Get Ready to Save on your Fall Planting with Wegman's

Annual Labor Day Sale!

Our Annual Labor Day Sale begins on Friday, September 3rd at 7am and ends Sunday, September 12th.

Don't miss out on great values after Labor Day and just in time for the fall planting season.

Fall is especially for planting trees and shrubs. As the weather cools, the soil is still warm and stimulates the growth of roots on the newly planted greenery. Thus, plant roots become established quickly while the tops in the cooler air slow down and do not require as much water and minerals as during the summer growing season. Fall rains will soon start, ensuring that water moves to the 12 to 18 inch depth required by newly planted trees and shrubs. Certainly, letting Mother Nature take care of the fall and winter irrigation is about as economical as you can get! Whether the trees and shrubs are evergreen or deciduous, rmember fall is for planting.

Included are all plant material 1 gallon size and larger, hanging baskets, all pottery and statuary, houseplants, cacti and bonsai, garden supplies plus some chemicals and fertilizers.  Bedding plants, soils and amendments won't be on sale. Delivery will be available at the current rates.

Additional discounts don't apply. Limited to stock on hand. Does not apply to special orders or delivery.

Check your irrigation systems now that hot weather has arrived. . .

August and September will bring waves of heat that stress your plants. Adequate water will assist them to thrive during these long, hot days.

Check your irrigation systems now for leaks and broken or malfunctioning parts. Be sure emitters are not plugged with algae. Check also for adequate coverage. You may need to add emitters on drip systems for maturing trees or shrubs or you may need to adjust the length of time the system runs. To gauge whether your plants are getting adequate water, check the depth of moisture in the soil the day following watering. Soil around trees and shrubs should show moisture to 12 inches down and do not need water again until the top 2 to 3 inches of soil is dry.  Where one emitter was sufficient when a one-gallon tree or shrub was planted, now, two or three years later, two to four emitters spaced 12 to 19 inches from the trunk may be necessary.  If you are not sure about moisture depth, we recommend that you get and use a Rapid Test Moisture Meter.  When you use your moisture meter, be sure to keep the tip of the probe clean and push it into the center of the root ball as well as into the area between the trunk and drip line.

Mr. Ed has seen many trees and shrubs stressed from lack of water. With normal winter rains, the ground remains moist until mid or late May. Not this year! Gardens, this year, require more water than usual to get the soil moisture up to a normal level. A couple of common symptoms of stress due to insufficient water are: premature leaf drop, leaf scorch or leaves turning red, fruit ripening early and squirrels doing a rain dance.

Remember that lawns, trees and shrubs cannot coexist on the same water schedule!

Watering for New Plantings

Once planting is completed, water plants well. Check plants for water daily for the first week and if necessary, place hose on trickle near the base of the plant and leave on for up to 30 minutes. You may need to run drip or spray systems every 3 to 4 days for the first 2 weeks if you find that the top 2 to 3 inches of soil dry out quickly. You can then adjust according to the following recommendations.

You may want to check out our Care Guide on Irrigating Plants for more information. For a summary of irrigating lawns; shrubs and roses; trees; and vegetables read below.

Watering for Lawns

Ideally, lawns should be watered 1 to 2 times a week for one-half to1 hour to encourage deep root systems.  Lawns require at least one inch of water per week.

Watering for Shrubs and Roses

For most drip or spray systems, one time a week for one hour should be adequate and should provide five to ten gallons per bush. Remember to avoid direct water on rose foliage unless you water early in the morning in order to decrease the incidence of rust. Contrary to popular belief, wet foliage does not promote powdery mildew.

Watering for Trees

Water established trees once a month June through September for a few hours with bubblers at the dripline to ensure a deep soaking. You can also build a berm just beyond the dripline at least 4 to 6 inches high and flood monthly. Newly planted trees (one year or less) should be watered in a basin for about one-half hour, once a week. Mr. Ed made a house call for a five year old Japanese Maple that had one side turn brown 'overnight'. The basin was inside the dripline and there was no emitter. When the trusty Rapid Test Moisture Meter was stuck in the ground at the dripline. . .it read bone dry!

Redwood City residents:  Purchase a new high-efficiency clothes washer and save up to 5100 gallons of water and $78 on your energy bill per year plus a rebate of up to $200.  Check PG&E's program web site at www.waterenergysavings.com.

