Plant Care

This corn trial was performed in the summer of 2007 at our Nine Palms project location (no longer in use). Under challenging weather conditions, Silver Queen and Peaches & Cream ranked highest among the four corns tested. Golden Bantam is not recommended.

Something in your garden or home bugging you? Do your roses have strange spots? Is something eating your tomatoes? The Merced Master Gardeners are here to help! Contact our Helpline to get answers to your garden challenges and pest problems. Send an email to anrmgmerced@ucanr.edu.

Gardening tools and equipment Photo: Das Ant The right tool makes working in the garden more pleasurable. Always purchase the best quality tool since it is well worth the investment. Avoid tools that are too heavy or too light, which may not hold up under continuous use.

Bulbs are great to plant then forget about. Often planted in fall (some in spring), theyre not visible during winter. Come spring or summer, depending on the bulb, voila! A beautiful plant! Theres a wide variety of types of things called bulbs, including rhizomes, tubers, corms, and true bulbs.

Protect sensitive plants from cold injury when frost is predicted. Photo: Courtesy UC Regents Maintenance and prevention Chop up cover crop foliage into small pieces if you grew a cover crop. Turn under or add the clippings to your compost pile.

A colorful California hillside in summer. Photo: Connie Lefkowitz Marin's topography is part of our natural beauty. The views are gorgeous, but there are special considerations pertaining to erosion, water, and plant selection.

Have a shady nook that needs attention? There is a world of gorgeous plants up for the job. They come in every imaginable shade of green from pastel to chartreuse, emerald, and deep forest green. Shade plants are often slower growing than sun-loving species.

We invite you to join our public tomato trial and be a citizen scientist! Help us gather information by growing trial tomatoes in your garden and reporting the results.

When to plant: January–early February Harvest window: August–October, depending on variety Fertilization: Nitrogen in spring, additional applications based on tree age, health, and soil quality Prune in early winter (December–January)

This trial was conducted in the summer of 2008 at our Nine Palms project location (no longer in use). Peaches & Cream corn was reliably productive over an extended harvest period.