A warm thank you to all for joining us in welcoming fall at our Fall Festival this past weekend. Despite triple digit weather, we experienced a wonderful response to our Fall Family Fun Festival/ Salvation Army Canned Food Drive. Our 30% off sale and canned food drive began on Friday with a kickoff Evening Glow Planting Party where Modesto’s Garden Club and friends came together to plant containers for fall. Thank you Modesto Garden Club for your attendance and continued support--we’ll keep you posted on any upcoming events! Saturday began with local businessman Howard Rogers from California Sky Ads flying over Modesto with our Scenic Nursery banner; to Mr. Rogers we say thank you!

Our day was filled with good old-fashioned family fun with a variety of children’s activities like the fishing game, beanbag toss, face painting, balloons, and other arts and crafts. Jungle Jim was on hand with his knowledge-rich lecture about basic landscape design, while the Stanislaus Wildlife Care Center was here with information about CA animal conservation and protection with their mascot Oscar the owl. Our local 4-H, FFA, and Ag Science classes were proudly represented by Downey High, Grace Davis, Johansen High, and Enochs High who brought piglets, chickens, and rabbits (oh my!) to show. They helped kids plant annual containers, as well. Too cute and very informative! Local band Jazzoni provided relaxing musical entertainment while lunch was BBQ’d and served up to all of our guests and staff. You guys were great. Sunday, we enjoyed Rose Loveall coming in to give her back-by-demand class on Choosing Perennials and Herbs.

What a fabulous weekend we had filled with smiling customers, good food, and simple fun. As always, our Scenic Staff was in prime form making it all happen, while providing the customer service we are proud of. Please join us for our upcoming fall events and seminars. If you weren't able to make it to the Fall Festival, be sure to attend our Scenic Nursery Spooktacular Halloween Happening Saturday, October 31st from 11am- 1pm. Join us for a costume parade, fun and games, face painting, planting, candy and prizes.

Thank you once again to our local community for joining us at our fall festival--we collected approximately 450 cans for local families in need. Come by today and experience the difference that is Scenic Nursery!

~April

It’s fall and time to plant, plant, plant. So you’re excited to have just bought a beautiful shade tree. You bring it home, dig a hole and pop it in. Two years later, you're looking at a tree in the ground the same size as you bought it. What is going on? You followed the drawing, fed the tree and watered it, so what's the deal? You did everything the nursery professional said to do. Or did you?

Hopefully we, the nursery people, didn't forget one of the most important steps in planting anything in the ground...amending the soil. Not necessary you say? Your dirt is great, right, and everything grows in it just fine? You maybe even added stuff to your soil just a while ago, not sure just when, but it was recent. Let's just look at why it's important to amend soil for new plants. Plants bought from nurseries are usually grown in special soil formulated for nursery stock. Many formulations are used because one soil is not correct for every plant, especially in container. This soil must be correct for healthy root growth and water penetration. It must also be disease free. Some soils contain nutrients for early growth, but not all plants need this, so it is carefully monitored. Lots of testing tells the growers how much humus, sand, perlite, earthworm castings, peat, vermiculite, and other amendments to use for each formulated bag of soil.

Now take this plant that has been nurtured in special soil all of its life and plop it into your soil. It has to get used to your soil immediately. No gentling it in, no special introduction. How do you think those roots are going to grow? Is your soil perfectly formulated for the plant's special needs? Hopefully, we nursery people will not let you leave without letting you know what soil conditioner you should use. What should be explained is that by amending the soil with the correct conditioner, you are allowing plant roots to get used to the native soil and thrive. That is why so many of our amenders must be mixed in with your native soil.

But you if added stuff to your soil a while ago maybe you figure that you don’t need any more. Why do you need to keep buying soil and putting it into the same place? Like all organic matter, soil breaks down. It just gets tired. Depending on the plants, sometimes the nutrients are used immediately and thereby break down quickly and leach everything beyond of the root zone. Over time, the soil becomes compacted and loses its fertile properties. By adding more amendments on top or mixing it in, the soil can replenish itself and be of use to the plant.

With so many plants to choose from, there must be different soil amendments. By determining your soil conditions and finding out where you live, the Scenic nursery person can help you with your choice of soil conditioners. Some plants, like azaleas and camellias need an acidic soil added in the form of Master Nursery’s Azalea Camellia Planting Mix (for sandy loam) or Planting Mix (for hard, compacted soils). Vegetables like lots of organic matter like chicken manure, bat guano and bone meal, so amend with products like Paydirt Plus Soil Enrich or Bumper Crop. Elms and Oaks don't need as much high nitrogen, but need lots of organic matter to be mixed in with the original roots to let them spread out deep and wide, so use Gold Rush to amend. If you have your own compost pile, this is always an acceptable amender. So now you know, all dirt is not created equal. Knowing what you want to plant and what kind of soil you have will take a lot of the mystery out of the equation. Come in today to talk to your nursery professional to find out which amender best suits your plants and soil. Bring in a soil sample for us if you are unsure of your soil’s profile. After all, not everything can grow in one place for an extended period of time without a little nurturing.

