Creating Wreaths and Swags from Your Garden Prunings
Posted 11/12/2009 - Winter is a great time to prune many of your evergreen trees and shrubs.  You can use the clippings and create beautiful holiday wreaths and swags to decorate your home for the holidays.  Join me in this hands-on holiday traditional workshop. Participants will learn how to prune evergreens properly and then take those evergreens and make them into beautiful wreaths or swags to take home.  Cost is $40.00 per person and includes all supplies for a large wreath, refreshments and handouts.  Bring your best friends, your garden snips and start your own holiday tradition.  This class is held outdoors at the Historic Mills Orchard, Hamilton City, CA  (please dress appropriately for the weather.)  If rain, a heated, protected area will be used).  To register on-line:  go to http://ucanr.org/wreaths/ Or make your check payable to UC Regents and send to UCCE, P.O. Box 697, Orland, CA 95963

Using Landscape Fabrics for Weed Management
Posted 10/29/2009 -  Cheryl Wilen, IPM Specialist in Weed management provides tips on using weed block fabric to effectively manage annual weeds as well as how to manage small infestations of nutsedge can be viewed on a U-Tube Video.  Each video is about 2 minutes.  To view go to:  http://www.youtube.com/Ucanr#p/a/u/0/Cv2QO7fus20http://www.youtube.com/Ucanr#p/a/u/1/3I4BR5Q8mT0

Look for Green Worms on Your Broccoli
Posted 10/22/2009 - You take a few days off from the garden and all of a sudden it becomes a battle ground between you and the various insect pests that invade....I noted that there were numerous holes in my once perfect broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage plants.  I also saw a number of velvety green worms camouflaged within the foliage with the only telltale sign of them being there were the holes in the leaves and an abundance of frass (insect excrement) they leave behind.  These are relatively easy pests to control though.  Generally, in a normal size garden, they can be handpicked and crushed.  They most commonly feed along the mid-vein and then as they grow, they tend to feed further out and may even bore into a head of cabbage.  If hand picking isn’t possible or for those that are squeamish, the best treatment is Spinosad, and insecticidal soap for newly hatched larva or an application of BT (bacillus thuringiensis kurstaki).  BT is a bacteria that can invade the larva and kill them without harming...

Fall Is For Planting Trees
Posted 10/14/2009 - Spring is when most people get energized to plant trees in their garden but fall is a much better time if you live in a temperate climate.  There is less stress on the trees because of lower temperatures, reduced transpiration and a higher moisture availablity.  The roots have a chance to grow out into the native soils during the winter before the onslaught of high summer heat.  Also, if you are choosing trees for their fall color, they should begin to show some color now depending upon the location and the species.  By the way, if you chose something that has fall color, that doesn't mean it will have the same color in your garden.  Rather, it just assures you that the color is genetically possible.  Often our landscape trees get far too much water and fertilizer for good fall color.  Typically, trees under a moderate degree of water stress later in the summer will show better fall color.  Choosing the right tree is always a trial.  To learn more about the right tree, right...