Gardening Notes

On this we can rely: Seasons will change, tides
will turn, and day will yield to night according
to nature's scheme. Knowing so makes each
summer breeze warmer, each breaking wave
more thrilling, each twilight more golden.

Here are some gardening articles and additional information
about the pictures seen on the Gardening page.

LANDSCAPING

WATER GARDENING

SEED SPROUTING

THE VINEYARD

LANDSCAPING

When we moved into the house in 1997, only turf had been planted in the 1.5 acres of yard area. There was no other landscaping. I planted a dozen Austrian Pine and Blue Spruce trees and six Aspen trees. I removed huge areas of sod with a sod cutter to install the gardens. I piled up the removed sod to create berms.

May 1999

July 2000

Judy loves flower gardening and brings in cut flowers to use in still life setups for her watercolor paintings. She has planted many shrubs, roses, perennials, annuals and bulbs too numerous to name. Phil grows the vegetables and herbs. We also planted three dozen fruit trees - apple, pear, cherry, plum, peach and apricot.

I propagated a few hundred grape vines from the pruned canes collected at the Orchard Mesa Research Center during the Master Gardener pruning workshop 2 years ago. I planted a couple rows of Chardonnay and Merlot vines. This will be their third year and they should produce fruit this year. I hope to make wine this fall.

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WATER GARDENING

The 15'x20' pond liner was purchased in the gardening department of a local building supply store and just fits the 10'x15'x2'deep pond. It holds 1000 gallons of water. I purchased a permit from the BLM to collect the rock from their local quarries. The pond was created in 1998 and the gardens in 1997. I put water iris, cattails and water lilies in the pond.

May 1999

July 2000

It took a year for the pond to establish its eco-system balance. Algae flourishes in sunlight and oxygen in the water. The string algae that appeared was controlled mainly by eliminating the sunlight entering the water. At first I used a dye to color the water dark blue/black. Now the water is clear (the dye fades out over time) and the 5 water lilies cover 90% of the water surface with their leaves. I also use a water filter in the summer to help keep the water from being cloudy (so we can enjoy seeing the fish.) I run the waterfall pump all winter. The fish, Cray fish, snails and toad tadpoles all help to eat the rest of the algae. You can't eliminate it 100% (without using chemicals which would kill the fish) so we just enjoy it as part of the total pond experience.

Great Blue Heron "Fish Thief"

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STARTING SEEDS

`From:` `Sheryl Williams srwillms@gj.net`

In case anyone is interested, this is how I (Sheryl) start seeds. It may seem like a lot of work but when you start over 100 different seed packs each year, it keeps the precious greenhouse real estate (shelf space) manageable.

First let me describe how I do the seeds. Take a cheap! paper towel and fold it in half twice. Soak the paper towel in warm water (nicer for your hands, doesn't do anything for the seeds). Squeeze out the paper towel. Place the seeds either on top if Light is required for germination or inside if no light is needed. Slip the towel into a plastic baggie (the snack size are perfect) and do not seal the bag, just close in a few places. Put a label on the bag and set it on sand with a heating cable that keeps it 70 degrees. If the seeds need pre-chilling at 40 degrees, put them in the veggie drawer of the refrigerator. If they need 32 degrees, put them in the freezer. If they need 50-60, I just set them out in the house.

The cheap paper towels are better than the thick ones because the root tip with dig into the thick towels. If the root has gone into the towel, plant the piece of towel rather than tear off the root tip. The towel shouldn't be too damp or the seeds may rot. The baggie should be let open to let some air in. Be sure the heating cable or top of your refrigerator doesn't get hotter than 70 or you'll dry them out.

You have to check the seeds every 2-3 days to see what has germinated and usually to add a bit more water. I just use a squirt from a water bottle. When the seeds have germinated I use a pair of tweezers to place them gently into the pre-moistened soiless mix and them put them 2" under lights for 16 hours a day. Ladybird Beetles in Love

After about 3 weeks they'll need transplanting into a mix with some fertilizer.

The best site I've found for germination info is:
http://www.anet-chi.com/~manytimes/page43.htm

Some seeds need soaking or chipping. I use a nail clipper to nick the big thick ones.

Photo by Sheryl Williams

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Grape Vines

RAPES grow up, not out, so you don't need a large surface area for a home vineyard. An arbor on the sunny side of the house makes a perfect scaffold for table grapes. Or you can plant vines along a wire-mesh fence.

If your desire, however, is to grow enough grapes to produce juice or wine, you'll need a more formalized system of vine spacing and trellising.

For table grapes, space the vines 8 feet apart in rows 10 feet apart. For wine grapes, space vines 4 feet apart in rows 6 feet apart. The yield for table grapes ranges from 10 to 30 pounds of grapes per vine (or more, depending on the variety); the yield is about 10 pounds per vine from wine-grape varieties. Ten pounds of grapes will make a gallon of grape juice or wine. To fill a standard wine barrel of 60 gallons, you'll probably need from 60 to 72 vines, which will take up an area 32 by 48 feet.

Wine grapes don't need great soil or lots of water. They're more flavorful when stressed and producing small berries. Most of the flavor and color components of the grapes are in the skins. Small berries have a greater skin-to-juice ratio and, consequently, more intense flavor.

In most regions, irrigation of grapes isn't necessary once your plants are established. And for wine grapes, a yearly early-summer mulch of soil-building cover crops, coupled with an autumn application of compost every other year, adds plenty of fertility. Table grapes and other varieties destined for unfermented uses require good soil that's improved with yearly applications of compost.