Watering for Vegetables and New Hedge Rows

Soaker hoses work great for vegetable gardens and hedge rows. Run them 1 to 2 times per week for 3 to 4 hours. Turn pressure on until you count one drip every three seconds along the entire line.  When hedges are five or more years old, water once per week.

Santa Clara Valley Water District offers home visits to evaluate water systems for water-wise efficiency. Call 1-888-439-6624 to schedule an appointment or contact them at www.valleywater.org. In the Redwood City area, call the Water Conservation Department at 650-780-7436 or check out their website http://www.redwoodcity.org/publicworks/water/water_conservation_program.htm.

Mulching to Save Water

Mulching consists of covering the soil with a 2 to 4 inch layer of organic matter (fir bark, fir compost, redwood compost, pine needles, oak leaves, straw, rice hulls, etc.). You can mulch with 1 to 2 inches of gravel or even 4 to 6 layers of newspaper, but the layers of organic matter are best. (See our Care Guide on Mulching.) One notable exception is shredded redwood bark, sometimes referred to as "gorilla hair". We can recommend it for paths, but not for mulching. Its main drawback is that  it packs down, and is almost impervious to water. Rain water or sprinkler water does not go through it into the soil thus defeating one of the main purposes of mulch.

More tips for great gardens. . .

ANNUALS

• If planted now, summer annuals should still give you 4 more months of color. Plant marigolds, alyssum, petunias, lobelia, cleome, salpiglossis, fibrous begonias, zinnias, bedding dahlias, cosmos, and ageratum in full sun. For the shade, try impatiens, New Guinea impatiens, fibrous begonias, and coleus. Some full sun annuals will also perform decently with only a few hours of sun, such as alyssum and lobelia. 
• Fertilize annuals monthly with a granular fertilizer such as Master Nursery Rose & Flower Food.  Check the back of your fertilizer bag to be sure it contains iron and sulfur. 
• Don't forget to apply Sluggo or Master Nursery Pest-Fighter for Slugs and Snails after planting annuals.
• Mildew on some annuals will begin to show up by about the middle of August. You can ignore it and rationalize that the plants will die in a few months or start a preventive Sulfur spray now then again every two weeks.

BULBS

• Dig tulip bulbs now if you plan on replanting in fall and winter. Dry on paper bags or tarp in shady but dry location and then remove all of the old vegetation. When dry, store in refrigerator in paper bags for at least 8 weeks. Never store in plastic bags as the bulbs will 'sweat' and then become moldy.
• Remove the foliage from your spring bloomers now (Daffodils, Dutch Iris, Galanthus, etc.), however leave them in the ground to naturalize.
• If you missed planting dahlias, Crocosmia, calla lilies, or cannas by bulb, you can plant now from 1-or 2-gallon containers. We have assorted dahlias, from dinner plate to tree varieties, as well as several unique selections of cannas. Check out the Lucifer series, featuring bicolor flowers. Check out Crocosmia as well, an often overlooked but colorful summer bloomer, great for naturalizing and for cutting. 
• Apply Master Nursery Bulb Food when bulbs break ground and again when they finish blooming.
• Bone Meal is no longer recommended for bulbs because modern processing has removed all of the Nitrogen and Potassium.

