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Gardening in the Sacramento Region with Steve Kroes

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Gardening in the Sacramento Region with Steve Kroes
Our Garden

Update: weeding, fertilizing, lagging butterfly bushes

BySteve May 10, 2006

Yesterday we weeded the front flowerbeds, and we’re really almost done with all the weeding. Yeah! There’s just the area where the vinca groundcover is that has a lot of wild grass in it. On Saturday, I fertilized the front and back flowerbeds with that Lily Miller rose fertilizer (5-8-4 formula). I’m not sure it…

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Our Garden

Planted some corn today

BySteve May 6, 2006

Today, the twins and I planted some corn seeds. We did two rows of Silver Queen and two rows of Kandy King. One ripens in 70-something days, and the other in 90-some days. In a few weeks, I need to remember to plant some more. I’m trying to make the harvest extend over a month…

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Our Garden

A few sick bushes, tree

BySteve April 30, 2006

I’ve had a few unusual problem this year, and I think it was caused by a late freeze after a warm week. First, I noticed that one of my Golden Rain trees had tiny new leaf shoots that died and got crispy. The leaves at the top of the tree were OK, but all the…

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Our Garden

Fertilized roses, beginning of compost spreading

BySteve April 28, 2006

I finally fertilized the rose hedge. I dug a small trench with the trowel all along the side of the hedge and put in Lily Miller 5-8-4 rose food and added some Colorbust 15-30-15 to give it a little more oomph. It took two small bags of the colorbust, and one large bag of the…

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Our Garden

Turned on sprinklers

BySteve April 26, 2006

Yesterday, I turned on the lawn sprinklers to make sure the fertilizer is watered in. This morning, the grass already looks noticeably greener! I don’t know if it’s just the water or the fertilizer, but it’s sure working quickly!

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Our Garden

Fertilized the lawn yesterday

BySteve April 25, 2006

Last night, I fertilized the lawn with IFA Spring/Summer Blend 25-5-10 Premium Lawn Fertilizer. The bag said it would handle 8,000 sq ft, and I believe I have about 5,000 sq ft of sod. I used most of the bag, and took the rest and threw it around my burning bushes, golden rain trees, and…

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Our Garden

A beautiful spring sunburn day!

BySteve April 22, 2006

It was an awesome day today! I worked out side so long, I have a serious sunburn on the back of my neck. Ouch. Here are some things we did today — Dana worked hard most of the day, too: Finished pruning the roses Pruned all the shrubs along the south fence, including yellow-twig dogwoods,…

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Our Garden

Utah Climate Data and Turf Water Requirements

BySteve April 11, 2006

Here’s a handy webpage to check each week to be sure I’m using the right amount of water on my lawn this year: Utah Climate Data and Turf Water Requirements

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Steve Kroes

steve.grows.stuff

Cultivating flowers, fruit & veg in NorCal Zone 9b. Also a realtor (DRE# 02138500), freelance consultant & part-time professor. Dual UK/US citizen 🧑‍🌾

So many hopes riding on this Blue Java banana flow So many hopes riding on this Blue Java banana flower!! Haha, i’ve grown Cavendish bananas for maybe six or seven years now and had multiple flowers that didn’t produce viable fruit. Really hoping this one produces an amazing rack of bananas! Also, this plant is an example of good things happen on social media. I met @fair_oaks_tropiculture through Instagram, and he so generously gave me this banana plant when I visited his awesome food forest and garden. What a cool thing! 
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#sacramentogardening #banana #tropicalgardening #norcalgarden #zone9b #bluejavabanana #fairoaks
Just a little walk along the front garden. Isn’t Just a little walk along the front garden. Isn’t this so much better than just a lawn? It’s all organically grown, and we don’t have much of an issue with bad bugs. The good predator bugs and birds thrive and keep things in balance. We do have some slug and snail issues, and nature keeps trying to help us with alligator lizards showing up to eat them, but alas, our cats catch some of our lizard friends and interfere with the balance of nature. Have you thought of replacing some lawn with flowerbeds? Any questions I can help you with? Feel free to post Qs in the comments 💚
#sacramentogardening #gardening #zone9b #flowergardening #mygarden #fairoaks #norcal #gardenadvice
We are so happy to be hosting this family of blueb We are so happy to be hosting this family of bluebirds in our backyard! As an added bonus, they fly around our garden picking up bugs. What great guests! 😊 I was surprised how quickly they discovered the birdhouse right after we put it up. They spent weeks just checking it out, in and out constantly, until they started bringing nesting materials. Now, we just need to make sure the cats aren’t around when the chicks fledge! 
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#bluebirds #nestbox #birdhouse #sacramentogardening
Frog Buddha approves of chop and drop. 🐸 Haha, Frog Buddha approves of chop and drop. 🐸 Haha, do you do this? Especially with vigorous plants that take a lot out of the soil like these bananas, chopping the trimmings and piling them around the plant helps to return those nutrients back to the soil. Today it was the machete, but sometimes I chop these trimmed stems and old leaves up with the lawnmower for an even finer shredding. With bananas, the pile also helps to keep the soil moist.
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#chopanddrop #bananas #growbananas #gardening #tropicalgardening #sacramentogardening #zone9b
Help me out, fellow citrus gardeners! I just harve Help me out, fellow citrus gardeners! I just harvested the rest of the mandarins off this unidentified variety that we’re growing. Do you think it’s gold nugget? Swipe to see a close-up. The bumpy skin looks like gold nugget to me, and the fact that it ripens so late in the season seems to fit.
#mandarins #citrus #gardenhelp #gardenquestion #sacramentogardening #fruittrees
Our little dogwood tree doesn’t disappoint. And Our little dogwood tree doesn’t disappoint. And in the ➡️ pic, our birdhouse in the background has a pair of western bluebirds using it! I can’t get close enough to them for a pic (and don’t want to scare them away), but they’re so gorgeous! 
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#spring #sacramentogardening #zone9b #mygarden #floweringtrees #dogwood #fairoaks #blooms
Ranunculus in spring glory. And cute Santia in the Ranunculus in spring glory. And cute Santia in the background, doing some spring weeding! 😍💜💚 These ranunculus keep coming back stronger every spring. I think this is our third spring with them. I have found that some that are competing with a big maple’s roots are not as vigorous, but the ones over here are doing great! Are you enjoying spring? Getting a lot done in the garden? 
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#ourgarden #sacramentogardening #flowers #flowergarden #zone9b #fairoaks #organicflowers #organicgardening #springvibes #ranunculus
The lilacs are blooming, so spring is here, even t The lilacs are blooming, so spring is here, even though last week it was summer for two days and  now it’s winter again! 😂💚 Oh, and ➡️some sweet ranunculus, too! 💜
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#spring #sacramentogardening #fairoaksgardening #mygarden #springflowers #zone9garden #zone9b #lilac #ranunculus
We are at peak camellia over here in Northern Cali We are at peak camellia over here in Northern California on the first day of spring! Plus some daisies (arctotis and paludosum) ➡️➡️. How’s your spring equinox going? Hope you have good weather, wherever you are! 💚 
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#spring #equinox #firstdayofspring #camellia #mygarden #flowergardening #flowers
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Recent Posts

  • I guess it wasn’t the year for home-grown bananas :(
  • This is the year we eat home-grown bananas!
  • Get seedlings in the sun quick! But with protection
  • The banana saga: bummer of an update
  • We built a sweet little DIY extra room

Garden sites

  • GardenWeb annuals forum
  • GardenWeb perennials forum
  • NOAA Climate Prediction Center
  • UC Integrated Pest Management
  • UC Yard & Garden Resources
  • US Drought Monitor

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