Talk Radio This Sunday!

Listen in this Sunday to 650 KSTE from 10 - 11 to hear me interviewed by Fred Hoffman!

It’s January!

In Sacramento January means a lot of gray days. Still, there is beauty all around and as I was sitting at my drafting table, I watched the birds busy in the trees.

January is the time to finally cut back your roses if you haven’t already. I realize that many of the roses still have blooms on them, nevertheless, it’s time to cut them back. Also, any grasses that haven’t been cut back should be as well. I noticed that already the new green growth is coming up around the dormant shoots on some of my own grasses. Now is also a good time to transplant plants and small trees. In my yard, for example, a shrub starts to overrun another every couple of years and them it’s time to transplant the crowded shrub to a place that will give it more room.

To transplant a shrub or tree:

Put the shovel in at an angle, about 18” from the base of the plant. Work all around the plant until you’ve made sort of an inverted triangle of dirt and roots. You should easily be able to pop the shrub or tree out and transplant it. When transplanting, it’s always good to add some new fertile soil to the new hole before putting the plant in.

The Home & Landscape Expo

And finally...IT’S SHOW TIME!

The Home & Landscape Expo

will be January 29,30 & 31st.

I have free tickets so please email me (robsplantz@gmail.com) and let me know if you would like to come. One ticket admits 2 people - I’ll send you as many as you need. Please include the address where you would like to receive the tickets . I will be showing my “Drought Tolerant” presentation at the Expo on Saturday, January 30th at 11:00 a.m. in the back far corner of the “Pavilion”. My booth is also in this building. In previous years many people have told me that they looked and looked but could not find me, so I’m going to give you detailed instructions:

To My Booth

First, the “Pavilion” building is the building closest to the racetrack. You can enter Cal Expo at this end and park in front of the “Pavilion” (parking fees are not included with the ticket). The building is shaped like an “L”. The small foot is where you enter and then after you walk down (south) towards the middle, the “L” expands to the right (west). The entire middle of this building is given over to demonstration gardens. Just before the first demo garden (you are facing west) look left and you will see my booth. It’s equivalent to 3-booth lengths and I will be with Creativescapes (Roger Pajo) and Sacramento Valley Landscape (Jeff Abdallah). We have designed and will be building a really beautiful booth with the furnishing from Emigh’s Casual Living. We’re very excited...like Ed Sullivan was known to say, “It’s going to be a REALLY BIG show!” I look forward to seeing you there! I have lots of tickets, so don’t hesitate to ask for as many as you need.

The Meadow

Browsing through Borders not too long ago, I came across a book by John Greenlee called The American Meadow Garden: Creating a Natural Alternative to the Traditional Lawn . I can’t tell you how excited I am about what I’ve read and seen in this book. Finally a detailed source for replacing a lawn with a natural meadow! I called the nursery that I use, Sierra View Nursery, and it turns out that they carry many of the meadow plants named in the book as well as plugs of Buffalo grass - a grass that only needs 3 inches of water per month! Creating a meadow is really a renewable canvas for unlimited possibilities. You can leave it as just a low water type grass that can be mown or not, or you can weave in wildflowers and other perennial flowers. You can create a meadow that has only hues of blues or whites or both - or a mix of the warm colors - yellow, orange and red! You can use Carex grasses, which are clumpers, mixed with perennials or bulbs...have you ever seen natural meadows in the spring yellow with Daffodils? Imagine that in your own yard! Peaceful Valley Farms, www.groworganic.com has many different wildflower mixes. You can buy them by the pound. One pound would cover 1,000 square feet.

So, naturally, my next project is to get rid of the last of my grass, which is in my back yard. Here is a picture of what it looks like now (dead of winter). As we get closer to the Spring and the warmer weather, I will have the sod removed. I do not have any Bermuda grass in the lawn (I’m sooo grateful), but I do have other weedy things, and I’ll be sure to kill them. Round up is the most useful weed killer, Round up is good but will not kill nutgrass. Next will be the planning of my small meadow. You can follow along each month, as I’ll post my plant selections and pictures...I’m even thinking of doing another “how-to” DVD that will show the entire process. I think creating meadows is a wonderful way to have grassy areas without requiring a lot of water or mowing. Also, it’s great for dogs and creates a healthy habitat for birds, butterflies and insects. So stay tuned!