FRUITS

• To decrease the occurrence of Eutypa in Apricots, prune after harvest in August or September. As Eutypa spores are most prolific in early fall and are spread by splashing rain, pruning now allows pruning wounds to callous before the rains start. 
• Through mid-August, a light pruning using heading cuts can benefit the home orchard in two ways. First, summer pruning helps to maintain the size of your trees. By reducing canopy mass at this time, trees grow at a slowed rate. Second, you can encourage secondary branching on long whips. This increases fruiting wood. In contrast, winter pruning tends to remove dead, dying and diseased wood; shape trees; and enhance light and air penetration to fruiting wood. 
• Olive fruit flies have made harvesting olives for use difficult. The female lays eggs in the very young fruit and when the egg hatches, the maggot feeds and excretes rendering the olives mushy and useless. Recently, Monterey Chemical Company has made available Monterey Garden Insect Spray to use for controlling Olive Fruit Flies. Monterey Garden Insect Spray contains the active ingredient Spinosad.  Spinosad is accepted for use in organic gardening and is listed by the Orgnic Materials Review Institute. It can even be used for leaf miners. You should use an olive fruit fly trap so you know when to use Spinosad.
• Fireblight appears as blackened branches with the tips bent down like a shepherd's crook and most commonly affects pears but also loquats, pyracantha, apples, photinia, and some other plants in the rose family. To control, cut 9 to 12 inches below affected tissue, sterilizing pruning tools between each cut with rubbing alcohol, a bleach solution or Lysol.  Next spring spray with copper after bloom has finished.
• To control powdery mildew on grapes, spray every two weeks with sulfur. Avoid overhead water and be judicious with fertilizer so that excess foliage isn't generated. 
• Table grapes should be watered deeply once every 7 to 14 days. Wine grapes, on the other hand, are generally watered less frequently in order to concentrate flavor and sugar. 
• Fertilize deciduous fruit trees and vines around Memorial Day and Labor Day with Master Nursery Fruit Tree & Vine Food or Dr. Earth Citrus & Fruit Tree Fertilizer.  Don't be tempted to over fertilize, as this can cause secondary problems with some fruits.
• If fruit trees seem chlorotic (yellow leaves with green veins), foliar feed with Liquid Gold  in a Gilmour hose end sprayer at one week intervals until symptoms disappear.  Chlorosis is usually avoided with the May fertilizer or with a supplemental application of iron sulfide in late June or July.
• Peach leaf curl is best controlled by three dormant sprays in November, December and January. Research at UC Davis supports that the most effective controls are applied when trees are dormant and  that growing season controls, such as picking off infected leaves or blasting leaves with water, produce no corrective results. 
• Brown rot of apricots, peaches, nectarines, and plums manifests as dieback of and/or oozing from short fruiting spurs or branch tips, a decrease or absence in fruit production, and sometimes a dieback of branches or limbs. While it is too late to spray for this disease this year, next year apply two additional sprays of Daconil (Ortho Garden Disease Control) at pink bud and full bloom. When pruning this summer or next winter, you should remove dead wood, oozing wood and any wood with cankers. The mid-Peninsula is a borderline environmental area for apricots. If they are badly infected with oozing twigs and stubs, have dry, dead flowers and few or no fruit, you should probably remove the tree.
• Check apple and pear trees for woolly apple aphid, which appear as a white cottony substance, usually in crevices, pruning cuts and on the roots close to the base of the tree.  Spray with Sevin or Malathion.
• Paint deciduous fruit tree trunks to prevent sunscald with a white, water-based interior latex paint cut 50% with water. This is especially important for young trees planted in blazing hot locations. 
• Citrus can be pruned now if desired or needed. Check for snail damage and for scale, a sucking insect that usually clusters along fruit stems, new growth and the undersides of leaves. If scale is found, UC recommends that you spray three times at two week intervals with a mixture of malathion and horticultural oil. Don't use horticultural oil more than 4 times during the growing season. Wait at least 2 weeks between applications and don't spray if temperatures will exceed 85 degrees (F). Don't spray oil and sulfur within one month of each other.
• Select and plant citrus now with our First Pick pre-ordering service.  Check out the extensive list of hard to find, special order bare root fruit trees and vines by clicking on this link. Update coming soon.
• Fertilize citrus in March, May, July, and September with Master Nursery Citrus Food or Dr. Earth Citrus & Fruit Tree Fertilizer.  Be sure that your fruit tree fertilizer contains iron and sulfur.

GROUNDCOVERS

• Be sure to water new plantings in full sun deeply every 3 to 4 days. Erigeron, Convolvulus, Creeping Rosemary, Ceanothus and Manzanita are excellent groundcovers for hot, dry locations (though they do need water while becoming established). Blue Star Creeper, Woolly Thyme and Creeping Chamomile fill in nicely between stepping stones in full to part sun and are able to withstand some foot traffic. For the shade, try Campanula, Sweet Woodruff and Vinca Minor. 
• Fertilize groundcovers lightly with Formula 49 three times a year, in February, May and September. 
• To ward off slugs and snails, bait with Sluggo (safe for pets and people) or Master Nursery Pest-Fighter for Slugs and Snails, available in powder and pellet form. A note from Mr. Ed: Master Nursery Pest-Fighter is most effective but also the most dangerous. All the slug and snail baits except Sluggo contain Metaldehyde which attracts snails and slugs and may or may not kill them. Only our Master Nursery product contains Metaldehyde and carbaryl which attracts and kills the snails and slugs.  Less expensive brands such as Meta and Correy's do not contain carbaryl.

