Get Growing with Farmer Fred

Plant Pest/Disease Problem Solver Site

Other Garden Websites

The Farmer Fred Rant! Blog

Farmer Fred Video Page

 

NOW 

Drain That Rain !

After the Storm: Leaning Trees Need Your Attention, Now!

After a Freeze: What Should You Do in the Garden?

Feb. Garden Chores

Growing Winter Vegetables

The Quick Guide: When a Frost is Forecast

Frost Protection for Citrus and Other Subtropical Plants

Protecting Plants from Frost or Freeze

 

WINTER!

Christmas Tree Care

Choosing and Planting Bare Root Fruit Trees

U.C. Davis Tips on Fruit Tree Pruning & Training

 

ROSES

Rose Pruning, California Style

Roses For Shade

The Top Ten Roses for Sacramento

100 Roses for the Valley and Foothills

Rose Planting Basics

 

GARDEN HELPERS

The Garden "Good Guys"

Plants to Attract Beneficial Insects

Attracting Bees To Your Garden

GardenInsects.Com

Free Publications From UC's Farm and Garden Experts 

 

VEGETABLES

Sacramento Area Planting Guide for Flower and Vegetable Seeds

Starting a Vegetable Garden?

Why Rotate Your Crops?

Our 2009 Tomato & Pepper Garden

Prepare Your Own Seed-Starting Soil Mix

Best Soil Temperatures for Vegetable Seeds

Tomato Gardening: Tips and Hints

Tomato Troubleshooting Tips

Blossom End Rot on Tomatoes

Greenhouse Tomatoes in the Winter

How To Grow Giant Pumpkins!

Grow your Own Popcorn !

 

FRUIT

How to Increase the Size of Your Table Grapes

How To Get Bigger Fruit From Your Fruit Trees

Citrus Tips from the Pros

UC: Growing Blueberries in the Sacramento Region

Blueberries for the Valley

Plant a Fruit Tree...Or Two!

Choosing and Planting Bare Root Fruit Trees

U.C. Davis Tips on Fruit Tree Pruning & Training

 

TREES

20 Great Trees for the Sacramento Area

Small Trees for Small Yards

Hiring an Arborist: Tips from the Sacramento Tree Foundation

Oak Tree Care

Planting Under Oaks

Pruning Q&A's

3 Seasons of Color: the Chanticleer Pear Tree

 

PLANTS, ETC.

Growing Great Gladiolas

Houseplants Make Great Gifts

 Good Garden Books for Our Area

The Joys of the Imperfect Garden

 

LANDSCAPING

Landscaping Makes Dollars (and Sense)

Landscaping Tips

John Gray's Top 20 Landscape Plants

Easy Care Plants for Privacy

 Kill Weeds, Nematodes with Soil Solarization

Landscaping After a Fire: Tips from the CLCA

Hot Topics

How Much Water Does Your Lawn and Garden Really Need?

How To Spot the Asian Citrus Psyllid Pest

Poison Plants, People & Pets

Put The Bite On Mosquitoes

Jumping Oak Galls!

"Cash For Grass" in Roseville

Find A Farmer's Market Near You

Eucalyptus Red Gum Lerp Psyllid Control

Glassy Winged Sharpshooter Information

Weather Websites

 

FOOD!

Too Many Plums? Try This Recipe!

Recipes for Your Home Grown Produce

 Agriculture-Related Websites

 

 Etc.

Find a California Garden Club Near You!

Our 2008 Tomato and Pepper Garden  

Our 2007 Tomato & Pepper Garden  

Fred's Bike Tour of the Unknown Coast  

 Deer Resistant Plants (a pdf file from the Nevada County Master Gardeners )

Garden Catolog Terminology: What They REALLY Mean

Ten Tough Trees

Cooperative Extension Offices in California

Choosing & Caring For Garden Tools

Garden Questions and Answers

Plants for Busy People

The Banana Shrub: A Show for the Nose

Garden Math

Meet the Beetles !

