october

Fall Tasks

With the cooling weather and soon-to-arrive rains, now is the time to clean up your garden beds in preparation for the winter. Many pest insects and diseases live over the winter in the weedy areas and dead plants left from the summer garden. Keep your planting beds clean and you will reduce next year's problems. Roses, camellias, rhododendrons and azaleas need cleaning of dropped and diseased leaves. Cleaning should stop, however, before removing leaf litter under oak trees and needles under pine trees and junipers. This leaf duff helps protect the roots of these large trees and shrubs. Adding a several inch deep layer of compost on your planting beds will provide much needed nutrients for next year's plants. Many perennials benefit from removal of a third to half of their growth. Salvias (sages), penstemons, yarrow, buddleia (butterfly bush) are among them. Create your own compost with healthy trimmings by alternating green cuttings with brown leaves or straw in a pile or a compost container. Free composting classes and low cost bins are available from the Master Composters who can be reached at 408-918-4640.

Persimmons

Soon those beautiful orange fruits will start ripening. In addition to providing fruit, the persimmon tree is an nicely sized landscape tree that grows to about 25 feet tall and wide. The tree drops its leaves quickly in the fall for easy cleanup, allowing the sun to warm the garden and nearby walls during the winter months. Persimmons come in two types - astringent until soft (Hachiya type) or non-astringent when still crisp (Fuyu type). Both have their uses and provide great fall color with the fruit on bare trees as they ripen. The fruit must be cut off the tree as you will damage them if you pull. To learn more about the varieties, take a look at some excellent information at the California Rare Fruit Growers web site.