LAWNS

• If lawns show raccoon damage, apply Bayer Grub Control to kill ground-dwelling grubs and cutworms. Although it is too late to use Beneficial Nematodes, consider applying them next April and July. Beneficial nematodes are microscopic organisms which consume various destructive soil-dwelling insects, such as cutworms. They do not harm earthworms and are safe around pets and people. 
• Set mowers to 2.5 to 3 inches for fescue and bluegrass lawns and 1 to 1.5 inches for Bermuda grass lawns. Consider leaving lawn clippings on the lawn. As clippings break down, they provide the lawn with nutrients, reducing the need for fertilizers by 30-50%. Clippings will not cause thatch. 
• Lawn seeded through September may need moisture up to 3 times a day so that germinating seeds do not dry out. Cover fresh seed with about one-quarter inch of Gardener's Gold potting soil or one-half inch of Gold Rush to help retain moisture and keep the birds off the seeds.
• Spread seed or lay sod through September. For details on preparing an area for lawn installation, check our Care Guide on Lawn Preparation. Sod orders placed with Wegman's usually take 2 to 3 days for delivery. Call us for details!
• Feed lawns with Master Green Lawn Food or Master Green Weed & Feed. For an organic product use Dr. Earth Lawn Fertilizer or Concern Weed Prevention Plus. 
• If you have had problems with Bermuda grass in your lawn, apply Turflon Ester, which also controls annual and perennial broadleaf weeds in established lawns. For crabgrass and some other weed  grasses try Weed-Hoe.  Trimec Plus has a ready to use form for spraying crabgrass, nutsedge and broadleaf weeds in lawns.
• For oxalis (the plant that looks like clover) and broadleaf weeds, use Weed Beater Ultra,  Trimec Plus or Turflon Ester liquids that can be sprayed over entire lawns. Because oxalis is so tenacious, several applications will be needed. Remember--You cannot use pre-emergent products for 3 to 4 months prior to seeding a lawn or laying sod. You can  use Master Nursery Kleen-Up 3 to 4 days before seeding or laying sod. Before installing pick up or print our Care Guide on Lawn Preparation.
• Established lawns should be aerated at least every two years to permit water and air to enter the soil. Those lawns should also be dethatched every 3 or 4 years.

PERENNIALS

• Be sure to deadhead as blooms fade to ensure continuous bloom throughout summer. 
• Many of the ornamental grasses are beginning to bloom. Check out Blue Oat Grass, Mexican Feather Grass and both the red and green forms of Fountain Grass. Grasses lend an architecture and texture to the landscape unmatched by other plants. They are also drought-tolerant and deer-resistant. 
• Check out Buddleia, Salvia, Penstemon, Day lilies, Agastache, yarrow, verbena, and coreopsis for the sun, and Campanula, Tuberose, Jacob's Ladder, Chinese foxglove, Bacopa, and heliotrope for the half sun-half shade. 
• A nice handful of sun-loving perennials double as both deer-resistant and drought-tolerant plants: lavender, yarrow, the Salvias, Echinacea, sea lavender, society garlic, Penstemon, and Brachycomb all provide excellent summer color in addition to these practical attributes. 
• Fertilize perennials in February, May and August with Master Nursery Rose and Flower Food, Formula 49 or Dr. Earth Rose & Flower Fertilizer. You can skip fertilizing in May if your garden consists of perennials that thrive on neglect. Many of the drought tolerant perennials (see above), for example, prefer not to be pampered with high nitrogen, high phosphorus fertilizers. 
• To control Bermuda grass and crabgrass and other weedy grasses in ornamental beds, try Grass-Getter or Weed Stopper. 
• Bait perennials with Sluggo or Master Nursery Pest-Fighter for Slugs & Snails.

ROSES

A quick word on using horticultural oil on roses and all other plants during the growing season!

