Long ago and far away, the hills and flatlands of Southern California used to be covered with orange groves. One can almost hear Peter, Paul and Mary singing, “Where have all the orange groves gone? Long time passing. Where have all the orange groves gone? Long time ago. Where have all the orange groves gone? Gone to housing, every one. "

Ah, but you can have your very own “citrus grove,” right in your yard. Citrus trees are ornamentally beautiful, have fragrant blooms, are evergreen and boast colorful fruits all year long. Who could ask for more? Walk out into your yard and pluck an orange, lime, lemon, grapefruit, kumquat or your citrus of choice--fresh and delicious.

Now, we don’t mean to imply you should add rows and rows of citrus trees. But you can select your favorite citrus trees and incorporate them into your landscape, front or back yard. Also, dwarf citrus grow great in containers. Include them in that container-designed area of your patio or deck. If you plan to plant a citrus tree in a container, using cactus mix as the planting soil will give your citrus tree the best drainage.

We have numerous varieties of citrus trees from which to make your selection. Many of these are available in either standard or dwarf. We receive new shipments of citrus regularly in sizes ranging from 5 gallon to 15 gallon.

Citrus trees love full sun and well-drained soil. They prefer sandy soils. If you have more clay-like soil, amend heavily or plant the tree on a slight mound to keep the roots elevated for good drainage. And don’t forget to mulch, mulch, mulch! Citrus trees like moist soil, but not saturated soil. If you have clay soil, take care not to over-water in the root areas of your citrus. It is also best not to under-plant these trees at all, especially with grass that needs lots of water.

Fertilizing is important for citrus. They are heavy feeders and need lots of nitrogen. That should make sense when you observe their continuous foliage-growing, flowering and fruiting cycle. They also need other minerals such as iron, manganese and zinc. Yellowing leaves with dark veins are a sign of chlorosis from iron deficiency. Yellow mottling or blotching on leaves can be characteristic of manganese and/or zinc deficiency. If you are uncertain of what is happening with your citrus, bring us bring down a sample of the leaves and we’ll direct you to the correct fertilizer.

Unhealthy citrus can get pests such as aphids, mites, scale, mealybugs, sooty mold and/or whitefly. Remember that you cannot use most synthetic chemical treatments on an edible plant. Keep your citrus healthy with regular organic fertilizing, a full sun location, mulch, and regular water but not saturation. It also helps to mulch with worm castings from time to time.

If you do get one of or a combination of the above pests, the first type of treatment is spraying with water. You can knock off all of the listed insect pests with a hard blast of water. And you can clean foliage coated with black sooty mold with water and finger scrubbing.

If you are growing your citrus in a container, all of the above instructions are for you, too. However, you will need to water more often, because containers tend to dry out. Also, as mentioned before, make sure to pick a dwarf tree and keep it trimmed to the width of the container.

Citrus are excellent landscape plants that add to your gardens an attractive form, glossy green foliage, perfume fragrance, colorful fruits and above all, delectable eating! Come in to see us. We’ll meet you in the citrus grove!

Homegrown peppers are fun to grow, healthful for you, and packed with flavor. They taste great whether eaten fresh, roasted or sautéed. Many people start with one variety and quickly discover it's even more fun to experiment and grow multiple varieties that produce a medley of flavors.

The biggest mistake gardeners make is planting their pepper plants too early. You can start them from seed indoors early in spring, but it's best not to transplant starter plants until the soil has warmed and night temperatures stay above 55-60 degrees. Now is the perfect time to plant your peppers. We have lots of varieties in stock, including sweet bell, spicy peppers, and heirloom varieties.

Peppers do best in well-amended soil, so make sure to amend your vegetable bed before planting. They prefer a long, moderate growing season. If it is too cool, peppers might not quite ripen fully, and the fruit won't set well when daytime temperatures stay above 90 degrees (shading them some can help during a string of hot days). We recommend ammending the soil with Master Nursery Bumper Crop.

It's very important to keep the soil consistently moist; otherwise the peppers can crack or get sun scald. Unless your soil is naturally high in calcium, make sure to apply a rich organic plant food high in calcium at the time of planting and every two months during the growing season. This helps prevent blossom-end rot.

Once your peppers change to their mature color, it's time for harvesting. Then sit back and enjoy the fruits of your labor.

Considering redoing the landscape a bit? Find the old one a bit boring? Perhaps it's time to add the power of purple to your landscape. Purple-flowering plants add a special grace to a landscape. The strong, vibrant purple color goes well with white, blue, yellow or pink and is stunning planted next to orange. It looks particularly striking mixed with green and white variegated foliage. Purple just has a way of bringing other colors out.

Because purple-flowering plants are native to so many parts of the world, we have many to choose from. You can use taller purple-flowering shrubs or perennials to create a backdrop for shorter plants. You can also use purple-flowering vines to hide a fence or climb a trellis, such as Clematis, Wisteria, or Petrea (Queen's Wreath).

In front of those plants, you can layer in some purple-flowering perennials. Finally, add some low growing spreaders to fill in the areas between.

Do you have shaded areas? No problem. There are purple-flowering shade-lovers too. There are many different shades of purple for shady areas. On the blueish purple end, there are hydrangeas, to lavender and lilac geraniums. Also don't forget purple foliaged plants like heucheras and ajugas.

Don't just limit your planting to the ground. Many purple-flowering plants look great in containers for patios and decks or even in hanging baskets. You can even create a blend of annuals, perennials, and ornamental grasses to make any pot, urn, window box or decorative planter look fantastic all season long.

Many purple-flowering perennials such as echinacea, penstemon, salvia, giant scabiosa, statice and veronica are also wonderful at attracting butterflies and birds--particularly hummingbirds. But most of all, they will spice up a garden and make it come alive with color.

How often should I feed my lawn?

Answer:
We recommend feeding lawns every two months during the growing season. You can start off by applying a lawn food in late winter to early spring that contains a pre-emergent herbicide to help prevent crabgrass and other weeds from germinating.

After that, switch to a complete lawn food.

If summer weeds become a problem, apply a weed and feed fertilizer.

Make sure to give your lawn a final feeding in fall, before it goes dormant, to keep it green through winter. If a lawn goes into the winter looking yellow, you won't be able to green it up until temperatures warm up again.

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