Wegman’s will be closing at 3 pm on Saturday, the 4th of July.

Wegman’s wishes everyone a fun and safe 4th of July. It’s a perfect time to enjoy all of your labors in your gardens by enjoying a BBQ or just a quiet day relaxing.

Beginning Wednesday, July 1st, our hours will be 8 am to 6 pm Monday through Saturday and 8 am to 5 pm on Sunday. Our knowledgeable and helpful staff is always here to diagnose plant problems, give planting tips and advise and answer any questions you might have. Remember that Wegman’s is always pleased to try to find those special hard-to-find plants that make your garden unique.

Redwood City celebrates Family 4th with the 71st Annual Parade. The theme this year is ‘All Things Musical.’ Redwood City has the largest 4th of July Parade in Northern California and it’s always great fun for the family! Check out their website for more details: http://www.parade.org/index.html

Sundays with Mr. Ed Continues Sunday, June 28!

Topic of the Week: Mulching and Amendments

Join Mr. Ed as he continues his series of informal seminars on Sunday mornings at 10 am in the nursery Sunday, June 28th. With the need to conserve water, mulching is an important topic. Read about mulching in our newsletter next week and then come and ask Mr. Ed your questions. He will also be discussing amending our Bay Area soils.

A question frequently asked of Wegman’s Nursery is ‘What’s the difference between mulch and amendment?” The short answer is that mulch goes on top of the ground and amendment is mixed into the soil.

Gardeners in the Bay Area are fully aware of the problems with our heavy clay soils. (See our Care Guide on Soils-Its Care & Improvement for improving your soil.). Mulching consists of placing a layer of material on the surface of the soil surrounding individual plants. Mulch can be wood chips, pine needles, large or small bits of fur bark, redwood compost, homemade compost, newspaper or gravel.

Newspaper will work but is the least attractive choice. Gravel would be used in special situations such as for xeriscapes featuring succulents and grasses. Fibrous Redwood bard (gorilla hair) is not recommended.

Mulching serves four main purposes:

The most important is to conserve water. The mulch is placed three to four inches deep around the plant at least to the drip-line but preferably over the entire planting bed. The mulch should not touch the trunk of the plant where it would retain moisture and cause "crown-rot."

When organic materials such as fir bark, redwood compost or pine needles are used, they gradually incorporate into the soil and over the years will gradually improve the texture of the soil.

Mulching remains moist and helps to stabilize soil temperatures so that the soil does not become too hot in the summer nor too cold in the winter.
And finally, a well mulched landscape is much more attractive than bare soil, dry, cracked, clay summer soil or wet slimy winter soil.

Of all the mulching materials, costs will vary. Newspaper is a non-cost item, and city departments will often offer wood chips at no cost. The wood chips are large and clunky, of mixed origin and look best on a hillside or large landscape area. Tree trimmers who grind their trimmings will usually donate the wood chips as do city departments.

Mr. Ed, in the past, would collect pine needles from the neighborhood and use them to mulch acid loving plants such as rhododendrons, camellias, and azaleas. Again, at no cost.

Some woodworking shops accumulate large quantities of wood shavings. These make excellent mulch and quickly incorporate into bare soil. As they are incorporated and act as an amendment, sprinkle a bit of high-nitrogen fertilizer over them to help them decompose.

We have found that our Master Nursery Gold Rush (fir compost plus 15% aged chicken manure) makes excellent mulch. Gold Rush will soon incorporate into the soil where it also works to break down the heavy clay. Master Nursery Forest Blend, a redwood compost, is our choice for mulching acid loving plants. It is the most economical of the Master Nursery amendments and mulches since it is packaged in three cubic foot bags rather than the more common 2 cubic foot soil bags.

For decorative mulch Master Nursery Forest Bark is your product of choice. The bark is available in two sizes, small and fine (mini-mulch). The fine size will decompose more quickly but the small size will last longest.

Regardless of which mulch you choose, you will have to supplement it each year or two. Depending on the coarseness of the existing mulch, the amount of supplemental material needed will range from one to two inches. Some gardeners, anxious to improve their clay soil, will use the fine textured mulches and work them entirely into the soil at the beginning of the new growing season and then remulch the entire area.

If you are using gravel as mulch, it is wise to put down a layer of weed barrier cloth next to the soil, then cover the weed barrier with the three to four inches of gravel. With newspaper, you use only four to six sheets.

Finally, when it is fertilizer time, sprinkle a suitable Master Nursery product over the surface of the mulch and water thoroughly to flush the fertilizer down to the soil. If you are using soaker hoses or drip lines for irrigation, these can be laid down before the mulch is applied to cover them.

Whatever your choice--the important this is to Mulch, Mulch, Mulch!

Although George Washington may or may not have chopped down a cherry tree, now would be an excellent time for you to plant one or two in your garden. Mr. Ed remembers that as a youngster there were cherry trees as large as 35 feet wide to 40 feet tall growing in many back yards. By midsummer they were loaded with cherries except for the branches within reaching height that had been picked bare.

Most of our gardens and properties, today, cannot handle a 35 to 40 fruit tree. Fortunately, with proper pruning, cherry trees can be held to any height so that they will fit even a small lot.

Cherry trees have relatively few insect pests or diseases. There is no need to spray for coddling moth or curly leaf. They may get some aphids in late spring which you can spray or ignore. Aphids will do no harm to the tree or its fruit. Similarly, once established, cherry trees require relatively little pruning.

The following varieties of cherry trees are available or can be ordered from Wegman’s: 'Bing', 'Black Tartarian,' 'Craig’s Crimson,' 'Montmorency Sour,' 'Royal Ann,' 'Rainier,' 'Stella' and 'Utah Giant.' In addition, there are some two-on- one and four-on-one (such as 'Black Tartarian,' 'Bing,' 'Lapin' and 'Van') varieties available, all on one rootstock.

Some of these cherries are self-fertile which means that the flowers will pollinize themselves and produce fruit. Others require a different variety of cherry (within one or two blocks) to provide a different pollen for fruit to be produced.

Bing cherries are the big, dark cherries we buy at grocery stores and the #1 popular sweet cherry. It needs a pollinizer such as 'Black Tartarian,' Rainier' or 'Stella.'
'Royal Ann' produces a sweet yellow cherry and requires a' Black Tartarian' pollinizer.

'Craig’s Crimson,' 'Stella' and 'Montmorency' are all self-fertile. 'Craig’s Crimson 'is a taste test winner and a natural semi-dwarf.' Montmorency' is the most popular pie and dessert cherry in North America. It is tart, has bright red skin, yellow flesh and is a heavy producer. 'Stella' is similar to the Bing cherry.

See our Care Guide for the planting and care of cherry trees and look forward to a smacking good time!

Our Bedding Department has beautiful hanging fuchsia baskets in full bloom and in vivid colors! Fuchsia baskets are perfect to hang on your patio or along a front porch for a bright color splash. The baskets are party ready; just hang them up and enjoy that breath of cool color on hot summer nights. The hummingbirds will love you during the day for your thoughtfulness.

With the temperature rising and the need to be water wise the watchword is Mulch! Wegman’s has a number of products to that will keep the ground cooler and the moisture in. Mr. Ed’s favorite phrase is “Mulch, mulch, mulch.” So here are some products to choose from: