garden maintenance

Gosh! I had so much fun preparing for, and giving a little talk on some options for organic weed and insect control for Lyn Shirley’s Environmental Horticulture class at Victor Valley College this afternoon. In order to be clear-headed, I did some review on materials in preparation for my talk so I could keep my thoughts organized. I got to reminisce about the olden days before Round-up and weedeaters. Yes folks, I really  am that old.  AND I (as I usually do in these things) learned something new. Actually it is quite old, just new to me. ROCK DUST as a soil amendment. Keep that thought. I plan on researching that and will offer up new info here on this blog real soon.

 

The Victor Valley Master Composters are meeting next Tuesday, September 10 from
6:00 – 7:30 p.m. at the Victorville City Hall, Conference Room D.  After the
short Master Composter meeting, Cindy Poore, owner of Perfection Landscape will
be giving a presentation on drought tolerant landscaping.  The public is welcome
to attend, so feel free to invite your friends.  Don Woo, project coordinator has  also invited the Barstow
group in case they were interested in the presentation.

It’s finally getting colder out and we are thinking about hiding indooors for a few months. No one wants to go outside when it is wet, cold and windy. Check out our December newsletter below to get the latest tips on garden prep, winter watering, special gift suggestions and our fabulous cookie recipie!!

Click the link fo our newsletter here:   December 2012 Newsletter 

Hey, Its soooo nice out. I’m enjoying the sun. It’s been so wet lately. We had 5 inches of rain in just 5 days last week here in Phelan. I KNOW that all that rain  here in the high desert is going to stimulate all the weed seeds lurking under the soil just waiting for the opportunity to pop up and ruin your weekends this spring. It’ll be really nice and warm and all those weeds will be calling your name.

 

Get rid of them before they start. Put down a weed preventer, called pre-emergent. It works amazingly. We put down a lot of it this time of year for our clients. Some of our clients are smart and do it every year, sometimes twice a year before the weeds show up. Others, just wait it out hoping the weeds won’t show and they won’t have to spend the money. Dry years the gamblers sometimes win. Wet years, not so much.

 

I think Benjamin Franklin said “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” I think this applies here.