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Dig In: Garden checklist for week of Jan. 2

Make the most of dry days; it's time to prune!

Sacramento Digs Gardening
BY Debbie Arrington PUBLISHED JAN 1, 2022

Kumquats are the most cold-hardy citrus. This Nagami kumquat tree only needs protection below 24 degrees, according to Four Winds Growers. Limes and lemons, by contrast, should be protected below 32 degrees; harvest ripe fruit before it's damaged. (Photos: Kathy Morrison)

Happy New Year and, water-wise, we have reasons to celebrate.

According to the National Weather Service, California has received more rain and snow – 33.9 trillion gallons total – since Oct. 1 than we did all of the 2020-21 water year.

The Sierra snowpack is healthy, too. On Saturday, the UC Berkeley Central Sierra Snow Lab reported a record December snowfall: 214 inches.

Sacramento starts the new year cold and frosty. Widespread frost is predicted Saturday and Sunday nights; take precautions to protect tender plants. Pick ripe citrus.

Possible rain could materialize again Tuesday and Friday, says the weather service. Otherwise, days will be in the low 50s and overnight lows around 40 – otherwise pretty normal for January. This month averages highs of 54 degrees and lows of 39.

What should be on your New Year to-do list?

* Prune, prune, prune. Now is the time to cut back most deciduous trees and shrubs. The exceptions are spring-flowering shrubs such as lilacs.

* Now is the time to prune fruit trees. Clean up leaves and debris around the trees to prevent the spread of disease.

This Barbra Streisand rose has pushed out a new bud despite the

cold. The plant nevertheless needs to be pruned, and all remaining

leaves stripped off.

* Prune roses, even if they’re still trying to bloom. Strip off any remaining leaves, so the bush will be able to put out new growth in early spring.

* Clean up leaves and debris around your newly pruned roses and shrubs. Put down fresh mulch or bark to keep roots cozy.

* Apply horticultural oil to fruit trees soon after a rain to control scale, mites and aphids. Oils need 24 hours of dry weather after application to be effective.

* This is also the time to spray a copper-based oil to peach and nectarine trees to fight leaf curl.

* Divide daylilies, Shasta daisies and other perennials.

* Cut back and divide chrysanthemums.

* Transplant pansies, violas, calendulas, English daisies, snapdragons and fairy primroses.

* In the vegetable garden, plant fava beans, head lettuce, mustard, onion sets, radicchio and radishes.

* Plant bare-root asparagus and root divisions of rhubarb.

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Garden Checklist for week of Nov. 3

November still offers good weather for fall planting:

* If you haven't already, it's time to clean up the remains of summer. Pull faded annuals and vegetables. Prune dead or broken branches from trees.

* Now is the best time to plant most trees and shrubs. This gives them plenty of time for root development before spring growth. They also benefit from fall and winter rains.

* Set out cool-weather annuals such as pansies and snapdragons.

* Lettuce, cabbage and broccoli also can be planted now.

* Plant garlic and onions.

* Keep planting bulbs to spread out your spring bloom. Some possible suggestions: daffodils, crocuses, hyacinths, tulips, anemones and scillas.

* This is also a good time to seed wildflowers and plant such spring bloomers as sweet pea, sweet alyssum and bachelor buttons.

* Rake and compost leaves, but dispose of any diseased plant material. For example, if peach and nectarine trees showed signs of leaf curl this year, clean up under trees and dispose of those leaves instead of composting.

* Save dry stalks and seedpods from poppies and coneflowers for fall bouquets and holiday decorating.

* For holiday blooms indoors, plant paperwhite narcissus bulbs now. Fill a shallow bowl or dish with 2 inches of rocks or pebbles. Place bulbs in the dish with the root end nestled in the rocks. Add water until it just touches the bottom of the bulbs. Place the dish in a sunny window. Add water as needed.

* Give your azaleas, gardenias and camellias a boost with chelated iron.

* For larger blooms, pinch off some camellia buds.

* Prune non-flowering trees and shrubs while dormant.

* To help prevent leaf curl, apply a copper fungicide spray to peach and nectarine trees after they lose their leaves this month. Leaf curl, which shows up in the spring, is caused by a fungus that winters as spores on the limbs and around the tree in fallen leaves. Sprays are most effective now.

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