Top ten reasons why gardening is fun

Top 10 Reasons why Gardening is fun!
By syndicated columnist and gardener Jan Riggenbach. Her column “Midwest Gardening” can be found here.

10. Does not require a remote control.
9. Has nothing to do with politics.
8. You can blame the weather for anything that goes wrong.
7. Looks enough like work to assure solitude.
6. Legal to exterminate your enemies.
5. Right to bare arms – and bare legs.
4. Allows you to turn your junk into art objects.
3. Does not require fluency in Latin.
2. You can bury your mistakes in the compost pile.
1. You won’t be arrested for ignoring “the rules.”

Care to add a few of your own?? Please comment...

Pictures from our Kentfield location

Gorgeous plants in stock for the weekend....

Coffee & Kale garden brunch

Gardener's thought for the day...

To pick a flower is so much more satisfying than just observing it, or photographing it ... So in later years, I have grown in my garden as many flowers as possible for children to pick.
- Anne Scott-James

Sloat's May Kitchen Gardener e-newsletter

Have you checked it out yet? This month we're featuring herbs.

Click HERE to read this month's edition

Summer Rose Care

Roses should be fed and dead-headed after the blooming season. Feeding them alfalfa meal, Maxsea, or EB Stone Rose and Flower Food are all good choices. Remember, roses should be well-watered before fertilizing.

Foggy nights after warm days can encourage fungus (disease). Keep the area beneath roses clear of fallen petals and leaves. Cut off any leaves with rust, mildew or black spot and drop directly into a paper bag, if possible, and put them in the garbage. Ordinary compost piles will not get hot enough to kill the spores. Thinning the interior of the plant is also a good idea to improve air circulation. Remember to sterilize pruners with alcohol after each cut to prevent spread of the disease.

Home pest control

Pests in the home can be an incredible nuisance when children, pets or allergy sensitivities are involved. Our home pest control products, when used according to directions and a bit of common sense, are designed and tested for use inside homes and other living spaces.

Here's a sample of our most popular products:
Bonide Mite X (organic mite control approved for indoor use)
Terro Ant Killer (effective ant control that’s earth-friendly!)
Orange Guard RTU (made from orange peel extracts, repels bugs for weeks)
Diatomaceous Earth (made from ground fossils, kills household pests)
Safer Houseplant Aerosol (fast acting & environmentally friendly aphid/whitefly killer)
Critter Ridder (patented pepper-based formula that produces a powerful odor and taste barrier. Repels woodchucks (ground hogs), skunks, squirrels, raccoons, dogs, and cats. Safe to use indoors or out. OMRI listed for use in organic production)

Keep an eye out for....

BRISTLY ROSE SLUGS (Sawfly larvae) usually appear when the weather warms up.

They look like small light-green caterpillars with a dark head, have lots of legs, are found on the underside of the leaves, and should not to be confused with the "good guys”, the Syrphid Fly Larvae. The Syrphid Fly Larvae has two white stripes down the center of his back and NO legs. Rose slugs will skeletonize the leaves, chew uneven holes in the leaves or even chew entirely through the rose leaves. Rose slugs have several generations a year. A large unchecked population can defoliate a rose bush.

For chemical control try an insecticidal soap like Rose Defense or Bonide All Seasons Oil and start by spraying underneath the leaves. The Gilmour HoseEnd sprayer is excellent for spraying under the leaves, just turn the nozzle to fan up. Natural enemies are parasitic wasps, birds and small mammals, predaceous beetles, or fungal and viral diseases.

Happy Gardening this weekend!

Don't forget to protect your plants from the heat...Use mulch!

Sloat Garden Center “adopts” school gardens in San Rafael & San Francisco

Sloat Garden Center has chosen two schools to receive Adopt a Garden grants for Spring 2008.

Sun Valley Elementary School in San Rafael and Monroe Elementary School in San Francisco will each receive a $1,000 garden grant based on their gardening goals.

With the grant monies, Sun Valley Elementary and Monroe Elementary both have plans to incorporate gardening lessons into their curriculums and to use their gardens as learning tools.

Each year, Sloat Garden Center chooses 4 grant recipients to illustrate the positive impact that gardening at school can have on Bay Area students and their communities. “We have made a commitment to funding school gardens,” explains Dave Straus, Sloat Garden Center owner. “We hope these grant monies will help students learn and discover a lifelong love of gardening.”

Throughout the Bay Area, school gardens have been integrated into curriculums to teach nature, science, language, math, art, history, economics, nutrition, wildlife and social skills. For many students these are once-in-a-lifetime, hands-on learning opportunities that put into practice what is learned in theory.

