But...But...But... All I Needed was a Bag of Fertilizer!

Bag of Fertilizer and a WHOLE LOT MORE!

We've all been there before, right? Men are even better at this than women when it comes to shopping. It's called "straight line focus." When we need to buy something -- no matter what it is -- us dudes get in, get out and get on with it!

Well, some of us dudes do...

The mission on the weekend before last? Get thee a bag of fruit tree fertilizer! Rain was scheduled to move in later that week. There's no better way to fertilize a fruit tree than to spread out a handful around the tree before a gully washer. You can't get better a more equal shot of fertilizing a fruit tree than what Mother Nature provides with a good soaking. The timing was right.

Green Acres is the Place to be!

As luck would have it, the lovely wife that is Venus and I were in Roseville on this particular day, just a block or two away from Green Acres Nursery. A nursery is the best place to acquire the type of fertilizer I was looking for (I cried when Capital Nursery closed, taking my favorite blend with it). The goal on that Sunday afternoon? Get in -- get that fertilizer -- get out and get home.

Not so fast, pahdner...

The first thing that struck Venus and I as we pulled into the parking lot were the numbers of people who were flowing in and out of the store on a late Sunday afternoon. The place was packed. For those who predict an end someday to the retail nursery business, not so fast. Green Acres was hopping.

Leveling Out a Half Wine Barrel

The second thing that struck us? Hey! Look at those half-wine barrels made from oak! Darn! "Wouldn't that look good in that empty spot in the Bird Back 40," I mentioned to the wife. She nodded in response. Note to self: There's ALWAYS an open and empty spot in the Bird Back 40!

As we entered Green Acres on my quest for fruit tree fertilizer, it suddenly dawned upon me that the wine barrels up front just might be the ticket for that elusive Southern Highbush Blueberry that I've always wanted to grow, but failed miserably at in previous years.

Sharp Blue Blueberry Plant Starter

A quick check with the handy-dandy Green Acres sales associate confirmed that suspicion. Of course, had Green Acres been in the business of selling elephants, I'm sure he would have confirmed an elephant could indeed be grown in that barrel. It is his job, after all, to move product. And he spotted two suckers a mile off! That would be me -- and the wife that is Venus.

As luck would have it -- Green Acres had a fairly nice supply of blueberry selections grown by our friends at Dave Wilson Nursery. Nearly every fruit tree in the Bird Back 40 is a Dave Wilson Nursery special. They've only been growing and selling fruit trees for about a zillion years. They kind of know what they're doing.

Navajo Blackberry

And -- as luck would have it? Those blueberry starter plants were located right next to blackberry starter plants! Who would have thought to pair those two together? Certainly not us, the suckers. I'd heard a lot of nice things about that Navajo Blackberry plant, and with yet another empty spot in the Bird Back 40, we could pare it with the purchase of a Sharp Blue Blueberry!

Ah -- but that's not all my friends... I've learned from harsh experience that blueberry plants will not survive unless they are treated with loving care and planted in a soil with a low pH. The higher the acid content, the better, and the clay soils that dominate our North Natomas spread just don't offer that pH requirement that blueberries need to survive and thrive.

Southern Highbush Blueberry

They would do well, however, in that half wine barrel (made from oak no less). But I would need more than just a barrel. I would need a special soil that blueberry plants thrive in.

Guess who came to the rescue? Why, our helpful, handy-dandy, Green Acres sales associate. Are you surprised? Cash registers were lighting up in this associate's eyes. I had come in -- after all -- for ONE (1) bag of fruit tree fertilizer. I would exit Green Acres with so much more, making said sales assistant quite happy in the process.

If you've ever wondered why children -- they made us do those stupid word math problems in school? This is the reason why: One half wine barrel (made from oak, no less) holds 4.5 cubic yards of soil. Each bag of the special mixture that I would need, contains 1.5 cubic yards of a soil high in acid content. How many bags of soil do the suckers need? If your answer was three, congratulations, you passed sixth grade.