• Do not use more than four times during the growing season.
• Wait at least 2 weeks between applications. 
• Remember that oil may burn foliage and flowers during hot spells so never apply oil when the daytime temperature will exceed 85 degrees. 
• If you are using a sulfur product to control fungi, you must wait at least one month before applying oil. 

• Be sure to stay on top of deadheading for continual bloom!
• The inevitable aphid can be controlled by blasting off with water or by spraying with Safer Yard & Garden Insect Killer. You can also use Malathion, Pyrethrin, oil, or insecticidal soap.
• Watch for katydids and cucumber beetles, both of which chew on flower buds, leaving holes in flower petals. Treat as for aphids (see above) except for the water blasting or organically use Spinosad.
• Rose weevils and curculios chew holes at the bases of buds then lay their eggs within. When larvae hatch, they eat their way through flower buds and petals. The only control for these pests is to disbud plants as if deadheading.  A main symptom is that the rose bud droops its head.
• Rose slugs, the larvae of a wasp, eat halfway or all the way through rose leaves. In severe cases, the leaf appears almost shredded. Control as for aphids except water blasting or use Spinosad.
• You may also notice activity by leaf cutter bees, which remove neat, semi-circular notches from the margins of leaves. Disregard this insect: these notches are harmless. The leaf cutter bee is extremely beneficial in the garden and the piece of leaf she removes is used for her egg laying process.
• Do not spray herbicides such as Round-Up within 100 feet of roses. If weeds appear in rose beds, hand-dig or use a tool such as a hula-hoe to remove. 
• An application of Concern Weed Prevention Plus (totally organic) applied around your roses when you prune in the spring prevents most weeds and provides slow release fertilizer.
• Powdery Mildew appears as whitish splotches on the surface of leaves and on buds and stems. To control, use Safer Garden Fungicide or wettable sulfur. If these measures aren't satisfactory, use Ortho Garden Disease Control (Daconil) or Ortho Rose Pride (Funginex).
• Rust appears as small yellow to black spots on the upper surface of leaves, which, when flipped, show rust-colored pustules. Use the aforementioned products to control.
• Roses are heavy feeders and get very thirsty.  Fertilize monthly with Master Nursery Rose and Flower Food, and water once or twice a week for half an hour (use a hose on about 1/4 strength with the end covered by an old sweat sock) so the root area is flooded.
• The company that manufactures the Bionic Glove has customized its product to meet the special needs of rose gardeners.  Like the standard glove, the Bionic Rose Glove was designed by a hand surgeon to provide comfort and support, but it also has long sleeve gauntlets made from Tough-Ex composite material to guard against thorns as well as Tough-Ex thumb and palm pads.

