Green Earth Gardeners

06/12/2025

June Gardening Tips for the SF Bay area!

Blooming: Butterfly Bush, Dusty Miller, Hydrangeas, Mock Orange, Roses, Star Jasmine
In season @ nurseries: basil, gazanias, lobelia, tomatoes

• Plant warm season annuals such as impatiens, marigolds, petunias, zinnias, salvias, cosmos, lisianthus, & portulaca. Plant brussels sprouts seeds, strawberries, raspberries, and blueberries. Plant long season cabbage.

• Seed long season Cauliflower.

• Dead head roses, violets, azaleas, rhododendrons, and other spent flowers to encourage new blooms.

• Mulch garden beds to conserve moisture. Water trees & lawns deeply, but less frequently to encourage deeper roots. Check to make sure that irrigation systems are running well before the dry summer days arrive. Keep a 2" layer of mulch in garden beds to help conserve moisture.

• Cut back Euryops to maintain compactness.

• Check early-bearing fruit trees for heavily laden branches. Support or thin fruit on fruiting trees now to prevent branches from breaking. Thin fruits on trees to 4" between tiny fruits if larger fruit is desired.

• Stake tomato plants.

• Fertilize lawn. Feed evergreens with an all purpose fertilizer.

• Do not fertilize Persimmon trees, as over fertilizing causes leaf drop.

• Inspect roses & other woody perennials for signs of black spot, rust, or other fungal diseases. Prune off badly infected portions and clean up leaf litter around affected plants. Watch for aphids, earwigs, snails, slugs, and whiteflies. Inspect the underside of cole (cabbage family) crops, leafy vegetables, & older leaves on flowers for small, round, yellow caterpillar eggs. Most caterpillar populations can be controlled by physically removing them from the plant. If you have an orchard, be sure to pick up leaf litter & fallen fruit to avoid spread of disease.

• Shape Flowering Crab apples (Malus floribunda) at this time, if it was not done in May.

• Plants/trees that provide color in June: hydrangeas, spireas, butterfly bush, mock orange.

Happy gardening!

05/29/2021

June gardening tips for the SF Bay area:

* Plant warm season annuals such as zinnias, salvias, cosmos, lisianthus, & portulaca.

• Dead head roses, violets, azaleas, rhododendrons, and other spent flowers to encourage new blooms.

* Mulch garden beds to conserve moisture. Water trees & lawns deeply, but less frequently to encourage deeper roots. Check to make sure that irrigation systems are running well before the dry summer days arrive. Keep a 2" layer of mulch in garden beds to help conserve moisture.

• Check early-bearing fruit trees for heavily laden branches. Support or thin fruit on fruiting trees now to prevent branches from breaking. Thin fruits on trees to 4" between tiny fruits if larger fruit is desired. Stake tomato plants.

• Inspect roses & other woody perennials for signs of black spot, rust, or other fungal diseases. Prune off badly infected portions and clean up leaf litter around affected plants. Watch for aphids, earwigs, snails, slugs, and whiteflies. Inspect the underside of cole (cabbage family) crops, leafy vegetables, & older leaves on flowers for small, round, yellow caterpillar eggs. Most caterpillar populations can be controlled by physically removing them from the plant. If you have an orchard, be sure to pick up leaf litter & fallen fruit to avoid spread of disease.

05/11/2021

If you know anyone who needs help bringing their dream garden to life, we can help! Check out our amazing new website! We're also doing fantastic workshops and remote corporate classes if your community or company needs some plant time.

Sustainable Garden Design & Landscaping Request Consultation Some people dream of having a beautiful garden. We're here to make it happen!Low Maintenance Drought tolerantLow Voltage LightingDrip IrrigationIntegrated Pest Management Edible Perennials NativesLiving WallsHardscaping The right plant in...

04/24/2021

May gardening tips!
Plant annuals like petunias, marigolds, begonias, lobelia, coleus. Plant edibles such as squash, pumpkins, sunflowers, & melons. Plant perennials like verbena, calibrachoa, bacopa, nemesia.

Watch for aphid, whitefly, thrip, and scale infestations. Ant trails leading to and away from plants are a typical sign that an insect pest is feeding on plant juices. Spray aphids off plants with a strong spray of water, and most will not make it back onto the plant.

