It’s garden question-and-answer time again! You may e-mail me
questions at ga*******@*ps.net or mail me questions in care of this
newspaper. For a faster, personal response, please include a
self-addressed, stamped envelope.
It’s garden question-and-answer time again! You may e-mail me questions at ga*******@*ps.net or mail me questions in care of this newspaper. For a faster, personal response, please include a self-addressed, stamped envelope.
Q: I’m hoping you can give me some insight into chances of successfully growing avocado trees in the Hollister area. In the past, I’ve seen them for sale locally and was considering buying a few this year. However, a neighbor told me they wouldn’t survive through our winter frosts. Is this true? Also, a friend is giving me a couple pomegranate trees this week. Any hints about those?
– D.P., Hollister
A: Unfortunately, your neighbor is correct about avocado trees and our local frosts. During normal winters, our severe frosts normally will kill avocado trees. However, there are exceptions, and that’s why you can sometimes see established avocado trees in our area. My mother, for instance, has a 25-foot-high tree that is more than 30 years old!
For your best chances, plant avocado trees in early spring as soon as danger of frost has past. This way, the trees will have all spring, summer and fall to get established before its first winter here. After that, you have to have luck – luck that the first winter will be mild. If your avocado can get past that first winter, often they are established enough to survive even severe frosts in later winters. Popular varieties include Haas and Bacon.
Your friend’s pomegranate trees are another matter. Pomegranates will grow well in our area, and can tolerate our winters as well as summer heat. Plant in full sun in well-draining soil. Once established, pomegranates are drought-tolerant.
Q: I would like to encourage butterflies in my garden come spring time, but I only have a couple of small planting areas along the west side of my condominium. What would you suggest I plant to attract butterflies?
– A.C., Morgan Hill
A: Where space is limited, go with nectar-rich annual bedding plants. Everything from blue salvia, pentas, sweet alyssum, verbena and zinnias are butterfly favorites. Perennials, such as lantana and the appropriately named butterfly bush (Buddleia), will also attract our winged friends. I don’t know if the latter will fit in your limited space, but butterfly bush is a large shrub or small tree that features clusters of usually purple or lilac flowers on arching, willow-like branches throughout summer. Besides plants and flowers, butterflies are attracted to water and pesticide-free gardens. Do your best to avoid chemical sprays because butterfly caterpillars are extremely sensitive to pesticides.
Q: Every year it’s a race with the birds to see who is going to get the cherry crop first. Is there a simple solution?
– P.T. Gilroy
A: The most effective preventative is light netting, also known as bird netting. It should be placed over the tree and gathered at the base. This should be done well ahead of the ripening season. This inexpensive netting is available at garden centers everywhere. I have used it successfully to protect my grape crop.
