HORTICULTURE TIPS OF THE MONTH

January
Prune roses, dormant trees and shrubs. Pruning tips at www.urbanext.uiuc.edu/roses/prune.html. Go out at night
with a flashlight and handpick snails!

February
Amend soil, fertilize everything. Soils at www.pacificcoastsoils.com.
Recipe for compost can be found at either of the following links:
www.co.whatcom.wa.us/publicworks/pdf/solidwaste/ezcompost2003.pdf,
or
www.allspecies.org/neigh/comprecipe.htm.

March
Prune fuchsias. Feed roses with this wonderful formula: 8 parts
Alfalfa meal, 2 parts cottonseed meal (arsenic free), 2 parts
ground rock phosphate, 2 parts bone meal, 1 part Epsom salts,
and 1 part blood meal. Combine all ingredients and apply I cup
of mix for each foot of shrub height. Lightly scratch into soil
using caution not to harm the roots, and then water deeply.
Recipe assumes that the soil ph is between 6.5 and 7.5.

April
Plant perennials, annuals and ornamental grasses. Be aware
of what not to plant, www.co.monterey.ca.us/ag/nox_weeds.htm.

May
Prune wisteria and climbing roses AFTER bloom, fertilize
EVERYTHING, preferably with fish emulsion or seaweed based
plant food, regular or acid.

June
Deadhead plants, shrubs, annuals and roses and then SIT BACK
and enjoy your garden!

July
FOG Prevent mildew by thinning plants so there is more air
circulating. Recipe to spray on plants: 2T cooking oil, 2T
dishwashing liquid (without degreaser), 1 gallon of water,
2T baking soda.

August
FOG Feed roses AGAIN with rose fertilizer recipe. All about
roses at www.arenaroses.com. Link to integrated pest
management, www.ipm.ucdavis.edu.

September
Plant natives. Go to www.mbay.net/~cnps. Be careful not
to plant invasive plants, www.cal-ipc.org.

October
Finish eating summer veggies and between now and
November. Plant winter ones.

November
Scatter wildflower seeds. If it does not rain, water them!

December
Give gardening and conservation gifts. Send amaryllis
bulbs, or forced narcissus to your friends.

DAILY CONSERVATION TIPS

Help preserve the environment and pass on its beauty
and bounty to future generations by making a difference
in the way you live your life each day.

PAPER
When you get coffee to go, use your own travel cup.
A well known coffee purveyor stated that we could
easily save 1.7 million pounds of paper, 3.7 million
pounds of solid waste, and 150,000 trees a year. Help
decrease the 25 billion cups of non-biodegradable
Styrofoam that go into landfills annually. US companies
sent out 17 billion catalogs last year, 59 for every man,
woman and child in the nation. By ordering online, have
access to wider selections online. Give your postman
a lighter load by getting taken off mailing lists by calling,
faxing or registering at

www.dmaconsumers.org/cgi/offmailinglist#regform.

Go to www.proxyvote.com to get shareholder reports
and proxies online.

OIL
Oil appears in other products besides fuel. By carrying
your own reusable water bottle, you not only save the
resources it takes to create a disposable bottle, but the
energy it takes to bottle and ship the water.

WATER
Do not only conserve water, but help keep it pure. It is
no longer legal to put computers or batteries into
landfills since the toxins they contain will leach into the
water table. Many businesses will recycle batteries
from cell phones and computers after they have lost
their ability to hold a charge. Itís easy to find a location
in your area, www.rbrc.org/call2recycle/, or
www.earth911.org/master.asp?s=ls&serviceid=126.

GENERAL INFORMATION
Donít miss this fabulous site with daily tips at
www.idealbite.com. Learn about many current
environmental topics through the National
Resources Defense Council, www.nrdc.org.