Discover the Fun of Gardening |
April 7, 2011 |
Florida is a wonderful place, because so many different kinds of fruits grow here. Mangos (pictured) and mameys, lychees and longans, there are too many to list (check out some of the cool ones here.) Take the Fruit Walk at Kerby's and see over 100 different varieties of fruit trees all selected for this area. For all the information you need on planting and caring for tropical fruit trees, come out to Kerby's this Saturday at 10am for the Tropical Fruit Tree workshop. To tantalize your taste buds, you'll get to sample some of the cool fruits that grow in the area following the workshop. Yummy! To get all the info on Kerby's fun events, check out the event calendar. Spring is rolling right along, but there are plenty great workshops still to come, including herb gardening, a kid's workshop on butterfly gardening, the Easter Egg Hunt and our tantalizing Tropical Fruit workshop. It's a great year to Discover the Fun of Gardening.
Happy Gardening, |
In This Issue
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Tropical Fruit Trees
Location,
location, location
Selecting the right
location for all plants is important, but it is critical
for fruit trees. Most tropical fruit trees need sun, well-drained
soil and some protection from wind and cold. Find a location that is
sunny and on the south to south-east side of a house and you have a
great location that offers some protection from the cold. (Cold
winds come in from the north, so a house or tree creates a barrier
that blocks some of the cold winds.)
Use Great Soil
Dig a hole, plop the
tree in and watch it grow right? Not in sandy Florida soil. Sandy
soil allows good drainage, but is awful at retaining moisture and
nutrients. Always use Kerby's Planting Soil, or other rich soil
ingredients, like cow manure and peat when planting fruit trees (for
beautiful landscape plants great soil is a must too.) Fruit trees
must be in top shape to produce good harvests, and planting in great
soil will get them growing healthy and strong.
Download Kerby's planting instructions
to make sure you get all of your plants off to a great start.
Give Trees Fertilizer
People take vitamins
to get all the nutrients they need to stay healthy. Trees are not
much different. They need many different nutrients to grow strong
and produce great harvests. To start trees off well and keep them
healthy, give them regular fertilizer. For new trees, use Kerby's
8-4-8 fertilizer with micronutrients once per month from March to September. For established fruit trees, fertilize three times per year,
in spring, summer and fall. Fruits take a lot of energy to produce,
so make sure you have healthy trees by giving them all the nutrients
they need.
Be Prepared
The best way to keep
fruit trees healthy is to be prepared. Have fertilizer, insect or
disease sprays on hand so that when it's time to spray or fertilize,
you already have everything you need. This goes for cold protection
too. Have a plan for covering and protecting your favorite sensitive
trees, that way when a frost or freeze arrives, you'll be ready.
Anchor pins and frost blankets are one great way to keep frost off
of trees and give insulation during winter. When choosing a tree,
getting all the materials you need now will save lots of time later.
Kerby's has lots of fun planned
for the garden in 2011, including workshop favorites on vegetables, herbs
and roses, as well as some new kids gardening events that will get
the whole family involved. 2011 will be a great year to
Discover the Fun of Gardening.
Workshop:
Tropical Fruit Trees
Juicy and
delicious, there is nothing like picking fruit from a tree you've grown and
eating it on the spot. Whether you like mangos or jakfruit, kiwi or papaya,
or jaboticaba and custard apple, there is a fruit to fit every taste. After the
workshop, you'll be able to sample some of the delicious fruits that can be
grown in our area.
Kerby's Kids Workshop: Butterfly Gardening
The delightful flutter of butterflies in your yard - it's
like nature is trying to show off. Come out to this
workshop to learn how to create your own beautiful butter
Kerby's Kids Event: 2nd Annual Easter Egg Hunt
Bring your Easter
basket and get ready for a whole lot of fun . . . it's the 2nd annual Easter
Egg Hunt at Kerby's. Starting right at 10:00am, be ready to hunt and see how
many Easter Eggs you can find amongst the beautiful flowers.
Workshop: Growing Roses
A rose by any other name . . . can grow in your
garden. Discover everything you need to plant and care for
It's mother's day weekend, so treat mom to a fun workshop on herb
gardening. Learn how to plant and grow all types of tasty herbs, and how to
use them in cooking. We'll even have a few samples for everyone to try. A
great way to share some time with mom!
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Kerby's Nursery 2311 S. Parsons Ave. Seffner, FL 33584 (813) 685-3265 www.kerbysnursery.com |
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