LET’S GET GROWING!

Gardening can seem complicated, but it doesn’t have to be. With a few steps and some helpful advice from our Team Members, your local Friedman’s has everything you need to Get Growing.

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SPRING Veggies ROSES FRUIT TREES HOUSEPLANTS

FALL Veggies

Few activities are as rewarding as growing your own produce. The term “victory garden” was coined in WWI as a way to support the troops. Even today, growing your own salad feels like some sort of victory. As with any gardening, this hobby can start small – containers on a sunny deck; medium – raised beds; or quickly grow to a large plot to feed the whole family – or neighborhood. However it’s tackled, planning is the key start:

Spring Veggies

Few activities are as rewarding as growing your own produce. The term “victory garden” was coined in WWI as a way to support the troops. Even today, growing your own salad feels like some sort of victory. As with any gardening, this hobby can start small – containers on a sunny deck; medium – raised beds; or quickly grow to a large plot to feed the whole family – or neighborhood. However it’s tackled, planning is the key start:

ROSES

CARING FOR EXISTING ROSES

If you have dormant roses existing in your garden, here are some tips on how to care for them throughout the year.

Winter care:

Pruning during the winter helps prep roses for new growth in the spring
Dormant sprays should be used during this time to fight pests and bacterial issues
Mulching around roses help retain soil moisture and help keep soils cool and help resist weed growth

Spring and summer care:

Regular watering during the spring and summer will keep your roses hydrated and growing
Fertilize during the spring and summer to encourage continual growth throughout the flowering season
Thinning your roses helps to keep branches from getting too heavy with too many flowers and promotes new growth
Pest control may be needed during spring and summer

PRUNING EXISTING ROSES

What you need to know:

Triggers healthy new growth and encourages flower production
Helps to prevent fungus and disease
Gets rid of damaged or dead canes
Results in a fuller and bushier plant
Keeps them looking their best

What happens if you don’t prune your existing roses?
If you don’t prune existing roses, you may not get as many blooms on your roses. Additionally, you may risk spreading disease to an otherwise healthy plant.

Healthy growth is especially susceptible to disease when it’s surrounded with dead and dying wood. Fungal diseases such as powdery mildew, rust and blackspot find the moist darkness of old, tangled bushes suited to their proliferation. Diseased plants then become easily subjected to pest and weather damage.

NUTRIENT DEFICIENCY

The most common nutrient deficiency is iron deficiency.

Symptoms show up on new growth as yellowed leaves with bright green veins. Leaves turn nearly white then brown, then fall as the condition worsens.

Other causes of iron deficiency:

Highly alkaline soil
Over watering
Poor drainage
Lack of available iron

Solutions for iron deficiency include simply feeding your roses.

Roses are some of the hungriest plants! Feed them regularly using organic fertilizers to ward off nutrient deficiency issues.

What happens if you over water?

Overwatering and poor drainage can result in drooping and yellowing of their leaves. Waterlogged soil can lead to root rot and cause the plant to die.

What happens if you don’t water enough?

The most obvious symptom of a dry plant is wilting. Plants will recover from wilt if they are watered before the permanent wilting point but for quality roses this is not a recommended strategy. Wilt is an indication of stress and a stressed plant will not produce the best possible flower.

DORMANT Fruit Trees

CARING FOR ESTABLISHED DORMANT FRUIT TREES

Caring for your dormant fruit trees involves the use of dormant sprays, fertilizer, thinning of fruit, pruning your tree and of course, watering.

DORMANT SPRAYS

Dormant sprays are used to control common pests that might affect your fruit trees. Common pests include aphids, spider mites, and scale.

There are two basic types of dormant sprays; horticulture oil which is used for insect control and copper spray with is used for disease control.

The best time to apply these sprays to your fruit trees is in the late fall and early spring during the months of November, December, January and February.

FERTILIZING

Fertilizing your dormant fruit trees is essential to maximize tree growth and fruit production.

As a rule of thumb, begin fertilizing at the start of the growth of the tree and always read the package for application instructions.

Fertilizing fruit trees three times from spring to summer is generally sufficient to support adequate growth. You should stop fertilizing around August as the tree growth slows down in preparation for winter.

The best place to apply fertilizer is around the “drip line” of the tree. The drip line is defined as the outermost circumference of the tree’s canopy, from which water drips onto the ground. This circumference represents the most active roots.

THINNING FRUIT

Thinning of fruit from your tree is necessary for a few different reasons. By thinning your fruit, it promotes the increase in size of the remaining fruit, helps to maintain fruit production from year to year and to helps to avoid broken branches due to too much weight.

Apple and pear trees should be thinned out to allow one fruit per spur (the short, woody structure where flowers arise), and about one fruit for every 6 inches of branch.

Apricots, peaches, nectarines and plums should be thinned within 30 days after final blooming. These varieties should also be thinned out to about one fruit every 6 inch of branch. These trees have a natural thinning process in early summer, so you may want to be conservative with thinning initially.

Cherry and nut trees generally do not need to be thinned.

PRUNING

Pruning your trees is an essential part of maintaining healthy plants for a variety of reasons.

Benefits to pruning your trees include:

Improved tree strength and encouragement of new growth
To improve air circulation and reduce the potential for disease
To control the age and position of the cropping wood which will improve fruit quality
To remove dead or broken branches

Trees can become unbalanced if not pruned regularly, which can affect future growth and fruit production. Trees that are not pruned can also become more susceptible to disease and may have difficulty recovery from insect attacks.

