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NEED SOME FRESH garden inspiration? You can find some in Sunset’s latest edition of “Western Garden Book of Landscaping: The Complete Guide to Beautiful Paths, Patios, Planting and More” (416 pages, Oxmoor House, $29.95).

As with most Sunset publications, it’s replete with provocative tips and ideas, and cool designs augmented with excellent photographs. The gardens in this edition are especially bold and dramatic.

They range in locales as different as beach and desert, mountain and valley, with a Hawaiian island thrown in, and design elements seen in them include stylish fireplaces and fire pits, colorful walls, arbors and trellises, paths, patios, pools, sheds and tool storage.

“We designed this book to showcase the West’s hottest garden design today as well as to inspire and empower gardeners to create their outdoor dream spaces,” says Kathleen Brenzel, Sunset’s garden editor, in a press release, noting that a similar effect can be achieved by either a talented DIY-er or landscape professional.

There are three main components that set this edition apart from previous ones, including the last edition released six years ago:

• A focus on earth-friendly garden design highlighting permeable paving, use of recycled materials, recirculating water features, water-wise and native plants, and low-voltage lighting.

• Expert tips from both established and emerging garden professionals.

• Ideas and secrets from first-time gardeners who share their lessons from recent landscape remodel.

But then there is that Sunset sensibility of practicality and awareness that runs through every design. You can see it in the city sanctuary, an urban backyard retreat done on a small budget; a front-yard veggie garden; a simple Zen-like garden; a backyard meadow; a beachfront getaway that stands up to the winds and salt spray; small rooftop gardens; larger outdoor living “rooms” and a shade-producing Turkish-inspired lounge.

What’s new at Sloat

Every year, Sloat Garden Center has a winter get-together at its Kentfield store where new and established vendors set up display tables.

There’s always a taco bar and fun beverages to sample as staffers and local journalists browse the tables to see what’s in store for spring.

“It’s like a mini-convention,” explains longtime Sloat marketing manager Scott Peterson.

It allows store managers and team members from Sloat’s nine Bay Area stores to speak directly to many of the manufacturers, growers, designers and distributors of the products sold at Sloat.

Here are four new items soon to be on Sloat shelves:

•

DriWater: DriWater is a time-release gel pack that breaks down in the soil and percolates down to a plant or tree’s root zone at a consistent rate for a healthier plant. “They take the guesswork out of watering,” Peterson says. DriWater is made up of 98 percent water and 2 percent food grade ingredients, and one gel pack provides up to 30 days of constant watering. It’s ideal for houseplants when you’re away on vacation. A twin pack will cost about $5.

•

Environmental Factor Grub Nematodes: “This is a great, natural way to battle grubs in the lawn,” he says. “The nematodes have long-lasting effects and replace the need to use heavy synthetics that bad for our waterways.” The spray-on product is sprayed also claims to take care of flea infestations in the yard. $24.99.

•

Ecoscraps compost: “This is a great all-natural compost from (mostly local) fruits and veggies,” Peterson says. “A lot of customers are opposed to having manure in their compost and the guys behind the company have the right idea by recycling and reusing produce scraps. We throw away so much food in this country.” The compost costs $7.99 for a 1-cubic foot bag.

•

Epic Gopher Scram: “Gophers have become a problem in the Bay Area, destroying ornamentals, edibles and lawns,” he explains. “Many of our customers don’t want to trap them, which is our top recommendation, or poisoning them. “Epic Gopher Scram is organic, does not kill gophers but rather acts as a strong repellent that causes gopher food to taste bad, and their tunnels and surrounding soil to smell bad, but not to humans,” he says. It costs $21.99 for 3.5-pound container.

PJ Bremier may be contacted at P.O. Box 412, Kentfield 94914, or at pj@pjbremier.com.

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Marci Gore

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March 1st, 2014 11:00 am by Marci Gore

Rizanino Reyes, a horticulturist, gives a rose bush some last-minute pruning before putting it in the ground. AP photo.

Although we’re not completely out of the woods yet, the warmer, sunnier weather we’ve had these past few days does hint at the end of what has been a very long and very cold winter.