Prune spring flowering shrubs after bloom is past.

Train new shoots of fruit trees and be sure trees are getting adequate water. Thin fruits when they are the size of a dime.

Adjust sprinkler systems for warmer and drier weather. Avoid excess run-off onto paved surfaces. Mulch heavily to retain soil moisture.

Time to deadhead! Remove spent flowers from roses, flowering shrubs (esp. rhododendrons), and annuals to encourage more flower production. Fertilize rhododendrons, azaleas, and camellias when they finish blooming.

Cymbidiums can be repotted now, if needed.

10/07/2020

October Gardening Tips!
Blooming: Armeria maritima, Azalea, Bacopa, Begonia, Bougainvillea, Bronze Loquat, Canna, Wild Cyclamen, Grewia, Loropetalum, Penstemon, Pineapple Sage, Rose, Star Jasmine, Yarrow, Wooly thyme

The fall season is when I perform most of my major plantings. The cooler temperatures and autumn rains assist in successful plant establishment.

• Plant California native plants and drought-tolerant plants in the fall, ahead of the winter rains. Plant beets, Bok choy, broccoli, Brussel sprouts, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, chard, Chinese cabbage, leek, lettuce, onions, peas, radish, & spinach. Sow seeds of spring-blooming annuals like alyssum, cosmos, larkspur, & sweet peas. Fall is the best time to plant foxglove, canterbury bells, & other biennials. Plant cyclamen in late October/early November. Plant violas & pansies--the perfect ground cover for spring bulbs. Plant Iceland poppies, calendulas, chrysanthemums, & snapdragons. In coastal areas plant cineraria & nemesia. Plant ornamental grasses. Put container shrubs, perennials, & trees into the ground. Plant maples for fall color.

• Select bulbs for spring bloom & winter forcing. Dig up, divide, and replant irises. Dig up summer-blooming bulbs as they die back. Begin chilling bulbs that need an artificial winter: tulips, freesia, crocus, & hyacinth need 4-6 weeks of refrigeration before planting. Plant bulbs such as crocus, tulips, daffodils, freesia, Dutch Iris, Paper Whites, narcissus (the fragrant one tolerates wet spots), bearded Iris, anemone, allium, grape muscari, sparaxias, & ixia.

• Divide the roots & rhizomes of perennials such as agapanthus, yarrow, daylily, gazania, primrose, shasta daisy & dianthus if you want to spread them around to other places.

• Now is the time to prune Japanese Maples in warm winter areas. Trim lemon trees. Prune off dead & diseased portions of summer vegetables & flowers. The warm Indian summer conditions may bring more production from the remaining healthy portions of these plants. Trim back lavender shrubs, but do not prune in past where the foliage starts.

• Prune 1/3 of volume of Salvia clevelandii.

• Refrain from pruning Rhododendrons, Azaleas, and other spring flowering shrubs because they have already set their buds for next year’s blooms.

• As summer vegetables and annuals die off toward the end of the month, apply pre-emergent corn gluten. Follow with a layer of mulch to keep weeds from sprouting in winter rains.

• Clean up dropped fruits to eliminate hiding places for pests and diseases. Evaluate the health of your plants & note any that suffered a severe disease. Rotate a different family of plants in that location next growing season.

• Fertilize & aerate the lawn. Feed Azaleas, camellias, rhododendrons, & perennial beds with 0-10-10 to encourage bud formation. Feed roses one last time this year – some varieties bloom heavily at this time of year. Give a complete fertilizer to: Star Jasmine.

• Do not fertilize Persimmon trees, as over-fertilizing causes leaf drop.

• If needed, now is a good time to lime, aerate, and/or dethatch the lawn.

• Peonies (Itoh): Prune after foliage & stems die back in the fall.

11/19/2019

Would you or someone you know love to spend their days creating & tending beautiful gardens in San Francisco? We are hiring! Let's chat

07/16/2019

Join me on a tour of one of my favorite gardens: it's full of edible perennial plants! It's like W***y Wonka's factory where you can eat almost everything, only it's all plants! How awesome is that?

07/14/2017

Our vertical garden at 14th & Shotwell is looking stunning this summer!