SHRUBS & VINES

• Time to prune azaleas and rhododendrons. Azaleas can be sheared or pruned, selectively to shape, even down to wood and will still bloom next year. Rhododendrons should be hand-pruned, if needed. If rhododendrons have become lanky and misshapen, you might consider renovating them. Deadhead after pruning if you haven't done so already. Flowers and/or sepals should be dry enough to snap off by hand. If you have been troubled by petal blight on azaleas, throw debris away in trash - do not compost. 
• If your gardenias show brown buds which drop off before opening, the cause is probably thrips. Use Monterey Garden Insect Spray (with Spinosad)  once a month to control. Keep in mind that gardenias need an acid soil and Master Nursery Rhododendron, Camellia and Azalea Fertilizer once per month. Mulch yearly with Master Nursery  Gold Rush and apply Iron Sulfate twice a year (February and July). 
• Four of the fastest growing shrubs for hedges and screens are Black-twig Pittosporum, Eugene Pittosporum, Red-tip Photinia and purple hopseed bush. Left unpruned, each will reach approximately 20 feet tall and wide but each can be maintained at 6 to 8 feet if desired. Remember to prune newly planted hedges seasonally, even if lightly. This will encourage plants to be bushy and dense. 
• Passion vines erupt into bloom as the season heats up, offering unusual flowers in an array of bright, tropical colors. Bower vine and scarlet trumpet vine continue to bloom through mid-summer and make excellent companions to white potato vine, which blooms all summer. 
• Double Mandevillas and Madagascar jasmines have just arrived and are a beautiful addition to a protected area.
• Duranta, a beautiful blue old friend, is being revived. It takes a hot spot, is evergreen, looks like a vine, but can self-support. Grows up to 8 feet tall by 8 feet wide.
• Watch for evidence of thrips and black vine weevil on rhododendrons. Thrips damage appears as a mottling or bleaching of the upper surfaces of leaves and small, glossy black dots on the undersides of leaves. Weevils leave distinctive notches along leaf margins as they feed. Both can be controlled with Malathion or Spinosad.
• Fuchsia gall mites create gnarled leaves with reddish blisters and are common on hybrid fuchsias. If symptoms appear, UC Agricultural Service recommends to prune out disfigured growth and spray with Sevin once a month, starting in March. You can also begin a preventative program using Sevin once a month, starting when you do your Spring pruning. Consider species fuchsias, which are mite-resistant. While not as showy as the hybrids, they offer the same bloom time and a surprising diversity of  foliar textures. Fuchsia mites are spread by wind, insects and humming birds after flowers come into bloom. (See our Fuchsia Care Guide for a list of hybrid Fuchsias resistant to the Fuchsia mite.)
• Camellia golden ring spot virus manifests as yellow rings or circular splotches on 2-year old or older leaves. It may also cause streaking in flowers. There is currently no cure for this virus, but it may be spread by pruning tools. Be sure to clean tools with alcohol, a 10% bleach solution or Lysol between shrubs. The virus will not kill the plant.
• Fertilize evergreen shrubs and vines in April and August with Master Nursery Formula 49 (8-4-4). Fertilize flowering shrubs and vines with Master Nursery Rose & Flower Food in February and June. 
• If your azaleas and camellias have been troubled by petal blight, which appears as brown splotching on petal margins of open flowers, partly open flowers and flower buds, keep beds free of flower debris. Remove infected flowers and buds and try not to let infected petals hit the ground. If they do, gather and place in trash immediately - do not compost! Spray the azaleas with copper or Funginex when the buds start to swell.  There is no effective spray for Camellia Petal Blight.

TREES

• Summer blooming trees include Crape Myrtle, Smoke tree, Chaste tree, Jacaranda and Mimosa tree. Crape Myrtles, Smoke trees and Chaste trees are by nature multi-trunked, but many growers train them as standards, i.e. on a single trunk. The multi-trunked trees will not be as tall as the single trunk trees at maturity. Jacaranda is semi-evergreen and is noted for its feathery evergreen foliage and large plumes of purple flowers. Mimosa has similar foliage, but is deciduous and sports a pink pom-pom flower. 
• If you're thinking of planting Crape Myrtle, consider planting those with the Native American tribal names, such as Tuscarora, Hopi and Natchez. These varieties were hybridized specifically to resist powdery mildew. Otherwise, spray mildew infected plants twice with sulfur a week apart at the first hint of mildew. 
• To prevent fruit on olives, liquidambar and ornamental plums, apply Floral Fruit Eliminator one time during bloom. 
• For established trees that are isolated in the landscape or for those trees which seem chlorotic, use the Ross Root Feeder to fertilize or deep water the trees. 
• Don't forget to fertilize your deciduous fruit trees the end of August or first of September with a high Nitrogen fertilizer.  This is a very important fertilizer treatment to give the plants a good start next Spring.
• Consider planting mustard in your fruit tree orchard and then using it as green compost in the spring.

VEGETABLES   

• The weather so far this year has been unfavorable for the ripening of tomatoes.  Tomatoes need continuous hot weather to ripen.  with hot weather in mid to late August and through September, we should have a good late season crop.
• Cool season greens, such as lettuce, spinach, cilantro, chard, and mustard can be planted through the summer in morning sun locations. Under warmer temperatures, they will go to seed more quickly, so plan on planting more frequently. 
• If you have had problems with verticillium or fusarium wilt on tomatoes and potatoes, consider solarizing beds with clear plastic for 6-8 weeks during the months of June to September. Solarization sterilizes the soil by cooking harmful microbes in the soil. Cover beds with clear 2 mil plastic and be sure to anchor plastic with dirt or heavy objects. While these beds will be unusable for a season, the sacrifice will pay off in healthy plants the following year. 
• For whiteflies on tomatoes, use Safer Tomato & Vegetable spray three times, three days apart. Consider using whitefly traps and your hand vacuum cleaner in conjunction with the sprays for more effective control.
• Many people started their tomatoes and peppers too early and the plants sat in the cold ground where their root systems did not develop. The plants did not thrive as they should have.

