UC Master Gardener Program

North State Garden News

Blossoming Squash

It can be so frustrating to see a young squash developing on the vine, then it withers at the end and doesn't grow any larger.  What causes that?  In most cases, it's a pollination failure.  Squash, melons and cucumbers (cucurbits) have male and female flowers.  Pollen in the male flower is sticky, so wind-blown pollination doesn't work and the plants need insects or human helpers to transfer pollen.  There can also be a mismatch in timing if the female & male flowers aren't blooming simultaneously, so that pollination doesn't occur. How do you tell the difference between male and female flowers?  The male flowers grow on slender, upright stalks and have a single stamen in the center of a flower.  The female flowers have a swollen base (the beginning of your squash fruit) and the center of the flower has a cluster of anthers.  In the photo, the female flower just above the baby pattypan is just about to bloom.  The...

Peaches are blooming, that means

The cherries and peaches have begun to bloom at our office at the Young Family Ranch.  That means it's too late for that last application of fungicide to prevent peach leaf curl.  This hasn't been a wet winter, so if you sprayed your trees last fall your trees should be OK.  Just relax and enjoy those lovely blossoms!

Gardening in a Drought

We're still far behind on rainfall this winter, so it's a good time to plan ahead to reduce water use.  The Master Gardener Program has added information to their website to help you save water in your garden, landscape, lawn and trees.  Check out Drought Gardening Tips.    X

Fruit Tree Pruning Considerations for Mountain Areas

We had a fun workshop on fruit tree pruning last Saturday.  Folks had some great questions about special pruning approaches for dealing with some of our mountain issues: bears and heavy snows.  Like this little fella who offered to help me prune my fruit trees last spring...   Conventional pruning recommends that you remove competing leaders if you're training the fruit tree to a central leader.  I tend to leave small competing leaders in case I need a "back-up" due to breakage from a bear or snow.  I remove larger competing leaders before they truly compete with the central leader. Where the bears or snow have removed my central leader, I've tried to re-train the fruit tree into a open center.  I find that the open centers are subject to breakage from heavy snows.  It is important to have strong branch attachment.  Remove branches with narrow angles (likely to suffer from bark inclusion) in favor of scaffold branches with a 10 or 2...

Pruning workshop Saturday, February 15, Young Family Ranch, Weaverville

Please join us for a fruit tree pruning workshop at the Young Family Ranch, 260 Oregon Street in Weaverville, Saturday, February 15th from 1:00 - 3:30 p.m. Starting at 1:00 pm, the workshop will provide a lecture/review on fundamentals of pruning, dormant vs. summer pruning, heading vs. thinning cuts, proper pruning cuts, disease prevention, appropriate tools and tool care, tips for restoring neglected, old fruit trees. At 2:00 pm, attendees can practice hands-on pruning with guidance from Master Gardeners. You can attend all or part of the workshops. Some tools and ladders will be provided. We encourage you to bring your own pruning tools if you would like to have them sharpened. Please dress warmly as the hands-on portion of the workshop will be held outside. In the event of rain, the lecture will be held, but the hands-on pruning will be cancelled. For more information, check out our website (cetrinity.ucanr.edu), call Carol Fall, UC Cooperative Extension, Trinity County...