Specially designed for blueberries AND Azaleas

As we exited Green Acres that late Sunday afternoon with one half-wine barrel, three bags of soil, a Sharp Blue blueberry starter plant, a Navajo blackberry starter plant and ONE (1) bag of fruit tree fertilizer I suddenly realized I should be allowed near any nursery again until spring has come and gone.

But as for that Southern Highbush Blueberry? I must admit -- it does look good. And with the fruit trees and vines now planted and properly fertilized, bring on spring and summer and those wonderfully delicious home-grown fresh fruit months...

A Very Berry Experiment -- AKA: They Stay

A Word to the Wise.

Before heading out to your favorite nursery/big box store this weekend to fulfill your gardening duties or fantasies -- I post the following update in response to the previous posting of "A Very Berry Bird Backyard."

It is in this section where I detail the efforts that Venus and I made to increase our berry plantings around the yard. Following the advice of Folsom City Arborist Ken Menzer -- we completed a project by planting bare root blueberry bushes beneath our cherry and peach stone fruit trees.

We took this action after attending a Home Orchard class taught by Mr. Menzer last month. It was there where he offered the following advice of planting blueberries beneath stone fruit trees. To paraphrase: "Blueberry bushes and stone fruit trees have a symbiotic relationship. Blueberry bushes are shallow-rooted -- and help open fissures or pockets that benefit the fruit tree root systems located below. At the same time, the leaves of the stone fruit trees provide cover from the afternoon sun for blueberry bushes planted below."

The Folsom City Arborist offered the same advice with the planting of herbs like Spearmint underneath apple tree plantings. The symbiotic relationship -- he indicated -- was similar.

I want to advise my vast readership (all 2.5 of you) that Venus and I are not "experts" in the gardening field. We are not Arborists. We are not Certified Master Gardeners. We're not even close. We are just your normal, everyday, couple. We love to garden. We blog about gardening. But that is as far as it goes.

I offer this word of warning because it seems that we've set off a small firestorm of controversey regarding this planting of blueberry bushes beneath stone fruit trees. Please be advised that there ARE -- indeed -- Certified Master Gardeners who do NOT agree with what we have done here.

One of these Master Gardeners who I mention often on this blog -- and is probably the most popular and well-known gardener in all of Northern California is Farmer Fred Hoffman -- who hosts the Sunday gardening shows on NewsTalk 1530 KFBK and Talk 650 KSTE.

I refer to Fred often because he is perhaps one of my biggest gardening mentors. I've learned a lot from listening to his show -- and also learned a great deal when I was working with Fred at both stations. Although I didn't work directly with him -- I could hear him from my perch at the "News Update Desk."

It's safe to say that Mr. Hoffman was not at all pleased with the blueberry planting efforts highlighted in "A Very Berry Bird Backyard" -- but he's not the only one. Others in his corner include Redwood Barn Nursery Owner Don Shor, who holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Environmental Horticulture and Angela Pratt, who holds a similar degree in Horticulture and is also the creator and the brains behind Sacramento Gardening.

Let me tell you this much: These people know what they are talking about when it comes to any sort of landscaping effort around the front or backyard. They know far more than I'll ever know in five lifetimes of gardening. They know what works. They also know what doesn't work.

Planting blueberry bushes underneath fruit trees? According to all three? It's NOT GOING TO WORK.

Get that? Let me repeat: IT'S NOT GOING TO WORK.

Why? Well -- the first warning came from Fred Hoffman AFTER we had completed our planting efforts. In his words: "What is the pH of the soil where you planted the blueberries? If it is above 6, you may have poor production. This is why blueberry planting around here is recommended for containers, where you can control the pH."

Not only that -- he provided this link to the Dave Wilson Nursery website -- where the number one piece of advice was:

"To make growing Blueberries easier, Do NOT Plant them in the ground!!"

Oh boy. Oh joy. I could just imagine the look on my wife's face after she worked so hard to put these blueberry bushes underneath the fruit trees in question. And now we had to pull them out? But why would Ken Menzer indicate this was an acceptable pairing?