Vertical Gardening

Short on space in your garden? Here are a few ideas by Diane Relf, Extension horticulturist and Alan McDaniel, associate professor, Department of Horticulture, Virginia Tech.

Vertical Gardening
Using trellises, nets, strings, cages, or poles to support growing plants constitutes vertical gardening. This technique is especially suited, but not limited, to small garden spaces. Vining and sprawling plants, such as cucumbers, tomatoes, melons, and pole beans are obvious candidates for this type of gardening. Some plants entwine themselves onto the support, while others may need to be tied. Remember that a vertical planting will cast a shadow.

Beware of shading sun-loving crops, but plant shade-tolerant crops near the trellises to take advantage of the shade. Plants grown vertically occupy much less space on the ground, and though the yield per plant may be (but is not always) low, the yield per square foot of garden space is high. Because vertically growing plants are more exposed than non-staked plants, they dry out quickly and may need to be watered frequently. This fast drying is an advantage to those plants susceptible to fungus diseases. Several examples of vertical gardening structures are shown below.

Building green: some ideas

A terrific article from Hawks Nursery in Wisconsin....

As concern for the environment increases, building a green home is becoming more common place. In the landscape industry many things are naturally green, but there are still things you can do to keep green green. Here are some suggestions for more eco-friendly land use. Which ones are right for your home?

A) When building a new home have your builder minimize the amount of disruption to the site during construction.
B) Reduce the amount of lawn areas you must mow by planting areas of woods, prairies, wild flowers , perennial beds or "no mow " turf .
C) Reduce run off into ditches or streets by using rain gardens or recovery swales.
D) Use rain barrels or rain recovery systems to both reduce run off and water usage.
E) Use plant material that once established will require little watering. If you need an irrigation system use the most water efficient type you can.
F) Consider using paving material that is porous, allowing water to soak into the soil rather than add to runoff problems.
G) Use plant material that is not invasive. Review the use of Norway and ginnala maple, burning bush and winter creeper, privet, St. johnswort, barberry, Siberian pea shrub, Scotch pine, , European mountain ash, wayfaring tree, European alder, and English ivy. Re-think black locust, Siberian and Chinese elm, buckthorn, honeysuckle, autumn and Russian olive, tree of heaven, multiflora rose. If you decide that you are going to use one of these plants check to see if there is a variety that seeds less.
H) Buy local plants, hardgoods and other materials.
I) Reduce the amount of materials going to the landfill. Concrete and asphalt can be recycled, some stone can be used as fill, wood material can be chipped and used as mulch, other organic material can be composted.

http://www.hawksnursery.com/
By Michael Jones
Landscape Architect, Hawks Nursery Company

Interesting article in the SF Chronicle: Cut the grass, plant an 'Edible Estate'

The first "Edible Estate" regional prototype garden was planted in Salina, Kan., in 2005. Photo by Fritz Haeg, SF Chronicle
















Cut the grass, plant an 'Edible Estate'
Glen Helfand, Special to The Chronicle
Saturday, May 10, 2008


To children of suburbia, the lawn is perhaps our first hands-on experience of nature. It's the green expanse we, as kids, tended, perhaps for a bit of extra allowance, by weeding or mowing. And yet, like so much landscaping, its form is hardly natural, being shaped by American social structures, real estate imperatives, chemical fertilizers and herbicides.

To rethink this front-of-the-house space as the home of more useful plant life brushes up against surprisingly solid foundations, and it's the impetus for "Edible Estates," the eco-activist project and book of architect and conceptual artist Fritz Haeg, who creates transformations of ornamental turf to crop-bearing front yards. With the subtitle, "Attack on the Front Lawn,"

Haeg acknowledges just how revolutionary the idea strikes many American homeowners; there's a place for everything, and the social structure of the suburban landscape places manicured grass front and center.

Read the full article

A view from our stores....

Happy Mother's Day to all moms

We love you!

Love your mother with a great special!

mmm... pineapple guava

So this year's pineapple guava crop (Feijoa sellowiana), which is also our plant pick of the month, is starting to bloom. Wow, talk about delicious! I pulled off a few leaves from the plant in my yard today and added them to my lunch salad -- so sweet and delicious!

You can read more about Pineapple Guava here:

Also check out a few Pineapple Guava recipes here:

yum!

Construction is over at our 3rd Avenue location

whew.....finally!
Stop in and take a look.

Pictured ... 3rd Avenue Sloat cat "Monkey" rests in the sun and awaits your visit.

Victory Gardens 2008 - San Francisco

ALERT! Victory Gardens 2008 is a pilot project funded by the City of San Francisco to support the transition of backyard, front yard, windowboxes, rooftops, and unused land into organic food production areas.