OTHER THINGS TO DO

• Are you remembering to keep clean water in the bird bath or saucers? Birds eat their weight in insects each week and are a fine addition to your garden but they need water for drinking. Mr. Ed has seen white crowned sparrows eating sunflower leaves to get the moisture in them.
• Consider utilizing beneficial insects in lieu of insecticides this summer. Ladybugs and their larva feast on aphids, thrips and mites, and are especially useful in rose gardens and vegetable gardens. Release 50-100 at a time, in the evening. Set out shallow dishes of water along with plant parts covered with aphids. These props will encourage ladybugs to stick around. Praying mantids are sold in their egg cases. Set out egg cases in a shady location off the ground, such as in a tree or shrub. Eggs will hatch mid- to late summer. 
• Container plants must be fertilized monthly with an appropriate granular fertilizer such as Formula 49. If you are a fan of liquid fertilizers, apply monthly. 
• Consider watering indoor plants with 2 tablespoons vinegar to 1 gallon of water once a month in order to reduce salt build-up and to lower pH. 
• Sharp pruning tools make clean cuts that heal quickly. Check out our Pruning Tool Renovation service, which includes cleaning and sharpening and replacing missing parts for pruners. If you're unsure whether we can service your tool, bring it in for assessment.
• Liquid Fence has proved to be extremely effective in deterring deer from yards and gardens.  The trick is to use it exactly as instructed.
• Likewise, Mole & Gopher Med has proven to be effective in ridding yards and gardens of gophers and moles. The secret, again, is to follow the instructions exactly as instructed. Mole & Gopher Med will not kill the pests but rather chases them someplace else. 
• Remember! You cannot mix up a batch of spray with water and then save the unused portion because it starts to decompose within two hours.  Dump it into a flower bed or on the lawn and rinse out the spray tank.  This is one reason Mr. Ed likes to use the Gilmore Hose End Sprayer when possible because there is never any left over mixed spray.
• There are more than 4,000 different native species of bees in North America, all of which are good pollinators.  Encourage them by planting sedums, Crocosmia, coreopsis, goldenrod, yarrow, penstemon, fennel, linden, rudbeckia, dogwood, lavender, rosemary, legumes and catmint.
• Many gardeners have started using coffee grounds from Starbucks or Peet's as soil amendment.  This is okay but no more than twice a year because most plants are susceptible to caffeine poisoning.
• Recently a garden column suggested that Scrub Jays were beneficial because they ate snails.  Sorry, but all the symptoms described were those of roof rats feasting on the snails.  Snails are a favorite food of roof rats and you can find many snail shells with holes laying around wood piles, and ivy beds where the rats hang out.
• A word on Monterey Garden Insect Spray:  We have become favorably impressed with Monterey Garden Insect Spray which has Spinosad as its active ingredient.  This is a step up from Bt and is listed favorably by the Organic Materials Review Institute.  Particularly impressive is that it can be used up to one day before harvest on Swiss Chard, spinach and lettuce to control leaf miners.
• Beware of those radio ads which proclaim that their potting soil is not 'just dirt'.  Please compare their product to Gardener's Gold potting soil.  A good potting soil should have an absolute minimum of six ingredients.  Gardener's Gold has nine.  Theirs has five and is 'just plain dirt' compared to Wegman's potting soil. (The potting soil sold by the big box store with the railroad calendars has only three!)

• The American Nurseryman magazine reported that students attending the Royal Agricultural College in England were monitored during lectures in rooms with and without plants.  Signs of inattentiveness were 70 percent fewer in rooms with plants.  Also, following breaks, approximately 98 percent of the students returned to classes that had plants, while only approximately 86 percent returned to rooms with no plants.
• Unintended Consequences--We have just learned that we are to expect a sizable increase in the price of fertilizers next year.  Fertilizers and their production are closely tied to petroleum and petroleum products.  What you saw and felt at the gas pump is to be expected to a lesser degree in the fertilizer bag.
• Similarly, there has been a sharp increase in the price of our Felco shears.  Felcos are manufactured in Europe and so their price floats with the currency exchange rate.  Fortunately, we can restore your old Felcos to nearly new condition when brought in for sharpening and cleaning.