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Dig In: Garden checklist for week of Dec. 20

Expect to see changes in your garden as winter officially begins

Sacramento Digs Gardening
BY Debbie Arrington PUBLISHED DEC 19, 2020

Even if they're still trying to bloom, start pruning your roses now. Strip off

any remaining leaves, too. (Photo: Kathy Morrison)

Foggy nights and chilly mornings; welcome to winter in Sacramento!

A new season starts Monday with a crisp, cool forecast now through Christmas. According to the National Weather Service, Sacramento will see afternoon highs hovering around 59 degrees and overnight lows dipping to almost freezing but not quite.

With ground still damp from recent rain, that combination creates perfect conditions for fog, which will settle into the valley for the next few nights. All that moisture will speed up fungal diseases such as botrytis.

Expect to see sudden changes in your garden. Although many deciduous plants have been holding onto their foliage and acting like it’s still October instead of almost January, they’ll stop dropping leaves in bunches now and quickly slip into dormancy.

Make the most of this pre-Christmas week. Work off some calories and show your garden some TLC.

* Prune non-flowering trees and shrubs while they’re dormant. It’s easier to see their structure without their leaves.

* Start pruning 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 and sharpen garden tools before storing for the winter.

* Rake and remove dead leaves and stems from dormant perennials.

* The first day of winter is the shortest day of the year – a great time to plant garlic and onions for harvest in summer.

* Bare-root season has begun. Plant bare-root berries, kiwifruit, grapes, artichokes, horseradish and rhubarb. Beware of soggy soil. It can rot bare-root plants.

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

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Garden Checklist for week of May 19

Temperatures will be a bit higher than normal in the afternoons this week. Take care of chores early in the day – then enjoy the afternoon. It’s time to smell the roses.

* Plant, plant, plant! It’s prime planting season in the Sacramento area. If you haven’t already, it’s time to set out those tomato transplants along with peppers and eggplants. Pinch off any flowers on new transplants to make them concentrate on establishing roots instead of setting premature fruit.

* Direct-seed melons, cucumbers, summer squash, corn, radishes, pumpkins and annual herbs such as basil.

* Harvest cabbage, lettuce, peas and green onions.

* In the flower garden, direct-seed sunflowers, cosmos, salvia, zinnias, marigolds, celosia and asters.

* Plant dahlia tubers. Other perennials to set out include verbena, coreopsis, coneflower and astilbe.

* Transplant petunias, marigolds and perennial flowers such as astilbe, columbine, coneflowers, coreopsis, dahlias, rudbeckia and verbena.

* Keep an eye out for slugs, snails, earwigs and aphids that want to dine on tender new growth.

* Feed summer bloomers with a balanced fertilizer.

* For continued bloom, cut off spent flowers on roses as well as other flowering plants.

* Don’t forget to water. Seedlings need moisture. Deep watering will help build strong roots and healthy plants.

* Add mulch to the garden to help keep that precious water from evaporating. Mulch also cuts down on weeds. But don’t let it mound around the stems or trunks of trees or shrubs. Leave about a 6-inch to 1-foot circle to avoid crown rot or other problems.

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