In 2008 they will choose 15 households that represent the diversity of San Francisco to participate in the program. You can participate regardless of income, ethnicity, available space, neighborhood, gardening experience, or lifestyle. As a participant, you will work with the Victory Gardens team to install a garden in your outdoor space. Although you will be the primary caretaker of the garden, the Victory Garden team will provide ongoing support.

Click here to download an application

Companion Planting

Companion planting is the practice of combining plants in ways that produce extra benefits for one or both. It is an aspect of IPM (Integrated Pest Management) and one of the keys to successfully growing vegetables and herbs organically. There are 5 main reasons companion planting is used. They are:




Trap Cropping - Examples are planting nasturtium or collards with cabbage and broccoli. Aphids are attracted to the nasturtium or collard more than the cabbage.
Symbiotic Nitrogen Fixation - Legumes can “fix” atmospheric nitrogen thus improve the fertility of the soil. Examples are using cover crops of clover, alfalfa or vetch in an orchard or planting beans and corn together.
Biochemical Pest Suppression - The companion plant releases a chemical that mimics a fright or scatter hormone of an unwanted pest thus repelling it. At the same time, that chemical attracts beneficial insects. An example is the Marigold, which repels aphids but attracts Hover flies whose larvae feed on aphids.
Physical/Spatial Interactions - Planting in levels to produce more food in less space.
Beneficial Habitats - Provide food plants for beneficial insects such as ladybugs, ichneumon wasps and hover flies by interplanting or using borders and backdrops.

The 3 Sisters planting in a Native American garden is a perfect example of companion planting. Corn, beans and squash are all interplanted. The beans use the corn stalks for support and shade the young ears from burning. The nitrogen fixed by the beans provides additional nutrition for the corn. The squash at the feet of the corn and beans receives the benefit of shaded soil so its roots stay cooler and moister and the beans repel squash vine borers. The squash, being a somewhat prickly vine, keeps varmints away from the ripening corn and beans!

Below is a partial list of plants that are useful as companion plants along with some of their attributes:

ANISE- a good host for predatory wasps - also repels aphids. Deters pests from brassicas (cabbage, broccoli, etc) by camouflaging their odor.
BASIL - Plant with tomatoes to improve growth and flavor. Repels flies and mosquitoes.
BEANS - all beans enrich the soil by fixing nitrogen. They are good for planting with all vegetables EXCEPT for Alliums (onions, garlic, leeks). Summer savory repels bean leaf beetles and will improve the beans flavor.
BEE BALM - Lures bees and Hummingbirds to the garden for better pollination. Improves the growth and flavor of tomatoes.
BEETS - Good for adding minerals to the soil. Good companions are lettuce, onions and Brassicas. DO NOT plant with beans, as they will stunt each other’s growth.
BORAGE - Good to plant with tomatoes, squash and strawberries. It will deter hornworm and cabbage looper. Adds trace minerals to the soil and attracts bees and ichneumon wasps. Borage will benefit almost any plant it is growing near by increasing its resistance to disease and pests.
CARAWAY - good for loosening compacted soil so it benefits all shallow rooted crops. Attracts beneficial insects.
CATNIP/CATMINT - this one deters flea beetles, aphids, squash bugs, ants and weevils. It will also repel mice!
CHAMOMILE - improves the flavor of cabbages, onions and cucumbers. It accumulates calcium, sulphur and potassium, returning them later to the soil. It is a host for hoverflies and good wasps. Increases the production of essential oils in herbs.
CHERVIL - improves the flavor and growth of radishes. Keeps aphids off lettuce and is said to deter snails.
CHIVES - Improves growth and flavor of carrots & tomatoes. Keeps aphids away from mums and sunflowers. When planted by roses it helps prevent black spot.
CHRYSANTHEMUM - deters and kills root nematodes.
COMFREY -Accumulates calcium, phosphorous and potassium. A good trap plant for slugs.
CORIANDER - Repels aphids, spider mites and potato beetle. A tea made from it is a good spray for spider mite.
CUCUMBERS - works well with sunflowers, carrots, peas and beets. Planting dill nearby attracts beneficials. Nasturtiums will improve growth and flavor. Keep sage away!
DAHLIAS - Repel nematodes
DILL - improves the growth and health of cabbage and lettuce. Plant by tomatoes to trap the tomato hornworm. Attracts many beneficials. Do not plant by caraway or carrots!
ELDERBERRY-A decoction of the leaves is an effective spray for aphid and cucumber and diabroitica beetle. Repellent to moles.
GARLIC - Plant by roses to repel aphids. Deters cabbage loopers, codling moth and peach borers.
GERANIUM (Zonal)- Repels Cabbage worms, corn ear worm and leafhoppers. Plant by grapes roses, corn and cabbage.
HYSSOP - Highly attractive to bees but do not plant near radishes.
LEMON BALM - Deters many bugs, especially mosquitoes and squash bugs
LOVAGE - improves the growth and flavor of most plants. Encourages beneficial, predatory ground beetles.
MARIGOLD-Discourages beetles, whiteflies and nematodes. Acts as a trap plant for spider mites and slugs. Do not plant them by cabbage or beans.
Marjoram - Improves the growth and flavor of all vegetables.
MINT-Deters cabbage moth, ants, rodents, aphids and fleas. Attracts hoverflies and predatory wasps. Attractive to earthworms.
NASTURTIUM - Plant as a barrier trap around tomatoes, radishes, cabbage, cucumbers and fruit trees. Deters whiteflies and squash bugs. Good trap crop for black aphid.
ONIONS - Plant with carrots, leeks, beets, lettuce, Brassicas and strawberries. Improves other plants disease resistance. DO NOT plant with peas.
PEPPERS, HOT- Root exudates prevent root rot and Fusarium diseases of eggplants, tomatoes, swiss chard, squash and cucumbers.
ROSEMARY - plant with cabbage, carrots, beans and sage. Deters cabbage looper and bean beetles.
TARRAGON - Beneficial to plants throughout the garden as is Thyme.
YARROW - increases the production of other herbs essential oils. Attracts beneficials.