In the dormant season, a well-managed wine-grape vine should be pruned to carry 40 to 60 buds. Begin by trimming last season's brown and hard shoots, called canes. In warm climates, prune canes back to 20 or more spurs with just two or three buds each. In cold-winter climates, you should prune less severely. Four to six canes should hold 10 to 12 buds each. Each bud left at pruning will produce a new green shoot with several grape clusters.

You'll need to remove excess clusters of grapes so the vines carry only a moderate load of fruit. Thinning is best done before the flowers in the tiny clusters open in spring.

The rule for wine grapes is to leave only one or two clusters per new green shoot. For table grapes, thin only if the vine produces more than three clusters per new shoot.

rapes have been grown for thousands of years, and over the centuries viticulturists have developed hundreds of varieties. Gardeners today, consequently, have a wide range of choices when it comes to selecting grapes for the backyard. That's fortunate because the main trick to successfully raising grapes is to choose varieties that do well in your growing area. The European grapes (Vitis vinifera) that produce gourmet wines grow where summers are sunny and dry and winters are mild (USDA Hardiness Zones 6 or 7 through 10). European grapes, however, are very susceptible to disease.

Best Grapes for Southwest and Pacific Coast Region

Variety	Type	Fruit color	Harvest	Varietal Characteristics
Wine Grapes
Cabernet Sauvignon	E	purplish black	late season	Produces a red Bordeaux type wine, very vigorous, susceptible to black rot.
Merlot	E	black	mid season	High yielder, recommended only for sheltered sites in cool climates, susceptible to powdery mildew.
Pinot Noir	E	dark blue	late season	Produces pinkish red wine, susceptible to disease.
Zinfandel	E	reddish black	mid season	Resistant to powdery mildew, heavy bearing.
Chardonnay	E	white	late season	One of the hardiest wine grapes but susceptible to disease.
Gewurztraminer	E	pinkish red	early season	Good for juice, spicy flavor, needs well drained soil.
White Riesling	E	greenish yellow	late season	Susceptible to disease, aromatic, one of the hardiest European types.
Sauvignon Blanc	E	green	mid to late season	Susceptible to disease, grows best on sandy loam soil.
Table Grapes
Flame Tokay	E	Red	mid season	Also good wine grape; likes cool nights.
Golden Muscat	H	green amber	early season	Distinctive flavor, needs long growing season, susceptible to powdery mildew.
Perlette	E	light green	midseason	Crisp and juicy fruit, vigorous vines but susceptible to powdery mildew.
Thompson Seedless	E	white	mid season	Good for raisins, susceptible to powdery mildew.

The letters under type indicate A (American), M (Muscadine) E (European), and H (Hybrid American - European crosses)
Copyright: September/October, 2000 Organic Gardening. www.organicgardening.com

VINEYARD

Propagating Self-rooting Grape Vines

A young Merlot vine.	There are many methods of propagating grape vines. I've experimented for the last three years and come up with a method that works for me. I'll describe the method that gives me about a 90% success rate.
First I take pruned canes from a vineyard and cut them into three or four pieces with each piece having about 5 buds or nodes. It's important to remember which way is up (it doesn't work to plant the cane upside down) so I cut the bottom of the piece square about a half inch from the bottom node. I cut the top at a slant or angle to identify it as top when I plant it.
	Next I put the cut canes in a planting tray in a soil medium made of peat moss, vermiculite and perlite. The depth of the mix is about 6 inches so I can cover 2 or 3 of the 5 nodes with soil. I keep the soil mix moist by adding water every few days. The tray measures 7"x8"x24" and contains about 100 "sticks."
Under the tray I place a seed heating pad. I keep the tray heated to 80 degrees and the room temperature cool. This forces the buds in the soil mix to form roots and the buds above the soil to form leaves.
	In 4 to 6 weeks leaves will appear on the upper nodes and roots form on the lower nodes.
In 6 to 8 weeks the plants are well developed and are ready to transplant into pots.
	I dump the tray out on a bench, separate the plants and place each plant in a one gallon pot with garden soil.
I harden off the plants outside and when they're well established I transplant them into the vineyard.
	The first year you're basically growing a root system. A small bush grows about 2 or 3 feet tall.
In the spring of the second year I prune the vine clear to the ground, leaving a couple buds to form the trunk of the vine and the cordon arms during the second year of growth.
	I build a 7 wire trellis system and train the vine to form two trunks to the first wire and bend them to form a cordon along the wire for about 2 1/2 feet on each side. Two pairs of wires above will catch the shoots coming up from the cordons and a top wire will hold the bird net put up in the late summer before harvest. A bottom wire is used to attach the irrigation tube a foot above the ground that has a drip emitter over the root system.
In the spring of the third year (and each succeeding year) I prune by removing the canes from the cordon arms, leaving short (2-3 bud) vertical spurs spaced 4-6 inches evenly along the upper side of the cordon to form new shoots that bear the leaves, flowers and fruit.
	These vines are planted 5 feet apart and the rows are 9 feet apart. If I were creating a commercial vineyard I would have different dimensions as each variety requires different spacing and depending on their environment.
These are Chardonnay grape vines. They are planted in a back yard of turf grass. There is a bark mulch in the row of vines to prevent weeds and a grass barrier along the row to make mowing easy.
	The fruit forms on the cane shoots above the cordon arms making harvesting easy. Pruning and positioning the canes on the trellis system continues every week throughout the summer. A sulphur spray is applied every couple weeks to prevent powdery mildew.