Fred's advice on the matter continued with the following link from the University of California Cooperative Extension. This helpful information also contained the highlighted words of advice:

"A major requirement, however, is that blueberries require an acidic soil with a pH of about 5.0 to 5.5. Blueberries are in the same family as azaleas and rhododendrons, and need similar growing conditions."

Fruit trees like peaches -- I was to later learn -- do best in a soil pH range of 6.0 to 7.0. Blueberry bushes require an even more acidic soil with a pH of 5.0 to 5.5. Yes -- while both pH readings are considered to be in the "acidic range," the requirements of both do not mix well together.

In other words -- if the following information and advice are true -- stone fruit trees and blueberry bushes make for poor cousins and should not share the same living quarters.

Yet -- at the same time -- both Venus and I keep reading the notes and advice we learned from Ken Menzer. He didn't just have "words of advice," he illustrated the pairing together in a series of slides from his home orchard.

And there it was: visual proof. Blueberry bushes planted directly beneath stone fruit trees. Not just any blueberry bush mind you -- but HIGHLY PRODUCTIVE bushes that were loaded with berries.

Pictures do not lie.

Now -- I offer this posting to you as a warning. It's not that I do not believe or reject the advice of well respected gardeners like Fred Hoffman, Don Shor or Angela Pratt. All three of them are on the same page when it comes to time-tested advice of where blueberry bushes should be planted -- and where they should not be planted.

I will also add that whenever I've ignored the good advice offered by one or all three -- I wind up regretting it a great deal. Not all of the time mind you -- but most of the time.

But as far as we're concerned? We're stubborn. We're going to leave the Southern Highbush Blueberry bushes right where they are planted. If gardening can be singled down to one word it would be EXPERIMENT.

As far as our little experiment is concerned: Time will tell. The blueberry bushes that we planted last weekend will either produce -- or not produce. We're taking a chance at this -- but it's a chance we're willing to take.

As for you? Well -- it's up to you. Consider yourself *informed.*

A Very Berry Bird Backyard

It's a backyard built for the Birds -- and those thieving robins will thank us with even more thievery in the coming years.

Why?

We've planted more "Bird food" as evidenced by the photo to your immediate right. That my friends -- is a bare root blueberry bush purchased not all that long ago from the endless garden aisles at Home Depot.

This Southern Highbush variety Blueberry known as "Misty" has two other friends planted nearby called "Sharp Blue." And they are the latest entrants into the Backyard of Bird.

Venus and I didn't let the past weekend go to waste. While snow has buried vast areas of the country -- Mother Nature blessed us with two days of abundant sunshine and moderately warm weather.

While it wasn't quite enough to completely dry out the mudpit that is our current backyard status -- it firmed up enough to get some much needed work done. The clock is ticking on bare root season folks. The new fruit and berry additions to the Back 40 go in now -- or you face the prospect of paying top dollar later this spring and summer or -- worse yet -- waiting for Bare Root Season 2011.

The first project? Find a home for the two Black Satin Thornless Blackberries and one Thornless Boysenberry that I ordered through Bay Laurel Nursery earlier this winter. I had the spot picked out -- but I needed to do more than just "dig and plant."

Nope -- it's got to look "the part." I'm snobby that way. Plus -- it's got to be irrigated. I can't be dragging a hose or watering can all over the yard this spring and summer. What does this mean? It means a small profit for the Man's Toy Store that is Home Depot -- lots of screws -- quite a bit of clay mud (a great leveling tool), straps to hold everything together, a big pile of drip tubing and some well amended compost for the bed itself.

I don't want just any old blackberry. I want Monster Berries. Since I've yet to fail with any gardening item planted in a raised bed -- I'm hopeful we'll have a mass of berries to harvest in another year or three. The hard work won't pay off with a harvest this summer, but next year and the year after? Time will tell.

I got hooked on the Black Satin Blackberries after spotting a blackberry bush in the backyard belonging to South Natomas Gardener Extraodinaire Nels Christenson. Did I say "spot?" Attack would be a more appropriate word here. After all -- it did take a crowbar and quite a bit of pressure for Nels to pry me off the thing.

My one memory of that event? Man -- those were some mighty good berries. The bruises from the crowbar have long since faded.

