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March Newsletter

Spring is here. This is a beautiful time of year so go out and enjoy it. Pasadena and several surrounding areas that are serviced by the Metropolitan Water District are going into a 'phase one' water emergency March 18th through 28th while MWD upgrades its La Verne water treatment plant. They are mandating no Landscape watering for the 10 days. I think that they should have one day in the middle of this where they don't allow people to flush but allow us to water. What is worse, a stinky bathroom for a day or dead plants and lawns? I'm sure you want to hear what Blake has to say about that and what we are doing for our clients so they can survive this almost unscathed.

 

 

Mark Meahl (President Garden View Inc.)  

La Caņada Project 

This design/build back yard project was for one of our favorite clients Brad and Mary Cornell; we have had the privilege of doing many spectacular design/build projects with them. This residence is magnificent inside and out. It is an eclectic Art Deco style home with interesting styles and artifacts throughout.

The infinity pool has 3 sides of vanishing edges. The tile sun was designed by Mary Cornell. There are 13 caissons drilled into bedrock to support the pool and retaining walls. The pool, landscape, lawns, and walls are designed with parallel and relating angles.

Mary found the Aztec columns and Garden View designed and installed them into the landscape. The surrounding yard is mostly succulents.

March Gardening Tips

DEADHEADING TO EXTEND BLOOMING AND ANNUAL FLOWER LIFE: Deadheading is removing the spent or dead flowers from the plant. In simple terms most plants produce flowers to produce seeds to reproduce. If the flower is removed before the seed has been dropped from the plant the plant will usually keep trying to reproduce. This in turn means the plant will probably produce more flowers for a longer period of time.

Many annuals (plants that live for one season only) will die if they are not deadheaded. But if they are deadheaded they will continue to produce flowers for an extended time.

Garden View Maintenance crews do this on a weekly basis.

Breaking off the flower where the stem meets the stalk is the way to successfully deadhead Long-stem flowers, such as this daylily, that grows in a succession of blooms on a single stalk. Pull down gently on the spent flower until it cleanly snaps off. Breaking off faded daylilies will add to the plant's appearance if not the overall flower productivity. Other flowers to break off include iris, Gladiola, and Kangaroo Paw.

BRUNFELSIA: - Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow plants (right) have an abundent bloom in spring, The name comes front the flowers tha change color over a three day period. Trim in early spring and periodically to keep compact. The plant likes regular feeding throughout the year.

HYDRANGIA-DON'T PRUNE:
Bigleaf type hydrangea (left) set their flower buds at the ends of the upright or lateral branches, during late summer to early fall. Pruning bigleaf hydrangea in the spring or even late fall, after the buds have been set, will remove the flower buds and any chance of getting flowers that season.

Bigleaf hydrangea should be pruned as soon as the flowers have faded. You should begin to see new growth coming in from the base of the plant. To keep the plant vigorous, selectively prune out the dead and weaker stems, both old and new. Don't prune out all the old wood, since this is what will keep flowering as the new growth matures.

Prune Magnolias (right) after they finish flowering, they are slow to callus over so don't trim any more than needed to keep the shape and health

Fuchsias (left): Trim branches of hanging kinds back to the sides of the containers. With upright kinds, prune off a little less growth than grew the previous year so that two eyes (where leaves are attached) remain.



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Water-Wise Tips
Protect our resources and your water bill

This is a common sense tip if you are serious about saving water. When planting new flowers or a new shrub in an existing established landscape don't just turn up the water and water more often, take out a hose or a soaker hose and water just the new plants when they need it to get them established. When the plants are new they obviously need more water because their root system is small and the roots have not tapped the surrounding soil. Deep watering does not help in this case; watering often enough but not too much is key to establishment.

In the Dirt
with Julie Meahl
Julie Meahl

Garden View Nursery is still moving all its plants and trees around for So Cal Edison's Wind Power Project. They have changed their required workspace again. Needless to say we are scurrying to comply. We apologize ahead of time for any inconvenience this project has on our valued customers. After all, our customers and clients know us as the nursery at the 605 Freeway and Lower Azusa Rd, and we have been here for 21 years. Frustration has not set in yet because I'm sure when all is said and done, Garden View Nursery will be better than ever. Everything works out for the better! Right!?

It is not just physically moving all the plants and trees, Garden View Nursery has the best signage to be moved with them! The signs have: pictures, plant names, growing zones, water requirements, sun and shade exposure, soil requirements, growth patterns, pictures of blooms, etc. We take great pride in our signs. As a customer you can walk around on a self guided tour or have help from an experience salesperson.

March 13th is Daylight Savings. "Spring ahead" means you lose one hour of sleep. If you find you are feeling sleep deprived, maybe you need a jolt of fresh spring air. Our wisterias, pink jasmines, lavenders, and redbuds are in full bloom and fragrance to wake your senses.

March 20th is the first day of spring. Now that you are awake and energized, perhaps you are hungry. Dedicate a section of your garden for fruit pies, and be rewarded with sweet desserts into the summer. Garden View Nursery has excellent varieties of blueberries, blackberries, strawberries, raspberries, and cherries. So let's get busy!

Tip: Remember mulch matters. Plant in soil that has been heavily amended with compost or planting mix and peat moss. Full sun and fast drainage.

Now you're in the dirt!

(Julie Meahl is the Retail Manager and Vice President of Garden View, Inc.)

Blake's Landscape Maintenance Blog
Blake It's true; the MWD is mandating a water shutoff from March 18-27 and are out to get you and your plants. Charlie Sheen told me the whole thing is a giant conspiracy. You thought MWD stood for Metropolitan Water District but Charlie told me it stands for Multi-Corporational World Dominators. The first step is they make you turn off your water for 10 days and then they go around and light a match at everyone's houses until there is just about nothing left. At that point they send in their rebuilding teams to put everything back together for a monster profit. Terrifying right???

In order to combat these evil superpowers we will be performing a deep soak during the preceding three days with multiple cycles each day to ensure deep penetration. The idea here is to emulate a solid rain whose water will wick to the surface for days or weeks. In ideal situations we already have our properties down to a one day per week watering schedule, which is only a three day difference from this mandate. With the well trained roots we have developed through healthy irrigation scheduling and the soak we plan to do in the preceding days this whole thing should be a cinch.

The only areas in which I anticipate any problems are in annual color beds, but we got a plan. Mark's idea is that you grab a bucket and fill it up while you are waiting for your shower to warm up. Then with the cloak of night and the agility of a ninja dump that water on your flower beds while avoiding the strong arm of the law. It sounds crazy but it beats Charlie's suggestion of peeing on your flowers or employing your dog to do so, it just doesn't work like that...

But seriously, pour some water on your annual color for us. Please?!?

For more information including areas affected check out:
http://mwdh2o.com/     

 

(Blake Meahl is the Operations Manager for Garden View's Maintenance Division.) 

If you have any suggestions on articles you would like to see in our newsletter or suggestions for improvement please let us know.
-Tyler Meahl (Technical Manager and Special Projects Coordinator for Garden View Inc.)
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