Commemorative Tree Program

The San Diego River Park Foundation

In 2000, the largest sewer spill in California’s history dumped 34 million gallons of untreated sewage into the San Diego River. This spill ran for almost a week, while few people noticed or cared. Out of this tragedy, a group of concerned citizens formed the San Diego River Park Foundation (SDRPF) on July 18, 2001. Rob Hutsel was involved with the San Diego River Park Foundation from the beginning. He spoke to our Club about the project, and many of our members wanted to get involved. Now we have a great opportunity.

The goal of SDRPF is to connect our community, especially young students, to nature and the river. About 70,000 students attend Title 1 schools just 15 minutes from Grant Park, where these students and the public can learn about nature and the river through various modes, including testing water quality and drawing pictures of their observations of nature.

The Foundation has requested ten trees (four Cottonwood, four Elderberry, and two Sycamore). Because SDRPF is non-profit and because of its relationship with Native West Nursery, the price for trees is reasonable. Additionally, our donation would be matched. One donation = a double benefit. We think this is a great opportunity, and all four of us who visited Grant Park were passionate about supporting it to help make a treasured regional asset valued by all members of our community.     

Details about the memorial wall and Matching Gift Campaign can be found here.

We hope you’ll be as excited as we are about the ten native trees for Grant Park and consider donating a tree to honor or memorialize someone. You can print and mail a donation form from this link  or make a contribution online here.

Thank you so much for your consideration and contribution.  You are making a difference that will last for generations.                   

Devonna Hall and Libby Levine
Co-Chairs, Commemorative Trees

DOnate here

Bouquet of Thanks

The appreciation of workers and patients alike was obvious when we delivered 200 kalanchoes to the VA Medical Center on February 13. It's so heartwarming to be in the grand finale of National Salute to Hospitalized Veterans Week and on Valentine's Day! We gave every patient in the Medical Center and the Aspire Center a beautiful flowering plant. 

Our next project is decorating the chapel and lobby with Easter Lilies. If you would like to bring an Easter Lily to the March General Meeting, I will transport them to the Medical Center.

Please email me if you are able to help.

Thank you for your support.
Glee Logsdon

WREATHS ACROSS AMERICA

Thanks to your contributions during WAA's January matching event, the Village Garden Club has already sponsored 250 wreaths--approximately the number of wreaths in this photo! 

We appreciate your support during the May membership renewal process, year round at this link, and at the September, October and November meetings. We look forward to National Wreaths Across America Day on Saturday, December 13.

With Gratitude,
The Wreaths Across America Committee

Mt Soledad Veterans Memorial 

Please join us at a special event to raise funds for VGCLJ Schoolyard Gardening Grants.  

Where:  Mt. Soledad Veteran's Memorial
When:  Thursday, June 5; 10:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
Guests:  Members, friends, neighbors and family are welcome
Cost:  $58

Visit the beautiful rose garden atop Mt. Soledad, which our Club sponsors and maintains. The roses will be putting on a great show. You and your guests are welcome to join us for:

* Lunch
* VIP docent-led tours of the plaques and memorials
* An update on the new plans for landscaping at the Memorial.  Get answers to all of your gardening questions from landscape reps.
* A special presentation by Amy Forsythe

Reservations are required. You can register at this link on Sign Up Genius or make a reservation at the April or May General Meeting.  

Susan Vandendriesse

Master Gardeners

March "To Do" in the Garden

Discard – Bonide.  It is illegal to use it.

Fertilize – the single, most important thing you can do now to everything that’s in a bed or a container.  From your sad indoor pots to your largest tree. The only plants I’d put on a diet are the camellias and azaleas. Wait just a bit longer and then as soon as they’ve stopped blooming, feed them with acidic fertilizer.  Aluminum sulphate, though not a fertilizer, should be applied to hydrangeas if you are hoping for a bluish hue. And remember that succulents and natives do not want to be fertilized.

Buy – The nurseries are calling:  tomatoes, herbs, summer bulbs, colorful spring perennials, and the 20# bags of necessities for making your gardening easier and more efficacious.

Plant – anything and everything.  This is our month to get our fingers dirty. Every year there are new agapanthus. From palm size to 5-footers, from white through the deepest blues and purples, there is a new agapanthus waiting to replace older varieties. Calla lilies come in a variety of colors. Dahlia plants are locally available in a limited variety but look for the tubers online and be prepared to be wowed by their variety of form, size and color. It’s not too early to start beans or squash. Decide what kind of tomatoes you want: determinate or indeterminate; tiny as a fingernail or as large as your palm;  yellow, orange, green, purple, red; sweet or tangy.  

Prune – Trim your shrubs now before too much new growth is evident. Send their energy into producing new stems. Because most growth will show at the tips, you can get a thicker, denser shrub by pruning it farther back than the height or width you eventually want. This will also mean fewer cuts needed during their spring spurt. The exceptions are the spring flowering shrubs and trees.  A pruning will take off their flower buds.  Fuchsias need to be cut back, way back.  Leave three nodes on the stem and it will send out side branches for a thick planting. If yours is a hanging basket, cut pack to the pot edge, always after a node.

Thin – This is a type of pruning that means cutting not at the tip but on the inside, sometimes off the trunk or main branch, sometimes a bit farther out.  Fruit trees need to be thinned for their health and your bounty.  If you have an early variety of stone fruit, apple, or pear, prune more heavily.  Disbudding can be done to fruit trees and roses giving fewer fruits and flowers but larger specimen.

Deadhead – Still another form of pruning, keep your winter plants going for another month by removing the flower head with its stem.  

Control – Aphids with a two-step process.  Start with a blast from the hose to branches and both sides of the leaves. Then pull or scratch off those remaining. Use Neem oil if that doesn’t work. Control snails by picking them off your plants, lifting them off the ground, or enticing them to gather under a board, wet newspaper, or a lettuce leaf. Then death in a jar. Or smash them. Many gardeners choose to put down bait. If you see whiteflies, it may be a sign that your garden needs to be healthier. Spread worm castings, mulch, fertilizer. Try to entice beneficial insects with a water source and plants that attract pollinators. Do not kill spiders and beetles, many of which eat  whiteflies during one of their five growth stages. Weeds need to be pulled.  Don’t they always?

Water – If we still aren’t receiving a good dose of rain now and then, don’t forget to water. Having fed your garden, your plants likewise need consistent moisture.

Visit – the Master Gardener Table for advice, recommendations, gardening news, demonstrations, and a welcoming smile.  

The Spring Fling – “Plant, Learn, Grow with UC Master Gardeners” on March 22 at the Sikes Adobe Historic Farmstead in Escondido from 9-3.  There will be hands-on workshops, demonstrations, information booths, and retail sales. It is family friendly so bring the kiddies.  More information is available online:  Mastergardenersd.org.

The San Diego Horticultural Society has its annual tour on Saturday, March 29 in Escondido and Poway. The gardens are unique and offer an opportunity to see beautifully landscaped and professionally designed drought-resistant spaces. Tickets are available online.

You can also use our two websites:  mg.ucanr.edu and mastergardenersd.org.

BJ Boland, Karen White and Heather Hazen