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Laguna Hills Nursery
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HOW LONG SHOULD YOUR PLANTS LIVE?
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Greetings!
I would like to thank those of you who sent me plant topics that you have interest in. Some subjects have been suggested by more than one person. I'll cover two of those with this newsletter. Thanks for all the onion orders. I can take more orders through the month of November.
Some of you have inquired about the possibility of ordering the large 25 pound sacks of my favorite organic fertilizer CONCERN WEED PREVENTION PLUS. This fertilizer/weed preventer is based on corn glutein (protein), a by-product of the corn syrup and ethanol industry. This granulated fertilizer also contains wheat, bone, and potassium sulfate (all safe if accidentally consumed by pets). The corn glutein will kill germinating seeds for 4-5 weeks following application. The N-P-K is 8-2-4, perfect for general use. It smells like corn meal, won't burn, but can smell rotten if used too heavily. It works fast and lasts a long time. It was developed to prevent crabgrass on turf, but I use it on everything. It is just about the best fertilizer for grass that I have ever used. Organic fertilizers are more expensive than chemical fertilizers but chemicals are more likely to pollute. Organic fertilizers keep the essential soil organisms alive while exclusive use of chemicals will sterilize the soil.
If you are interested let me know. We could add this to our internet store. The price of the 25 pound sack would be $39.99 and covers up to 1500 square feet of turf.
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 How Long Can We Expect Plants To Live?
 The longest living tree known is a conifer in Sweden that's over 9500 years old. Pines on the eastern edge of our state are over 4000 years old. The oldest living cultivated (planted and cared for by man) tree is the Bodhi tree in Sri Lanka that has been guarded for nearly 2300 years. What can you expect from plants in your garden?
We know what to expect from true annuals and biennials. Annuals bloom, then die. Biennials grow to maturity the first year, then bloom and die the next. Please note that many plants used as annuals in temperate climates are actually tender tropical perennials that can't survive our winters.
Perennials are a bit less predictable. Perennials do not create any permanent above ground structures and can live for many years. Some perennials have just a single stem and decline within a few years. Some perennials form a clump that migrates slowly outward via undeground stems. A perennial that migrates into virgin territory can stay alive indefinitely. Even short-lived perennials can be kept alive by transplanting them into virgin soil every year or two. Purple Fountain Grass and Day Lily are examples of long-lived clumping perennials that can be divided and transplanted forever.
Plants form new feeder roots every year which die every winter or when they age. The buildup of dead roots is unhealthy to the original plant, or any related plant and most of the new roots develop outside of the existing root zone. A typical, well-established tree has a root zone that is 3 to 20 times wider than the tree is tall! As long as a plant can continue to grow and maintain a larger root system it can stay healthy and vigorous. As soon as that limit is reached the plant declines relatively quickly.
It is no coincidence that naturally large trees have long lifespans. The big Sequoias in the Sierra Nevada range can be over 4000 years old. The huge Ficus in tropical Asia can be several thousand years old. Smaller trees like birch, redbud, and poplar live only one or two human generations. Stone fruit are even shorter-lived. Peach orchards are often replaced after 13-15 years. Apples, on the other hand, can make it past a century. Interestingly birch and peach trees do not seal large wounds well, while apple is the best of all trees studied. Of course, just like people, the life spans of individual specimens depends upon genetics, climate adaptability, soil, proper culture and chance.
Expect most shrubs to give you 20-25 years of useful life. Typically homes are relandscaped about every 20 years because the bushes look old and the trees have grown too large. Roses are supposed to look good for at least 10 years, but can do well for a much longer period.
One method that arborists use to invigorate old trees is to replace soil in trenches 4" wide and 2 feet deep in a radial pattern outwards from the trunk. This give the trees virgin soil that they can easily grow into.
Next week I will discuss how all this is related to crop rotation and the replant syndrome.
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 More on Onion Seedlings
Thank you for your orders. If you placed your order before October 26th you may want to place your order again (or even cancel), now that I've given you the prices and a few more varieties to choose from. The seedlings will look like the ones in the above photo except that the yellow ones will have a golden tan base and the red ones will be a deep rose base instead of white. After I deliver, plant them as soon as practical. They have a shelf life (do not store in an enclosed bag or container) of up to 2 weeks and should be stored standing up or else they will twist their foliage upwards.
If you missed the last newsletter, the varieties include:
Candy 5-6" globe-shaped yellow onion.
Contessa 5" globe-shape white onion.
Red Candy Apple 3-4" flattened red onion.
Super Star 4" globe-shaped white onion.
Texas Super Sweet 5-6" globe-shaped yellow onion.
White Bermuda 3-4" flattened white onion.
Yellow Granex 4-5" flattened yellow onion. (aka Vidalia, Maui)
All of these are very sweet and unlikely to cause tears when you dice them. Contessa, Texas Super Sweet, White Bermuda, and Yellow Granex will harvest May-June and the others about 1 month later. Red Candy Apple is the most visually striking and just slightly more pungent, but red onion have a higher cull rate at harvest. All can be harvest early as green onions or a bit later as spring onions, or allowed to become a mature bulb.
Pricing
1 bunch of seedlings is approximately 60 plants. Each bunch is a single variety. The prices are for total number of bunches ordered. There price includes delivery if you live in Orange County.
1=$10.70
2=$14.70
3=$20.00
4=$24.00
5=$27.50
6=$32.00
7=$36.40
8=$40.80
I will be delivering December 17th-December 20th. December 20th is the ideal planting date for Orange County. I will accept orders through November.
Please send us a check (made out to Laguna Hills Nursery) before December 1, 2010. Please include your delivery address and let me know if this is a business.
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Nematode Cure?
Someone has asked if there is a way to rid a garden of root knot nematodes.
Nematodes include many species of microscopic worms that live in the soil. Most are beneficial or neutral, but a few do major damage to roots and cause the affected plant to get weak and spindly. If the roots of these plants are exposed, you would note that they look like strings of lumpy, nodules of various shapes and sizes. They are a common affliction of many vegetables and fruit trees. Affected plants grow weakly and produce little.
According to the literature there is not much the homeowner can do. Soil fumigants work, but are impossible for the homeowner to acquire. Replacing the soil can work, but there is no guarantee that the new soil is not infested with nematodes or weed seed. A certain species of marigold, grown and turned into the soil, may help a bit but is not easy to get. Amending heavily with compost can work, however this may also stress plant roots. Nematodes require well oxygenated soil to thrive and heavily amending with compost (which consumes oxygen) may suffocate them.
I know that cool season grasses are immune to root knot nematodes because the grass roots secrete chemicals that deter or kill them. In two separate instances, once with bananas and once with white sapote, I allowed grass to grow for at least 3 months around the affected plants. When the grass was removed, the plant's roots appeared normal.
I have yet to see literature confirming this method, but it's cheap, easy to do, and it's the perfect time of year to start the grass seed. The easiest cool season grass to start is either Annual Rye or Perennial Rye. Both will germinate within 3-5 days. Both can be removed at the end of winter with a flat bladed shovel.
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Laguna Hills Nursery
26285 Verona Place
Mission Viejo, California 92692
(949) 830-5653
www.lagunahillsnursery.com
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