News from McShane's Nursery and Landscape Supply

A Note From Steve McShane

Happy Fall!

Fall is officially in full swing here along the Central Coast of California.

October marks the greatest transition in our local environment. Mornings become crisp and local vegetable growers enjoy their last harvest before moving to the desert for winter vegetable production.

This means three things for the garden:

1.) Fall Feeding: Fall is without question the smartest time to feed your landscape with a high quality organic fertilizer like the "Dr. Earth" label. Feeding in the fall ensures root growth and an important investment in your plants as they prepare for spring flowers and fruit. Further, organic fertilizers are naturally slow to become
plant available. By applying in the fall, nutrients become available when the plants need them most.

2.) Fall Specials: Every nursery I know offers a whole lot of fall specials that you cannot find any other time of year. Without question, Fall is the best time to find deals on landscape barks and flagstones. It is also the ideal time of year to save on roses and fruit trees. McShane's is no exception. Be sure to check out our "October Sales" as they come and go quickly. We have great deals on Roses, Deciduous Fruits, and a number of plants! See our sales, which are included in this newsletter.

3.) Fall Planting: The smartest university horticulturalist will tell you that fall is the ideal time to plant. This is not just because you'll save money, it is because it will allow your plants the benefit of mother nature's rain to help get your plants established. Further, you can often find more mature plants. This is especially important for roses and fruit trees. Oh, and did we mention the fantastic fall
weather that makes for an enjoyable gardening experience?

I hope your fall is as enjoyable as ours is. We appreciate you depending on a small independent garden center like McShane's and look forward to seeing you soon.

Steve McShane

This is the best month for planting shrubs and trees that have great fall color; shop now and you'll get to see the colors you will be buying!

As you clean out your summer garden, put everything but diseased plant material onto your compost pile. Turn the pile and keep it moist. By spring, your compost will be ready to use.

Continue to deadhead cool-season annuals. Fertilize them one last time early in the month.

Get the first pick of bulbs! Purchase your bulbs early at your local nurseries. Bulbs won't be likely to be mixed together yet, and you'll have the best selection of the year.

Feedback Please?

McShane's Nursery and Landscape Supply would love your reviews and feedback. We have many ways for you to help us out! On our webpage, you can click on the red Write A Review link. Yelp, Yahoo, and Google also provide places for your reviews. We ask for your feedback so we can keep doing what you, the customer, appreciate! Things we need to change? Let us know! Check us out in your favorite search engines.

Check us out in the Social Media. We are on Twitter, Facebook, Yelp, YouTube and Foursquare. Our links and addresses are listed in the right column below our nursery hours.

Nursery Department:

Roses and Fruit Trees are on sale for : Buy 1 Get 1 Free! This month is a great time to get roses and fruit trees planted to have a head start for next season! We've put them on sale, so what a perfect time to buy! See our 2012 Fruit Tree List and our 2012 Rose List. These were the lists of trees and roses that we started the season with. We may still have some left! If we don't have what you want, please check out our Special Order List for Fruit Trees! How to Buy a Fruit Tree

Our Fruit Tree Special Order List is Available at the Nursery. Don't Delay! Ask one of our sales associates for one to fill out. By special ordering, you are guaranteed the fruit tree variety that you request. They will be preordered in November and arrive in February! Check out our website on our homepage to print one out from home. McShane's Nursery Homepage

Pick up some great fall color! Mums, Pansies and Kale are here in great, vibrant, fall colors! Cooler nights and fall days are just around the corner! Make sure your garden and landscape are prepared to bring in the fall! Check out our Calendar below! Learn how to plant a great fall color bowl with Nina this Saturday, October 6th. Come watch or get your hands dirty and create your own to take home with products we have available for your purchase.

Check out our other October Sales in the right column!

Landscape Supply:

Come in and talk to Jose or John about the products that we carry in our landscape supply department. We can help take your landscape from boring to fresh with great products you can buy all in one convenient location! Call us at 831-455-1369.

How to Incorporate Hardscape into your Landscape

Concrete Trailers are convenient to use for your small and large home projects! McShane's is the only location in the county that rents trailers. Call us to find out more.

Check out our October Sales in the right column! We have too many colors and varieties to list individually! Come in and take a look at our landscape supply sale merchandise for yourself.

Pond Department:

Fall pond maintenance is upon us! Falling leaves from nearby trees and bushes, as well as leaves from your pond plants, can quickly build up on the bottom of your pond. Settling to the bottom, the decaying vegetation can increase levels of dissolved organic compounds (DOCs) and rob water of oxygen, stressing your fish that are already struggling to deal with fall temperature swings. During late summer and early fall it is important to remove as much material from the bottom of your pond as possible.

Stop feeding your pond plants when the water temperature cools below 60°F and leaves begin to die back. At this point you want to allow your plants to go dormant naturally.

Talk to Jeramey McCaffery about your pond needs and potential designs. Check out our link How to Chose the Right Products for Your Fish or Water Feature

Landscape Design Department:

Fall is a great time to re-evaluate your landscape. Is it meeting your needs? Does it appeal to you more in some seasons than others? Now is a great time to have someone come out and talk to you about possible changes in your landscape. Have it ready to go for next spring's enjoyment.

McShane's has a Landscape Design staff that can work with you on any project, big or small. Call or email us today! We also have a link on our website for you to complete a design survey to help you better determine what your dreams are for your design. Follow this link: Design Survey

Feel free to call our designers: Tracy Parker, Marion Weaver, or Tom Deyerle. They can be reached by calling Anthony at 831-455-1876. Contact us to see what McShane's Landscape Design Department can do for you!

Gifts Department:

Our gift department has gifts and plants to meet any occasion. Looking for something to bring in the Halloween or fall season? Check us out! Why not choose a gift certificate if you aren't sure what to get for that hard-to-buy-for person? Along with our gift area, we have a large variety of green and flowering plants for inside your home, bonsai, as well as birding items, and products to keep your plants, indoors and out, healthy all year through.

October:

Saturday, October 6th at 1:30PM

-Fall Flowers & Color Bowl Class

Come create your own to take home!

Saturday, October 13th at 1:30PM

-Pavers & Flagstone Workshop

Saturday, October 20th at 1:30PM

-Fall Veggies, Herbs and Flowers Clinic

Saturday, October 27th at 1:30PM

-Water Conservation, Harvesting & Management Clinic

November:

Saturday, November 3rd at 1:30PM

-Pet Friendly Gardening Workshop

Saturday, November 10th at 1:30PM

-Citrus & Avocado Class & Tasting

Saturday, November 17th at 1:30PM

-Wine Grapes Workshop

Special Events -

November 18th - Lighting of the Windmill

November 20th - Tree Lighting for the City of Salinas

Other Important Dates:

October 8th: Columbus Day

October 31st: Halloween

November 6th: Election Day

November 11th: Veterans Day

November 22nd: Thanksgiving Day

Congratulations to last month's winner! They got the right answer of "around 400 BC, out of ox gut" to last month's question of: When were the first garden hoses made? And of what material?

This month's question is: Who invented the wheelbarrow and when?

The rules of the game are simple.

We ask one trivia question a month. Please send all answers to sp@mcshanesnursery.com, with your full name. Prize: A $10 McShane's Gift Certificate. One winner per newsletter. The first 10 correct answers each newsletter will be put into a drawing to determine the monthly winner. Winner must bring an ID to the nursery to claim the prize. Prize must be picked up in person within 2 weeks. Employees are not eligible for this contest.

Have fun and good luck!