The Light Brown Apple Moth Hits California

All About Manure

Year-Round Backyard Orange Juice

5 Steps to Quick Compost

Help Your Plants Beat the Heat of Summer

Garden Catalogs Worth Checking Out

Old Trees and Storms

Grasshopper Control

Another Eucalyptus Pest Arrives

The Asian Longhorned Beetle Comes to Town

Gardening by the Moon

THE INVASIVE WEED, JAPANESE DODDER, HITS SACRAMENTO COUNTY

 HGTV Visits Farmer Fred !
Other Garden Features

 
                  Lifetime Master Gardener Fred Hoffman is the host of the "KFBK Garden Show" 
on NewsTalk 1530 KFBK in Sacramento, California each Sunday morning from 
8:30 a.m. to 10 a.m., followed by "Get Growing" on Talk 650 KSTE 
in Sacramento, 10 a.m. to Noon. 
                   And, you can listen to the shows, live, via the KFBK.com and KSTE.com websites.
                   
                  Now available as podcasts: previous editions of "The KFBK Garden Show" 
and "Get Growing".
                   
                  Each week on the "KFBK Garden Show" and "Get Growing, "Farmer Fred", 
an award-winning member of the California Association of Nurseries and 
Garden Centers, interviews garden experts from throughout Northern 
and Central California, tackles your gardening questions and problems, 
and offers prizes for answers to the weekly "Garden Grappler".
                   
                  Southern Sacramento and Northern San Joaquin County gardeners can also 
get current gardening information from Fred in his Saturday gardening column
in the Lodi News-Sentinel.; also available at the Farmer Fred Rant! Blog page.
                   

Sign Up for Daily Garden Bulletins (and Single Malt Scotch suggestions) from Farmer Fred on Twitter!

=================================================================
 
The Latest Posts at the Farmer Fred Rant! Blog page:
 
 
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UPCOMING GUESTS ON THE "KFBK GARDEN SHOW" & "GET GROWING"
Heard each Sunday from 8:30 a.m. to Noon:

Jan. 31: Dave Rhodes, Rhodes Landscape Design: "Planning Your Garden with Less Water Use in Mind"; Landscape Designer Roberta Walker: "The Rain Garden"; Sac. Co. Master Gardener Shannon Gordon: "Fair Oaks Horticulture Center Events"

Feb. 7: Nicolai Laquaglia, Sacramento County Master Gardener: "All About Composting Systems"; Trey Pitzenberger-The Golden Gecko Garden Center: "Seed Starting Tips"

Feb. 14: Steve Zien, Living Resources Co.: "Getting the Organic Garden Ready for Planting"

Feb. 21: Debbie Flower, American River College Horticulture Dept. "Late Winter Garden Ideas"; Warren Roberts- UC Davis Arboretum.

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Garden Data (thru Feb. 4, 2010)

Avg. evapotranspiration rate this past week : 0.32" valley; 0.35" foothills.

Soil Temperature: 50 (F) valley. 49 (F) foothills. 44 (F) upper foothills.

Click Here for more Information about soil temperature and evapotranspiration rates

Chilling hours (Nov. 1, 2009 - Feb. 4, 2010): hours at 45 degrees or less, for deciduous fruit tree production, Chill Season: Nov. 1- Feb. 28)

VALLEY: 647-842 hours

FOOTHILLS: 862-1093 hours

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Looking for lists and pictures of plants that don't require much water?

Check out the website...

Water-Wise Gardening in the Gold Country Region

This is a project undertaken in conjunction with the municipalities and water districts in three counties: Sacramento,
El Dorado and Placer as well as local horticulturists. The website has a wealth of local residential photography and plant
information to help the homeowner improve their garden in a water efficient way.
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 GARDEN EVENTS
The Sacramento County Master Gardener Calendar Is Now Available for purchase on-line!
 
• The Gardening Guide is written specifically for the Sacramento area, not "Northern California" or the Bay area, covering 12 months, from January 2010 through December 2010.
• The Gardening Guide suggests what to do in the garden each month, including what to plant, watering information, maintenance tasks, and dealing with pests and diseases, based on University of California-approved information.
• The calendar pages have space to write appointments and can be used as a journal to record gardening activities (like what, when and where the user has planted something, or when the aphids arrive in the spring).
Click Here for the Details!
 