To learn everything you’ve ever wanted to know about soils, I invite you to come down to Scenic Nursery for my free talk on “Everything You’ve Ever Wanted to Know About Soils and Fertilizers” October 24th, 2009 at 11:00 am.

See you soon,
~Diana

September ended with typical hot weather. I remember the hot weather just after school started when I was a kid. That was with no air conditioning! Having to walk 5 miles to and from school... Up hill both ways!

2010 bare root fruit tree orders are here! Even if you missed this year’s Fruit Tasting Event in July, there’s still time to try late season varieties at local grocery stores and especially the local Farmer’s Markets and fruit stands. There are still stone fruits available, such as peaches, nectarines and plums. Also keep an eye out for early pomegranates and persimmons to try. Scenic Nursery proudly offers customers a wide selection of fruit and nut trees as well as fruit vines available through Dave Wilson Nursery; and we take pride in offering varieties that are proven in our area. Stop by after Farmer’s Market on Saturday and check out our availability for 2010.

Bare root orders placed and paid for before November 30th receive a 10% discount on top of the bargain bare root prices. We have all the information, tools, and materials ready to help you select the best varieties for your backyard orchard!

~Amy Lomeli

The other day I was watching Paul James on one of my favorite shows on HGTV, The Gardener Guy, and I noticed that above his name appeared the title Master Gardener. Though I had heard of this certification, I realized I knew very little about what the Master Gardener must do to earn and keep his title. Then, coincidentally my husband returned from a pesticide applicator’s conference where he participated in a horticultural class led by a Master Gardener, bringing home some information on the subject. Here’s what I learned about who runs the program, why it’s important, who benefits from it, and how to get involved.

First and foremost, it’s important to know that the Master Gardener Program is a volunteer program run in partnership among the University of California, the USDA, county governments and CA residents. In particular, the Master Gardener program training management is directed by the county UC Cooperative Extension offices (UCCE): and, thusly, certified Master Gardener volunteers are agents of UCCE. The UCCE trains and certifies volunteers on horticultural information and then sends these Master Gardeners into the public to offer educational programs and garden related demonstrations in the community. So what must we do to become Master Gardeners? Oranda Riddle..you are the winner!

The first step is filling out the application, which can be obtained at http://camastergardeners.ucdavis.edu (my new favorite website for the wealth of knowledge it provides the Central Valley gardener). The four page document is composed of 10 questions. The first questions are somewhat general, gauging things like previous volunteer experience years, type of gardening experience, and group affiliations you may have. The form asks about areas of interest and hobbies pertaining to certain plant groups like fruit trees, composting, flowers, turf, houseplants, veggies, etc. It also asks what your experience is with teaching or communicating ideas through the written and spoken word. In addition, it seeks out special skill sets such as artistic talent, working with youth/elderly, computer skills, foreign languages spoken, research skills and other skills you think might be of unique benefit to the program. The form accesses your gardening experience more than your qualifications. After all, the Extension program will educate you on the information you will be sharing with the public.

Once accepted into the program, you will be informed by the UCCE of upcoming training sessions provided through its extensive horticultural training course. Participants are fingerprinted and undergo a background check because many will work with school-based programs where you will explore environmentally sound horticultural practices, plant management (think pruning, dividing perennials, veggie crop rotation), soil and plant nutrition (fertilization, soil amending and composting), pest ID and management, plant problem diagnosis and research resources. Most county programs like San Joaquin’s require 50 hours of class time over approximately 4 months (class meets every Tuesday from around 8 am-1 pm) followed by a take home, open book final exam to complete the certification process. The class and supplies will have a slight cost, which can be reduced based on income. After all this you’re a Master Gardener, but how do you stay certified?

The first year, new Master Gardeners are required to volunteer 50 hours of service to the Master Gardener Program activities. Primarily, at least six of these hours (two 3-hour shifts) will be spent answering horticultural calls and visitor inquiries at the Cooperative Extension office (hours: Tuesday-Thursday (9 am- 12 pm), at least two 3-hour shifts at a plant clinic and 10 hours on a Cooperative Extension special project. Plant clinics will include character building activities like leading talks and demonstrations for schools and clubs, training at community gardens, and staffing tables at farmer’s markets, fairs, and local nurseries just like Scenic. Also, you may be asked to write a newspaper article or to distribute UC Davis horticultural info or help UCCE researchers collect data. These are the things that change our lives for the better, and I look forward to becoming further involved.

If you are a person simply seeking great gardening advice and experience in our area, utilize the Master Gardener Volunteer Program in our area by calling (209) 953-6112; or, you can always obtain precise information from your Master Nursery Professional here at Scenic Nursery by calling (209) 523-7978.

~Tally