Bay-Friendly Gardening

Wondering what the picture of a Pelican means every time you buy a plant at Berkeley Horticultural or East Bay Nursery?

Bay Friendly gardening was founded in 2004.

It's a holistic approach to gardening that works in harmony with natural conditions of the San Francisco Bay Watershed.

Is based on 7 principles:

1-Landscape Locally

2-Landscape for Less to the Landfill

3-Nurture the Soil

4-Conserve Water

5-Conserve Energy

6-Protect Water & Air Quality

7-Create Wildlife Habitat

We live in an Mediterranean climate, with long, dry summers.

Before you buy a plant, think about the impact this plant will have in our environment.

If you want more information about Bay-Friendly gardening, please visit: Bay-Friendly Landscaping & Gardening Coalition

Garden Check List for January

Due to the cold weather and short days, most plants are dormant in January around the Bay Area.

This is the month to prune and spray with dormant oil fruit trees and also roses if you did not prune last month. Also, the nurseries are selling bare-root roses and fruit trees which are less expensive.

Usually January is a wet month, but this year we are having a dry winter. It's good to keep the irrigation running at least once a week to keep the soil wet; this will protect the roots during the freezing nights.

If you have citrus, bougainvilleas, fuchsias and succulents, keep an eye open. These plants are very susceptible to frost damage.

Understanding Plant Labels

Every time you buy a plant it comes with that plastic tag or label stuck in the soil.

It's called a plant label or tag. It provides valuable information about the plant, such as water, soil and light requirements and how big the plant will grow.

One of the most important pieces of information is the light or sun requirements. For example, if you plant an Iceland Pop, that needs full sun. On a shade spot of the garden, it probably is not going to do well.

To understand the terms Full Sun, Part Sun, Part Shade and Full Shade, just follow this simple rule:

Full Shade: the area on the garden that receives 2 hours or less of direct sun during the day.

Part Shade: the area on the garden that receives between 2 and 4 hours of direct sun.

Part Sun: indicates the area that receives between 4 and 6 hours of direct sun.

Full Sun: more than 6 hours of direct sun per day.

Nurseries around El Cerrito

Going to nurseries to buy plants for my clients or for me is one of my favorite pastimes. Over the years I think I visited almost every single nursery in the area.

The El Cerrito resident has many options to buy good plants close to the city.

Below is an alphabetical list of the places I go more often. They all have good selection and excellent staff.

Annie's Annuals and Perennials: located in Richmond, has a huge selection of hard-to-find plants, most of then in 4-inch pots and 6 packs. 

Berkeley Horticultural Nursery: very good selection of shrubs, annuals, trees and California Natives.

Westbrae Nursery:

Cactus Jungle:  For succulents, bamboo and Xeriscape. 

Spiral Gardens:  Edible plants only.

Fall gardening

Fall is one of the best season for garden projects, especially  planting. The days still have a lot of light and the temperatures are warm enough for the plants to grow.The planting you do now will receive all the water from the raining season.California Natives in the garden will benefit a lot from these rains.
Also, there is a lot of work to be done to prepare the garden for the winter. Keeping weeding, add more mulch where is necessary and start reducing but not stopping completely to water the plants. This is the last month to fertilize the lawns and the roses.
Other things that need to be done:
-Leaves and plant debris disease free can be added to the compost pile.
-Begin to dig and divide perennials that bloom in Spring and early Summer.
-Time to start diging Dahlias and other Summer bulbs for winter storage.
Since October is one of the best month of the year to buy plants, next week I will write about the best Nurseries around El Cerrito.