Friday, February 5
Folk Music Jam Session
12:00&endash;1:00 pm, Wyatt Deck, Old Davis Road, UC Davis
            Folk musicians are invited to play together informally during an acoustic jam session on Friday, February 5, noon to 1:00 p.m. at the Wyatt Deck, located on Old Davis Road next to the redwood grove in the UC Davis Arboretum. Pull out your fiddles, guitars, mandolins, penny whistles, pipes, flutes, squeezeboxes (you name it) and join your fellow musicians for a little bluegrass, old-time, blues, Celtic, klezmer, and world music over the lunch hour. All skill levels welcome. Listeners welcome! Parking is available for $6 in Visitor Lot 5, at Old Davis Road and A Street. For more information, please call (530) 752-4880 or visit arboretum.ucdavis.edu.
 
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Saturday, February 6
Guided Tour: Birds that Winter in the Arboretum
11:00 a.m., Arboretum Headquarters, LaRue Road, UC Davis
            Learn about bird-friendly gardening and what plants attract birds during a free public tour of the UC Davis Arboretum on Saturday, February 6. Enjoy a slide show highlighting birds you might see in winter in the Arboretum. Then, weather permitting, take a stroll with the docent to look for birds in the garden. The tour will meet at 11:00 a.m. at Arboretum Headquarters, on LaRue Road on the UC Davis campus. There is no charge for the tour, and free parking is available in Visitor Lot 47. For more information, please call (530) 752-4880 or visit arboretum.ucdavis.edu.
 
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Saturday, February 13
Guided Tour: Beauty in the Dead of Winter
11:00 a.m., Buehler Alumni & Visitors Center, Old Davis Road, UC Davis
            Does the landscape around you seem dead in midwinter? Take another look on a walk through the Mary Wattis Brown Garden of California Native Plants at the UC Davis Arboretum on Saturday, February 13. Enjoy the visual impact of old valley oaks, the bark texture of Santa Cruz Island ironwood, the scent of a ponderosa pine. Bring a camera to capture reminders of what to plant in the spring for next winter's enjoyment. Hot cider and popcorn will finish the morning. The tour will meet at 11:00 a.m. at the Buehler Alumni & Visitors Center, across from the Mondavi Center on Old Davis Road on the UC Davis campus. There is no charge for the tour, and free parking is available in Visitor Lot 1 and the parking garage south of the Mondavi Center. For more information, please call (530) 752-4880 or visit arboretum.ucdavis.edu.
 
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Friday, February 19
Folk Music Jam Session
12:00&endash;1:00 pm, Wyatt Deck, Old Davis Road, UC Davis
            Folk musicians are invited to play together informally during an acoustic jam session on Friday, February 19, noon to 1:00 p.m. at the Wyatt Deck, located on Old Davis Road next to the redwood grove in the UC Davis Arboretum. Pull out your fiddles, guitars, mandolins, penny whistles, pipes, flutes, squeezeboxes (you name it) and join your fellow musicians for a little bluegrass, old-time, blues, Celtic, klezmer, and world music over the lunch hour. All skill levels welcome. Listeners welcome! Parking is available for $6 in Visitor Lot 5, at Old Davis Road and A Street. For more information, please call (530) 752-4880 or visit arboretum.ucdavis.edu.
 
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Saturday, February 20
Guided Tour: Acacia Encounters
11:00 a.m., Putah Creek Lodge, Putah Creek Lodge Road, UC Davis
            Acacias are popular with gardeners for their masses of yellow or gold flowers and sweet scent. The Eric E. Conn Acacia Grove in the UC Davis Arboretum displays over 50 species of acacias from Australia, Africa, and the Americas, in a wide variety of sizes, shapes, textures, and hues. Enjoy a free public tour of the acacia collection in the Arboretum on Saturday, February 20, at 11:00 a.m.  The tour will leave from Putah Creek Lodge, on Putah Creek Lodge Road, off LaRue Road on the UC Davis campus. Free parking is available at the Lodge.  For more information, please call (530) 752-4880 or visit arboretum.ucdavis.edu.
 
