When plants grow where we don’t want them to grow, we consider them weeds.
Tasks
- When using herbicides for weed control, spray on a calm day and protect plants by shielding them with a large piece of cardboard.
- Learn to use the “season adjust” feature on your irrigation controller to make adjustments easier.
- Apply mulch to plantings for water retention. Mulch should be 3 to 4 inches thick. Don’t allow mulch to accumulate against stems or trunks of plants.
Pruning
- Shape spring-flowering shrubs after bloom.
- Take 4 inches of soft wood cuttings to propagate perennials such as chrysanthemum, azalea, marguerite, lavender, aster, and geranium.
Fertilizing
- Feed vegetables and lawns, but use care with lawns, as nitrogen encourages lush growth that requires more water.
- Fertilize deciduous fruit and nut trees with one third of the annual amount of fertilizer needed.
Planting
- This is the end of the spring planting season. Many annuals and vegetables can be planted from seed or transplanted. As temperatures rise, water new plantings.
- Perennials: coneflower (Echinacea), beard tongue (Penstemon), gloriosa daisy (Rudbeckia), plant from seed.
- Bulbs, corms, tubers: fairy lily (Zephyranthes).
- Fruits and vegetables: corn, pumpkin, squash, watermelon, plant from seed.
- Trees, shrubs, vines: bottlebrush (Callistemon), cotoneaster, solanum (potato vine).
- Annuals: globe amaranth (Gomphrena)
Enjoy now
- Annuals and perennials: dianthus, twinspur (Diascia), wallflower (Erysimum), California poppy (Eschscholzia).
- Bulbs, corms, tubers: squill (Scilla).
- Trees, shrubs, vines: Photinia, Spirea.
- Fruits and vegetables: snap peas, turnips, onions.
Things to ponder
- To cover 100 square feet of space with mulch 3 inches deep, you will need 1 cubic yard of trunk space.
- Use the least toxic chemical – water, insecticidal soap, Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) or horticultural oils – for pest control.
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Prepared by Fresno Master Gardener Terry Lewis with information adapted from “A Gardener’s Companion for the Central San Joaquin Valley."