stocks, verbenas, and violas. Miscellaneous Gardening Tips For fragrance, choose gardenias, jasmine, and lilac. For color in shady areas choose, begonia, coleus, impatiens, lobelia, and torenia. Stake tall-growing dahlias, delphiniums, gladiolus, and lilies unless you prefer a more casual draping look. Plant low water palms, cacti and succulents. Let the soil dry between watering and provide light shade during the hottest portion of the day for more sensitive varieties. Remove spent blooms and cut back shrubs including azaleas, camellias, forsythia, flowering quince, lilac, spiraea, Rose hugonis, and weigela. Remove old deformed and dead branches at the soil level and trim off about a third of the old growth. Pinch back tips and faded blooms from alyssum, tuberous begonias, carnations, chrysanthemums, dianthus, delphiniums, fuchsias, geraniums, hydrangeas, lobelias, marguerites, and penstemon to encourage bushier growth and more flowering. Prune wisteria to shape and control its growth. Root woody cuttings of azalea, chrysanthemum, carnation, fuchsia, and hydrangea. Choose growth that is somewhat woody and not still bright green and
pliable. Cut a five- or six- inch piece and strip off all of the leaves except the tiny young top growth and one or two well-developed leaves. Prune or sheer hedges so the top is slightly narrower than the base. Lightly prune, feed, and water roses on a weekly or bi-weekly basis to encourage them to flower continuously into the late fall. Trim faded blooms down to the first five-part leaf or further to gently shape the plant. Cut roses last longer when cut late in the day unlike other blooms which last longer when cut early in the morning. Make sure azaleas, camellias, and gardenias get sufficient moisture throughout the summer when they set the buds for next year's flowers. Mulch plants after watering well to moderate soil temperature and maintain moisture. If azaleas, gardenias, and other shrubs and citrus have yellow leaves but the veins remain green they're suffering from iron chlorosis. Water in some chelated iron or iron sulfate to the soil around the plant roots. Refrain from overhead watering when the evenings become warm, especially when leaves can't dry off by sunset. Fungal diseases thrive when air temperatures remain between 70 and 90 degrees and they need only two to four hours of moist, warm conditions to develop. You can use less water and still have a small healthy lawn - irrigate early in the morning (preferably before 7 a.m) to allow water to soak into the roots and decrease evaporation. They say if you are the only one walking on your lawn, it is probably time to remove it. Remember to water well before applying mulch or you'll insulate dry soil rather than moist soil. Pile mulch two to six inches deep under shrubs, trees, vines, flower and vegetable beds. General: Feed all plants with a balanced slow release fertilizer containing micro-nutrients in addition to the basic nitrogen, phosphorous, and potash/potassium (N-P-K). At Anderson s we favor organic fertilizers. Well-nourished plants not only develop into stronger plants and produce flowers and fruits and vegetables longer they are better-protected against insects and diseases and better withstand heat and water stress.