Robert Smaus has done more to encourage fall
planting in Southern California than any other
person. In his groundbreaking book, "52 Weeks in
the California Garden," published 10 years ago,
he expertly articulates the benefits of fall
planting.
On the first page, Smaus summarizes the fall
planting message, "In our climate, fall is
spring, at least as far as planting is
concerned, and autumn, not spring, should be our
busiest time in the garden."
How prophetic that Smaus' book, which chronicles
the weeks and months of a California gardening
year, would begin with fall, rather than spring.
Most gardeners, subjected to an onslaught of
gardening information written for climates other
than ours, might expect the gardening year to
begin in spring. As Smaus told us a decade ago,
spring is the result, but fall is the beginning.
As a third-generation gardener rich with local
gardening experience, as well as a keen
plantsman, Smaus has been professing fall
planting for decades. Smaus encouraged fall
planting as the Southern California garden
editor for Sunset Magazine, as well as during
his 25-year stint as the award-winning garden
editor of the Los Angeles Times.
In between, Smaus discussed the advantages of
fall planting during his tenure as the West
Coast host of "The Victory Garden," the first
nationally televised gardening program.
Except for a few subtropical plants like citrus,
bananas and plumerias and several seasonal
annuals and vegetables, nearly every other plant
would prefer to have its roots bedded gently
into our local soil in October, or perhaps
November. The soil, warmed by our long
Mediterranean summer, is especially conducive to
quick root growth in the fall.
When planted right now, trees, shrubs,
perennials, vines and just about any other
plant, will not show a great deal of growth
above the ground, but will be rapidly growing
below the soil, more than any other time of the
year. The shorter days and cooler air
temperatures of fall help avoid undue stress to
the plant during this establishment period.
As anyone who has dug a hole will know,
attention to watering is critical to
establishing a new plant. Fortunately, when
planted in October and November, winter rains
take care of much of the watering regimen for
us. Fall planting thereby conserves the most
precious resource a gardener has — water, using
what is available naturally rather that we are
able to provide artificially.
In Orange County, most plants will grow
furiously underground when planted in the fall.
Root growth is unappreciated by the novice or
impatient gardener, but worshipped by the
experienced. When spring comes, these plants are
so well rooted that they nearly jump out of the
ground in their exuberance.
A few months ago Smaus, who gardens in West Los
Angeles, was again at our nursery. After
visiting with him for a while, we headed out for
a slow walk to see what was new and share
opinions on the myriad new plants available to
Southern California gardeners.
We stopped several times to drop plants onto
Smaus' shopping cart. After loading the plant
cache into his car beside a well-worn pair of
garden boots, he talked about planting. It was
May or June at the time and these plants weren't
going into the ground anytime soon.
As Smaus knows better than anyone, fall is for
planting. He's probably planting those plants
now.
To learn more about Bob Smaus and what he is up
to today, visit his website at
www.bobsgardenpath.com.
"52 Weeks in the California Garden" and his
other garden books are available at most large
nurseries and bookstores and on Amazon.com. He
and his wife, Iris, will lead a small group on a
marvelous two-week gardening and culinary tour
through Southern Italy in June. For more
information, go to his website or
www.earthbound expeditions.com.
ASK RON
Grasshoppers are driving me crazy. They seem as
if they're everywhere. What can I do?
SARAH
Newport Beach
It seems that grasshoppers are more prolific
than ever the past couple of years. Good news
and bad news. Fortunately, although grasshoppers
are big and very noticeable, they seldom cause
any significant garden losses. They chew on a
few leaves, but unless feeding on a very young
plant, will not generally cause any long-term
problems.
Grasshoppers aren't realistically controlled in
a home garden with insecticides. They are too
mobile for insecticides like Sevin to be of much
use. You would be chasing them around the garden
with a hose-end sprayer, likely causing bigger
problems with the insecticide chase than the
grasshopper would be causing.
Tolerance would be my suggestion.
ASK RON
your toughest gardening questions, and the
expert nursery staff at Roger's Gardens will
come up with an answer. Please include your
name, phone number and city, and limit queries
to 30 words or fewer. E-mail stumpthegardener@
rogersgardens.com, or send to Plant Talk at
Roger's Gardens, 2301 San Joaquin Hills Road,
Corona del Mar, CA 92625.
