|
|
Greetings
Spring Arrives Early in Los Angeles!
Take advantage of our unique weather and get into the spirit of springtime by starting a spring garden! There’s no more satisfying way to get outside than to exercise your imagination and see the results of a beautiful garden.
March is the month that most gardeners finally get out into the garden when spring warmth tempts us outside. By April, most gardeners have been out for several weeks; but anytime in April is a great time to start incorporating soil amendments, sowing seeds, and putting in transplants.
Soil.
To determine the texture of your soil follow these simple test: file a jar 1/3 with your soil, one tablespoon of Aluminum potassium sulfate (alum) available in most spice sections of supermarket or Calgon bath beads, and 2/3 full of water. Shake and let it stand until the soil separates into layers, about ½ hour. The sand will be the bottom layer, the silt the next layer, followed by the clay, with the organic matter floating on top of the water. Good loam contains about 45% sand, 35% silt, and 20% clay.
By understanding the soil will help you know how to properly fertilize, water and plant so that you will have healthy plants.
Soil is composed of 4 parts: the mineral part, derived from the erosion of rocks to form sand, silt and clay; air; water; and the organic-matter portion, derived from decaying plants and both living and dead microorganisms. The mineral part determines what is commonly known as soil type or texture.
What to Plant Now
Use a planting lists to determine the ideal times for planting in Los Angeles County. We also provides an interactive flower selection tool available for the use of our customers to assist in the important selection of new color for each individual property throughout the year.
FLOWERS SELECTION TOOL
Using the flower selection too can filter specific flowers that meet each individual planting environment and browse pictures in the following resource. Copyright 2011 Oakridge Landscape, Inc.
Step by Step:
To visit our interactive flower selection tool go to: WWW.OAKRIDGELANDSCAPE.NET and select Landscape Maintenance option and Click the Tool Shed
Choose from any of the three options “Flower Selection Tool” you also can upload photos for us to view, as well as the use of our Landscape Calculator tool. (For the Flower Selection Tool follow the below instructions).
1. Select the planting month desired to install your flowers
2. Select your environment or exposure.
3. Click to choose, flowers species that meet your criteria will be displayed. For more details on a specific flower choice including color options and varieties please click on the image.
|
Regards,
Oakridge Landscape, Inc.
|
|