4th Annual Dog Day on the Bay - Poop Deck!

The San Francisco SPCA and Hornblower Cruises hosted a nautical adventure for dogs & their humans last weekend...and Sloat sponsored the Poop Deck again.

Abc 7/View from the Bay broadcast live from the event and they even visited the Poop Deck. Watch the footage here

Happy Gardening this weekend!

The weather should be fine for digging in the dirt...

Gaia's Garden

Below is an excerpt from one of our new books, Gaia’s Garden...it really resonates with us here at Sloat.

“A movement is afoot toward more natural landscaping. Many gardeners are turning their backs on the lawn, in particular. People are digging up their resource-guzzling grassy swards and installing native plant gardens, wildlife-attracting thickets, or sun-dappled woodland habits. It’s an encouraging trend, this movement toward more ecologically sound, nature-friendly yards.

Yet not everyone is on board. Some gardeners hesitate to go natural because they can’t see where their vegetable garden fits into the new style. What will happen to those luscious beefsteak tomatoes? Or ornamental plants—does natural gardening mean tearing out a treasured cut-flower bed or pulling up grandmother’s heirloom roses to make room for a wild-looking landscape?

Nurturing wildlife and preserving native species are admirable goals, but how do people fit into these natural landscapes? No gardener wants to feel like a stranger in her own backyard. Gardeners who refuse to be excluded from their own yards, but love nature, have been forced to create fragmented gardens: an orderly vegetable plot here, flowerbeds there, and a back corner for wildlife or a natural landscape. Each of these fragments has its weaknesses. A vegetable garden doesn’t offer habitat to native insects, birds, and other wildlife. Quite the contrary—munching bugs and birds are unwelcome visitors. The flower garden, however much pleasure the blooms provide, can’t feed the gardener. And a wildlife garden is often unkempt and provides little for people other than the knowledge that it’s good for wild creatures."

The book goes on to explain more about permaculture and offers excellent ideas for getting the most out of one’s gardening space.

SYRPHID FLY LARVA: Another gardener's friend!

The adult syrphid or hover fly can commonly be found in the garden. Adults look like bees, but they only have one pair of wings. You can usually find them hovering in one spot. The larvae feed on aphids and other soft-bodied insects. Unlike caterpillars, syrphid fly larvae have no legs, which is a great clue for identifying these helpful insects. Very commonly found on rose bushes.

SOLDIER BEETLE (aka Downy Leather-wing, Leather-wing Beetle)

All gardeners should love these insects!! (In other words: don't kill them!)

The soldier beetle is a voracious predator, feeding on aphids, smaller insect eggs, insect larvae, some caterpillars and other small insects. Their eating habits have made them a very beneficial beetle around most vegetation since plant life is not part of their diet. They are about ¾” long, and their segmented antennae are over half the length of their bodies. Their dusky or downy wing covers can be any color from a light mauve to chocolate-brown to near black. Their harmless larvae spend the winter hibernating underground.




Copyright Halverson Photography

SF Chronicle Plant Pick of the Week: Lithodora

The SF Chronicle's plant pick of the week is Lithodora Diffusa. We have this gorgeous plant in stock at all Sloat locations. Check out the article HERE: