Coming Soon To A Blog Near You!

 

It's that time of year! Everybody, prepare your visual sense for stimulation overload.  We're going to be bringing you a couple videos on pruning techniques of Japanese Maples and Roses. Right after I figure out where I placed that video charger?? In typical Landscape Guy fashion, the tutorials will be filled with a plethora of valuable information and a superfluous amount of entertainment.  So stay tuned, plump up that bean bag, and get your movie theater style buttered popcorn ready!  This is an  amazing example of a specimen Maple that I have been working on for a few years, and what you can expect your Acer Palmatum to look like when implementing my top secret techniques.

Any Ideas??

Ok, I've got a few off the charts, super cool, posts spinning around in my head.  I just wanted to see if there is something specifically that any followers might want some insight on.  It really can be just about anything from, design, plant selection, specific plant culture, recommendations, lighting, sky is the limit.  I'll also be running some type of free give away in the coming weeks, so stay tuned for that.  Which, in my best Colonel Sanders voice, "Guarantee" it will be some totally legit swag, causing you to go into depression over not participating. How is Colonel pronounced Kernal anyways??? Happy Landscaping/Gardening!

Tomato Quick Tip

I forgot to bring this up in my tomato tutorial, but I think it's worth mentioning.  If you happen to buy veggies with the "just plant it in the ground, decomposable pot"  I recommend gently removing this covering and discarding it.  Don't fall for this evil marketing ploy. If you're going to be a good gardener, rule #1 is don't cut corners. You spent so much time making your soil so tasty, your tomatoes are most desirous to dip their little roots in it and start soaking up all the tasty goodness.  Why would you want to keep them from that for any period of time? Its like putting a bowl of Thrifty Mint and Chip ice cream in front of me and telling me I can't eat it. If that's not the definition of torture, I don't know what is! Good Luck!

Grow Tomatoes Like A Pro

Hello Everybody! Here is the blog to end all blogs on tomato growing. Now, I'm getting ripped by my guy pals for doing a vegetable post but they won't look so cool when I go to their house this summer and eat their still green, tasteless, store bought maters and I give 'em a hard time about it.  Meanwhile, this guy is going to be lounging by the pool while my wife loads up my burger and salad with some sweet, ripe, and juicy tomatoes!

Timings Everything

Those wiser than myself claim the last danger of frost is March 15. To them I say fiddle sticks!  I recommend planting from April 1st to sometime mid April but not later. Any later is really pushing it! Those plants need to get in the ground. No tardies Mr. Bueller!




Location, Location, Location!

Wheather you're growing from seed or going the store bought route the fact is that your seeds were, at some point locked away in some cold storage in Antarctica, and stuffed inside a paper bag freezing their endosperms off.  Needless to say, they're ready to soak in some rays and get the party started.  That's a super funny way to say plant them in the sun guys! 6-8 hours will do. Any less than 6 is not a nail in the coffin, just don't expect to get full production of 14 lbs or so.  Ok, so you asked the husband to take down his batting cage, or move large pile of wood and you've got your spot. Hopefully you already have raised planters on automatic drip irrigation and you're good to go!  If  not, don't worry we'll discuss some options.

Go North and South Young Man

Generally it is better to plant your rows facing North and South if possible. This will assist in both sides of the plant to get fairly equal amounts of sun as it moves from East to West.  If you must plant your rows East to West, again not a nail in the coffin, you're just tanning with half the UV bed on and you better sunscreen the exposed half, because Fresno gets to be one hot mother of pearl.

Bella Terra  

That's the extent of my Italian, beautiful dirt.  Dirt is everything. Dirt is king and his trophy wife is compost. You know what they say behind every great dirt is great compost.  I swear you'll never look at planting the same after I'm through with you! So how do we go about arranging this marriage?  Let me tell you king dirt is a picky guy, so don't bring him home the cheapest, first thing you see.  Oh, by the way this is going to be a polygamist relationship.  Here is what I suggest you're going to need:

• Square Footage of the area you wish to plant. You should know how to figure this out, or I need to call your mother. If not its length x width, or base x height. Divide by two for triangle etc.  
• Compost, How much do you need? I recommend 4" thick. To figure this out you'll want to know how many cubic yards you need.  Here's how to figure it out.  4" thick =.333 take .333 x Sq. Ft and divide by 27 for cubic yards. Take your cubic yards needed and divide by 4  and add this back into your cubic yards to allow for a topdressing after planting.
• If you need anywhere near a yard I suggest purchasing a yard of compost from Gallo on Olive and Clovis Ave, Dark Humus from Clovis Stone or Riverside.  For this you will need a truck. A full size truck can carry approximately 2 yards and a smaller truck 1 yard. Try to stay away from using nitro humus as the topdressing as it can burn.
• Small Bottle of Super Thrive     Home Depot
• Osmocote Vegetable Fertilizer 3tbl  per 4 sq. ft.    Home Depot
• Sphagnum Peat Moss Not sure exactly. I use a heaping handful per plant.     Home Depot
• Bone Meal 1 cup per 30 sq. ft.    Home Depot
• Kellogs Ammend  in place of compost if need be, or you only need small amount    Home Depot
• 15-15-15 Slow Release Fertilizer.  I recommend Best Brand which you can get at John Deere Landscapes on Clovis and Clinton behind City Li, er, I mean Rainbow Bread on Larkin. Tell them Craig from Solus Landscape send you in and you need a bag of triple 15. They'll hook you up.
• Hand Tools, Tiller if possible, Hose, Shower Spray Nozzle, Measuring Cups, Watering can/pitcher, Gloves, Post Hole digger if possible, Shovels, Rakes, Wheelbarrow, Scoop Shovel Etc.
• Tomatoes and 2 Marigolds per Tomato plant.
• Lodge Pole Stakes and Green Square Wire Fencing

Spring Cleaning

Ok, you've got your site mapped out, you know how much compost you need. Now its time to slice, dice, chop, weed eat, those weeds, rocks, any other debris. You're gonna have to hula hoe, scratch, bite, and claw your way to get as many weeds and garbage out as possible. 