The berry culture has come quite a long way since I grew boysenberries as a kid growing up in Modesto. Back then? Blueberries didn't grow on the West Coast. That was an "East Coast thing," according my mom. Boysenberries did grow well here -- but I soon discovered they had thorns. Not just any thorns either -- but thorns that produced ear piercing screams of pain from a young boy who really didn't know any better.

It didn't take long before I avoided that bush like the plague. Hey, I liked boysenberries -- but nobody told me about those THORNS FROM HELL. I think I eventually took the thing out with a flamethrower. My first experience with the berry business was a bitter and painful disappointment. But -- I digress.

Fast foward from the Sluggish Seventies to the New Century -- and breeders have taken over with advanced versions of your favorite berries -- minus the thorns. Not only that -- but that "Blueberries only do well on the East Coast" argument -- has also gone by the wayside.

Suffice to say -- these are not your "mom's blueberries." The Southern Highbush varieties are a relatively new entry into the blueberry market. Derived from the Northern Highbush varieties that did not produce anywhere outside of the State of Maine (OK -- that's just a little joke) -- the Southern Highbush has been hybridized to where it will perform -- and perform well in Central California climates. Further hybridization has led to more than a handful of different types like "Sharp Blue" and "Misty." But there are many others.

Why are we planting Blueberries? Because we can. Where are we planting them? Underneath the stone fruit trees. What? Who said you can do that? Blame Ken Menzer. The Folsom City Arborist not only told us we could do it during a recent Orchard Management class -- he actually commented it was "beneficial" to both stonefruit and berry bush.

Well -- we have lots of room underneath our two peach trees and two cherry trees...And Ken Menzer not only said we could do it -- he all but reccommended it...

Nuff said. Berry madness has officially taken over...

Venus and I worked as a madcap team during the bare root planting effort this past weekend. I would mix together yards of compost and steer manure fertilizer -- drop them at the base of the fruit trees in question -- and Venus would shape those piles into half moons and plant bare root blueberry bushes and strawberry plant starters.

The last step? Irrigation. The new beds are irrigated. They are planted. The weekend planting effort resulted in the planting of four blueberry bushes -- two strawberry plant starters -- two thornless blackberry bushes -- one thornless boysenberry (thank God) -- a Flavor Finale Pluot tree and yet another Improved Meyer Lemon for our "citrus patch."

Are we done yet? Hardly kids. Scratch another item off the long list of "things to do." But there's still more adventure to come. Bare Root season is just getting started...

The Last Temptation (of a North Natomas Gardener)

The sun is shining. The birds are singing. The rain is gone. Time to get out in ye olde Back 40 and git done what needs to be gittin' done!

Not so fast pardner.

No -- I didn't post up a photo of Neil Armstrong's last visit to the moon. That's my big footprint. It might as well be the moon though -- cause this is what happens when you step into the North Natomas mudscape that is my backyard after what seems centuries of non-stop rainfall.

But I want to start digging in the backyard!

The answer is "NO" from the Sacramento Bee's Debbie Arrington. The advice in her latest gardening column from Saturday? Ignore the urge to "dig in the dirt." You'll just compact the soil and make things worse.

But, but, but....I've got fruit trees to trim! I'm got bare root Southern Highbush Blueberries to plant! That Arctic Jay White Nectarine tree is ready to be planted! There's irrigation work to be done!

The answer is "NO" from Farmer Fred Hoffman. His advice is the same as Ms. Arrington's. You'll do nothing more than create a muddy mess -- compact the soil -- and that will cause even more problems later this spring when the drenched ground finally does dry out enough to walk on without falling through.

Now -- I thought I had this problem all but licked last summer when I raked out some five plus yards of bark around the raised planter beds in the backyard. Surely I could walk back there -- right?

Wrong!

Imagine my surprise this morning when all that nicely placed bark started sinking the moment I put my weight on it. There's nothing like the feeling of cold, slimy, clay mud oozing up between your toenails. The clay sludge that is my backyard is laughing at me. Five yards of bark is no match for the sticky mud that swallows all.

Even the best laid plans of a frustrated North Natomas gardener.