Summer’s here in San Diego gardens. This is still a good time to plant subtropicals, summer annuals and your last round of warm season vegetables, but hold off putting most plants in the ground until fall when temperatures drop.
Hot Colors for Summer Gardens
Yellows, oranges, reds and vibrant pinks look great in bright, summer sun. There are many ways you can incorporate them into your San Diego garden. If you’re worried about things looking too hot, balance them with cool colors like blue, purple or white. Frame them with foliage. Green works well, and silver or gray is perfect for unifying and separating hot colors. Some excellent silver-gray options are dusty miller, lamb’s ear, hen and chicks or bush germander.
You can mix annuals, perennials and bulbs in your bright, summer garden. Cosmos, marigolds, zinnias and petunias are just a few of the annuals that will work well. The list of brilliant perennials is long, and Gloriosa daisy ‘Indian Summer’, yarrow ‘Coronation Gold’, many varieties of daylily and pelargoniums are a few you can add. Try cannas, crocosmias, dahlias and begonias which are bulbs and tubers that flower in yellow, orange, red and bright pinks.
Controlling Ant Populations
To control ant populations in your San Diego garden, try insecticide baits placed near ant nests and trails. Use baits that are enclosed in bait stations, and those with less toxic bait like borate. You can purchase prepacked bait traps or make your own using borate and sugar. Borate bait traps have worked well at my house. We start putting them out in late winter and early spring to keep ants away from the house and protect plants.
Insecticide sprays are not effective because they only kill foraging ants. They also kill many other insects, and may contaminate surface waters which kills aquatic organisms. Insecticide use is one of the reasons insect populations are declining rapidly. Studies show that in the past 50 years, insect populations have plummeted by up to 75%.
Sticky barriers will help keep ants off trees and are safer for the environment. Wrap a band of heavy paper or duct tape around the tree’s trunk. Coat it with something sticky, like Tanglefoot. Make sure tree branches aren’t touching the ground or other objects that would allow ants to avoid your sticky trap.
Take a look at the University of California Pest Management Program for more details and other less toxic ways to keep ants out of your home and manage them in your garden.
Fruit Tree Care in Your San Diego Garden
Check your fruit trees often, and harvest the fruit as it ripens. Clean up fallen fruits to keep from bringing pests like rodents and fruit beetles to your garden. Fertilize citrus, avocado and other mature fruit trees. Make sure your fruit trees are getting several deep waterings each month, now and through the summer. The water should be delivered all around the tree in a broad band extending from about one-third of the distance from the trunk to the tree’s drip line and extending a few feet beyond the drip line.
San Diego Gardens Tips Source
A lot of information for San Diego Gardens comes from the Master Gardener Association of San Diego County. They are a great resource for all of your gardening needs including planting, pests, vegetables, and water use. They even have a free hotline where you can get your home gardening and pest control problems answered.