THE COASTAL GARDENER: Cultivate your craft with expert advice

Annie Hall, John Kabashima, Darren Haver, Lili Singer, Pat Welsh, Debra Lee Baldwin, Edith Malek and Yvonne Savio.

These names may evoke blank stares from some, but serious gardeners will recognize them among those of the most knowledgeable and well-respected local gardening experts. Next month all of them, and more, will speak in Huntington Beach at a once-a-year seminar to provide excellent gardening advice.

For the fifth year the University of California Master Gardeners of Orange County present their Fall Gardening Seminar, which again features an all-star lineup of California’s best and brightest gardeners.

Annie Hall, of Annie Hall Garden Designs, will start the day with “Basic Training in the Garden,” to explain what any great garden requires. Hall will discuss basic garden care, soils, fertilizing, pest control and maintenance. She has been featured in Sunset magazine and the Los Angeles Times.

The entertaining and knowledgeable John Kabashima will lead a discussion of “How to Fix What’s Ailing Your Plant.” Whether it’s too much water, too little water, something eating the leaves or boring holes in the trunk, Kabashima is the person to ask. Kabashima, the UC Extension county director and horticulture advisor, will provide practical examples to help solve problems in the home garden.

Orchid addict Tony Glinkas will present “Orchids in Southern California,” an exploration that will cover growing, repotting, propagation and fertilization, as well as the varieties that thrive best in Southern California.

Perhaps the timeliest seminar will be “Stop Garden Water from Going Down the Drain,” led by Darren Haver. Haver, water resources and quality advisor in Orange and Riverside counties, will discuss how to use old and new technology to reduce water use in the garden. Technological topics include moisture-sensing devices, ‘Smart’ controllers, hydrozoning and low-output sprinklers.

Lili Singer, one of the region’s best horticulturists, garden writers and educators, will present “Plants for Tough Spaces.” Singer will address extreme situations in the garden, including deep shade, dry shade, constant moisture, sun for only part of the year and narrow plants for tall screens. She will recommend plants that thrive in these spaces.

The queen of Southern California gardening, Pat Welsh, will offer her lively program titled “How to Prune Flowering Shrubs, Climbers, and Perennials.” A great presenter, she will provide hands-on demonstrations to take the mystery out of pruning flowering plants, some of which bloom on new wood and others on old wood. Learn how to prune each type, including climbing roses, wisteria, bougainvillea, trumpet vine, hibiscus, hydrangea, lavender, geranium, begonia, impatiens, ornamental grasses and more. Mrs. Welsh is a TV personality, lecturer, painter and award-winning author.

One of the most popular gardening books of the year is Debra Lee Baldwin’s “Designing with Succulents.” Debra’s seminar with the same title will review the hottest trend in gardening. Baldwin will discuss the best succulents for residential landscapes, provide examples of companion plants, and ideas for container plantings. An award-winning garden writer and photojournalist, Baldwin is in great demand.

Edith Malek is almost single-handedly responsible for clematis’ local popularity. Her program will help you start growing these in your garden. She will offer the best varieties for Southern California as well as those to avoid, plus her five steps to success. Malek is the president and founder of the American Clematis Society.

Finally, Yvonne Savio will discuss “Growing Vegetables and Herbs.” The program manager of the Common Ground Garden Program in Los Angeles County, she will discuss 60 vegetables and herbs for local gardens. Savio grew up eating what was in season and what was grown in her own family’s city garden. She was the 2004 winner of the Feeding the Hungry Garden Crusader Award from the National Gardening Association.

Mark your calendar for Oct. 20 from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m at the Huntington Beach Central Library. Registration is required, and there is a small fee.

To find out more or to register, visit uccemg.com and click on MG Annual Fall Seminar, or call (714) 708-1646.

ASK RON

Question: I have three evergreen pears, and they have small bunches of dead leaves. I was told the trees have “blight.” I see the same problem on other trees around the city. What is the best way to save my trees?

Kathleen

Lido Island

Answer: Your trees are infected with a bacterium called Fire Blight (erwinia amylovora). It is a common disease of this tree, and most of the infected trees in the county go untreated. It will seldom kill a tree, but it will disfigure it. Effective control is primarily through selective pruning on an every-year program. This pruning, however must follow some very strict guidelines, or the problem may worsen. For specific details, visit ucce.ucdavis.edu/files/filelibrary/5576/28185.pdf.

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 [email protected], or write to Plant Talk at Roger’s Gardens, 2301 San Joaquin Hills Road, Corona del Mar, CA 92625.