WATERING

Fruit and nut trees will grow well if irrigated regularly. Good irrigation practices in California include the application of water at sufficient intervals in order to avoid plant stress. This will ensure the maximum plant growth, fruit size, and yield.

Overwatering and not pruning plants back by 1/3 is the primary cause of newly planted bare root plants not leafing out and bearing fruit. Newly planted bare root trees should only be watered when the soil around the roots becomes almost dry. Given that bare root fruit is planted in Winter, when it is cold and usually rainy, it’s possible your deciduous (plants that lose their leaves) plant may not need watering until early to mid-spring.

When a deciduous tree is without foliage, it needs little to no watering since it is dormant. Excessive watering while a tree is dormant will sour the soil, rot the roots and debilitate the physiology of the tree.

Remember that rainfall counts as a watering!

Once a newly planted bare root plant has foliage, water it more frequently. Generally watering every 5-7 days is adequate. If you are unsure if the tree needs water, check the soil’s moisture level 6-8 inches below the ground.

In areas that experience dry and warm weather during winter/spring, water every three days. Continue to water every 3-4 days throughout the trees first summer OR every other day in dry, hot summer areas.

Established fruit trees might not require watering more than once a month. Again, check the moisture level below the soil to be sure. In areas where spring is cool and there is some rain you might not need to water until May, especially for Cherries and Apricots. The takeaway is to water deeply and infrequently!

MAJOR DISEASE

PEACH LEAF CURL

Peach leaf curl, also known as leaf curl, is a disease caused by the fungus Taphrina deformans. Peach leaf curl affects the blossoms, fruit, leaves, and shoots of peaches, ornamental flowering peaches, and nectarines, and is one of the most common disease problems for backyard gardeners growing these trees.

Non-Chemical Control Option
* Protect trees during cool and wet weather to prevent or limit fungal outbreaks during the growing season. Position under overhangs or even tent off trees to protect them as best as possible from prolonged periods of moisture exposure.

Chemical Control Option
Copper based dormant sprays are widely used sprays for backyard gardeners.
Apply Copper sprays in 7 day intervals only until buds start to emerge. The first application should begin in Autumn just before leaves fall and continue through early February.

Note: Treatment of peach leaf curl should be done only when the tree is dormant. Once buds emerge all treatments will be ineffective until the following Autumn.

FIRE BLIGHT

Fire Blight is a common and very destructive bacterial disease of apples and pears and some other members of the family Rosaceae.

Non-Chemical Control Option

Over spray should be kept to a minimum
Remove any infected blossoms, shoots and branches with sterile pruners
Older wood has to be cut into to remove infection (trunk and main branches)

Chemical Control Option
Copper based dormant sprays are widely used sprays for backyard gardeners. Most copper sprays are applied at 10 percent bloom of the tree; repeat at 7 days intervals during the bloom cycle only.

Note: Copper spray treatments for fire blight are for blossom treatment only. Older infected wood must have the infection cut out. This is usually done in Summer or Winter when the bacteria is no longer spreading.

MAJOR INSECT

CODLING MOTHS

Codling moths are major pests to agricultural crops, mainly fruits such as apples and pears. The larvae are not able to feed on leaves so they are highly dependent on fruits as a food source and thus have a significant impact on crops.

Non-Chemical Control Option
Thinning fruit helps limit the availability of fruit that can be infested. Bagging fruit involves the use of either a clear plastic bag or brown paper lunch bag. Wrap the bag around the fruit and seal to prevent flies from infesting fruit. Keep area clear of excess leaves, over growth and fallen fruit through the growing season to prevent further infestation.

Chemical Control Option
Carbaryl or Spinosad based sprays are used in conjunction with traps on a timing based method. Use about 1 trap per 100 fruit.

Note: Sprays are used in 10 day intervals . Do not use sprays more than 10 times in 1 year. Sprays may be used up to one week of harvest. Spinosad base sprays are also available for use. Only use sprays after petal fall from fruits.

APHIDS

Aphids are a minute bug that feeds by sucking sap from plants. It reproduces rapidly and may live in large colonies that cause extensive damage to crops.

Non-Chemical Control Option
Aphids are among the favorite foods of lady bugs and lacewings. These biological controls are not compatible with insecticides, so choose your control method carefully.

Chemical Control Option
Insecticidal soaps, Neem Oil, horticultural oil or other commercial insecticides work well.

APPLE MAGGOTS

The apple maggot, also known as the railroad worm, is a species of fruit fly, and a pest of several types of fruits, mainly apples. They are known to also affect peach, plum, pear, cherry and apricot trees.

Non-Chemical Control Option
Thinning fruit helps limit the availability of fruit that can be infested. Bagging fruit involves the use of either a clear plastic bag or brown paper lunch bag. Wrap the bag around the fruit and seal to prevent flies from infesting fruit. Keep area clear of excess leaves, over growth and fallen fruit through the growing season to prevent further infestation.

Chemical Control Option
Carbaryl or Spinosad based sprays are used in conjunction with traps on a timing based method. Use about 1 trap per 100 fruit.

Note: Sprays are used in 10 day intervals . Do not use sprays more than 10 times in 1 year. Sprays may be used up to one week of harvest. Spinosad base sprays are also available for use. Only use sprays after petal fall from fruits.

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Get Growing

LET’S GET GROWING!

FALL Veggies

Spring Veggies

ROSES

DORMANT Fruit Trees

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