Whats A Guy Gotta Do To Get A Drink Around Here?

Water. We like water, and it's maters drink of choice.  I said earlier hopefully you have drip, already. If not your going to have to flood irrigate, or hopefully you have a hose bib nearby and you can connect a battery powered controller to the hose bib and your drip lines from the outlet on the controller.  As with most items you'll need you can pick these up at HD, Hand it over Dude, or Home Depot.

This Is How We Do It!

Ok, we know what to do now it's as easy as PI. Plan and Implement.  Your site is ready to go, you've got your materials together. The water situation is figured out and under control. Now my young grasshopper you are ready to attack.  Were basically going to make a layered cake of goodness.

• First make sure your soil is dry. Working wet soil is no fun! Also take care when handling the tomatoes try NOT to to grab the stem of the plant, as you can easily destroy the mode in which water and nutrients are carried to the plant.  Next wee need to spread 15-15-15 fertilizer over entire planting area, Now the fun part, you're gonna have to move the first 3/4 of your compost and spread 4" thick over planting area.  This is achieved easily by penciling in on a honey do list.  I recommend using a wheelbarrow and scoop shovel if you have one. Then apply appropriate rates of bone meal, Sphagnum Peat Moss, and Osmocote Fertilizer.
• Now, till your concoction  into the soil. You want to get the soil as mixed and as fine a particulate as you can. This may take several passes to achieve. 

•  After tilling, sift through and pick out any debris, rocks, trash, anything else you might find that the construction workers buried when they built your house.

• Now turn your landscape rake over on the flat side and smooth everything out, while creating a berm where your plants will be placed.  Lightly tamp the soil with the rake to slightly compact the soil.

• Now mark out with flags, or go one by one and use the post hole digger to dig your holes.  When you go on vacation you don't ask the desk clerk for their smallest room and a mummy bag to sleep in do you? Neither would your plants! They will appreciate the larger digs while in their 7 month stay at your place. Make sure you dig down to a depth of the container plus nearly one half of the plants height. I'll tell you why later.

•  Your holes are dug, you're feeling burned out, now its time to strip.  The tomatoes that is, we're going to strip nearly half of the leaves off the main "stem" of the plant by merely pushing down on them.  Were going to plant the tomato deep and if you notice all those little fuzzes on the stem will create lots of little roots that will feed your plant. You can toss the leaves in the holes.  Tomatoes are cannibalistic and they will take up the nutrients as the leaves decompose.
•  Go ahead and put a couple of shakes of Osmocote in the bottom of the holes.

• Now you're ready to place the plant in the hole and check your height and begin back filling. Leave a 1" or so hole around the plant and apply 1-2 cups of water and SuperThrive solution.

• Go ahead and finish back filling the rest of the way and build a slight 'volcano' of dirt up to the base of the tomato.  We don't want water sitting up next to the stem of the plant.

• After all your plants are planted, go ahead and do a light shower of water to compact the soil and get them pumping.

• Staple you drip lines down a couple of inches away from the plants.
• Now apply the remaining 1/4 of your compost as your topdressing.  This is going to help with water retention, cooling of the roots, up to 10 degrees cooler at soil level, and weed control. Sounds good to me!

• Now my pet peeve is tomato cages, they're worthless! You planted a plant that will reach 6' and I'm supposed to keep it in this tiny little 3', push in the ground cage? I've seen Yugos better built. I'm telling you now they're flimsy garbage and they won't support the kind of maters we're planning on growing.  So you need to pound in a couple of stakes per plant a couple of feet apart.  Now take some large square, enough space to fit your hand through to harvest, roll of wire fencing 4' high or so and use tin snips and cut enough to make a 2' diameter circular cage around the tomato and zip tie it to each pole. 

• Now a little secret is to plant Marigolds in between the tomatoes to keep away aphids and other insects.

Now What?

Way to go! If you followed everything I said you set yourself up for success and should have everyone lusting after your tomatoes in no time.  Really watch your water, again the soil may appear to be dry, but before touching that "water" dial check down 3 inches, that's where we are concerned about the water, it may take a little bit to get the watering cycles timed.  As far as pests, try to hose off the plants a couple of times a week in the early morning to wash off any bugs. Go on bug hunting safari's and look for any of those fat and juicy hornworms. It also doesn't hurt to give the plants a couple of shakes just to see what flies out and knock down any thing that may be hanging out.  If bugs get really bad spray them with 1 teaspoon dish soap to 1 gallon of water and give em a good bath. Again, make sure and do this in the morning. That's really it. You can expect up to 14 lbs of fruit per plant.

Thanks for reading and feel free to ask questions, comments, or concerns. Your feedback is greatly appreciated and will help me know what I can do better.

Welcome to Inspire Your Landscape

I am a professional landscape designer/installer in the Clovis, California area.  The purpose of this blog will be to provide others with the knowledge, experiences, and expertise I have collected over the years of being involved in the green industry.  I will be providing tips, tricks, and lots of pics.  I will also be including basic fertilizing/pre-emergent, watering schedules.  My goal is to provide the material in an entertaining, and practical way, that when applied will help you reach your goal of creating the garden of your dreams, rather than the garden from your nightmares!  Were going to cover a lot of information, so get your tools cleaned up, slip on the muck boots and gloves and lets go create that garden oasis.