Local gardening expert and horticulturist Roy Odom II says now is the perfect time to think about getting our gardens and landscaping ready for spring and summer.

“February is a great time to prune fruit trees and fruit bushes,” Odom said. “Mainly what you want to do is just remove any overgrowth, anything that’s just really sticking out.”

However, don’t prune anything that blooms in the spring, Odom advises.

“Anything that blooms before June, things like azaleas, rhododendrons, forsythia, dogwoods, red buds, you don’t want to be whacking on right now. If you prune those right now, you’re cutting the bloom buds off,” he said.

Odom says February is also a great time to check for any winter damage.

“With the cold weather, there’s a lot of burned foliage. But don’t get too eager to start cutting things back. Keep in mind that just because foliage is burned, this doesn’t mean that the stems and trunks are dead,” Odom said.

It is also a good time to cut back liriope, sometimes called monkey grass, Odom said.

“It’s definitely been burned during the winter months. Get rid of the ugly ‘over stuff’ to make it look better in your landscaping,” he said.

February is also a perfect time to pay some extra attention to your lawn.

“Now is a great time to over seed [casting seed onto an existing lawn] and have your soil tested. Our soil here is very ‘clay-ey.’ It never hurts to add some organic material. With the over seeding, this is a great month to do that because you kind of want to get those grass plants established before the heat hits. And it seems like that happens earlier and earlier now. Normally, when I was growing up, it didn’t seem like it got hot until June. Now, it seems like the month of May we can have some 80-degree days. And, because of the rain we usually get in March and April, grass that’s planted right now, has a better chance of surviving,” Odom said.

If you do test your soil and discover it is too acidic, Odom said now is the time to add some dolomitic limestone. And, if it is too sticky and clay-like, add some gypsum.

Just like grass seed, Odom says now is a good time to plant trees and shrubbery.

“If you didn’t get trees and shrubbery planted in the fall, this is a great month to get those things in the ground now. It’s cool and it’s damp and those roots can grow and get out into the soil before the heat of summer,” he said.

Don’t neglect your containers either, Odom says.

“Get those containers out and check them and make sure they’re not cracked or broken to see if you need to replace them, because you don’t want a nice weekend in April, when you can plant, you don’t want to have to be running to the garden center to pick out new pots,” he said. “And if you need potting soil for your containers, now’s a great time to go ahead and go out and stockpile that.”

Vegetable gardens can use a little TLC right now, too.

“It’s probably too damp to get in and turn a vegetable garden. But it’s a great month to go ahead and hit the garden centers and pick out your vegetable seeds and begin to plan out what you’re going to do,” Odom said. “You could also do some cleanup in the vegetable garden. If there’s any debris left over from last year, you can remove it and compost it. Or, if it was diseased, I like to just remove it completely and get rid of it. I think you are asking for trouble if you try to incorporate diseased material into your garden.”

And since no garden is complete without birds, Odom says if you’ve been feeding them throughout the winter months, don’t stop right now.

“You need to go ahead and keep feeding them at least through the end of March when it starts warming up and there are some insects for them to eat,” he said.

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The gardens at historic Villa Artemis on Thursday night won the third-annual Lesly S. Smith Landscape Award, given by the Preservation Foundation of Palm Beach.

Nievera Williams Design created the extensive landscaping as part of a recent and extensive renovation undertaken at the North End estate. The oceanfront Villa Artemis, at 656 N. Ocean Blvd., was completed in 1917 for the Guest family and has been owned for several decades by members of the Rosenthal family.

Landscape architect Mario Nievera and his business partner Keith Williams collaborated on the landscape design, which respects the estate’s original understated grandeur but emphasizes updated plant choices, Nievera said.

Michael and Jane Rosenthal Horvitz live in the estate’s main house, while her sister, Cynthia Rosenthal Boardman, occupies the newly built guesthouse.

Boardman, Nievera and Williams attended the award presentation during a Preservationist Club dinner at the foundation’s headquarters on Peruvian Avenue. The Horvitzes were unable to attend.

— DARRELL HOFHEINZ