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Saturday, February 27, 2010
Event:  Calaveras Master Gardeners Open Garden Day
Time:  10 am to 2 pm
Place:  Demonstration Garden, 891 Mountain Ranch Rd., San Andreas, CA
Cost:  Free
Call:  209-754-6477 or 209-728-0106
Details:  Garden opens to the public at 10 am.  Two presentations will be offered during the day - "Bareroot Gardening" and "Planting from Seed".  At 10:30 a.m. Master Gardeners will discuss the advantages of bareroot planting and demonstrate by actually planting a bareroot tree.  The second presentation, at 11:15 a.m., will have a Master Gardener demonstrating the best conditions for starting plants from seed.  While the garden is open Master Gardeners will be available to answer general gardening questions and plants will be available for sale.  Event will be held RAIN or SHINE.
 
====================================
 
Sunday, February 28
Native Californian Elderberry Flute-Making Workshop
1:00-3:00 p.m., Room 146 Environmental Horticulture, Old Davis Road, UC Davis
            People of all ages are invited to learn how to make and play a Native Californian elderberry flute in a free two-hour workshop at the UC Davis Arboretum on Sunday, February 28. East Bay Regional Parks docent Antonio Flores will talk about the culture of flute-making and also about the endangered elderberry beetle. All materials will be supplied. Please bring a sharpened pocket knife. Adults will need to supervise their young children. The workshop will take place from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. in Room 146 of the Environmental Horticulture complex, on the south side of Old Davis Road on the UC Davis campus. There is no charge for the workshop, and free parking is available in Visitor Lot 5, at Old Davis Road and A Street. For more information, please call (530) 752-4880 or visit arboretum.ucdavis.edu
 
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The Complete List of Garden Writers Association Media Award Winners for 2009
===============================================================================================
HOW TO HIRE AN ARBORIST
information from the Sacramento Tree Foundation
Improper pruning can cause irreparable damage to your tree and may end up costing you a considerable amount of time and money. Hire a Certified Arborist as if your tree's life depends on it!
 
An Arborist is a specialist in the care of individual trees. Arborists are knowledgeable about routine needs of trees, and are trained and equipped to provide proper diagnostic and remedial measures as well.
 
After certification with the International Society of Arboriculture (ISA), each Arborist is assigned a number, which is retained throughout the professional life of an Arborist. It is the right of those hiring an Arborist to ask for this number, and to check the status of that Arborist with the ISA.
 
Hire someone who is licensed, bonded and insured. Examine these credentials and feel free to check with the appropriate agencies to verify the validity of the credentials.
 
Remember that almost anybody can obtain a business license, and that this alone is no guarantee of quality.
 
Do ask for references and take the time to check them out.
 
Get more than one bid and examine the written specifications of the bids.
 
If you are not familiar with the terminology used, ask for clarification. Ask questions!
 
Take your time and select a company that is reputable. Determine the best combination of price, work to be done, skill and professionalism to protect your investment.
 
Membership in professional organizations demonstrates a willingness on the part of the Arborist to stay abreast of Arboricultural information. It is not however, a guarantee of satisfied work. Check references.
 
Remember that improper tree care can take many years to correct itself. If pruning is too severe, it may never be corrected.
 
Beware of anyone that recommends topping a tree. A reliable Arborist will try to talk you out of topping a tree if it is requested. Never allow a climber to use spikes or spurs to climb your tree unless the tree is scheduled for removal.
 
Note: It is the policy of the Sacramento Tree Foundation to not endorse private arborists, tree service companies or consultants. Many fine tree care companies exist in the Sacramento area. It is recommended that you obtain several quotes, check the professional status of individuals or firms with the ISA, check references, and request evidence of insurance from each company you consider.
 
Make pruning cuts outside of the branch collar. No flush cuts.
 
To prevent large branches to be pruned from tearing the tree bark below it, use the three-cut method for removing large branches. The first cut is from the bottom, going up less than halfway. The second cut is outside of the first cut, from top to bottom. The third cut cleans up the remaining stump, but is made outside the branch collar.
 
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Date Last Modified: 2/4/10
© 2010 Fred Hoffman