Sacramento Digs Gardening Article
Your resource for Sacramento-area gardening news, tips and events

Articles Recipe Index Keyword Index Calendar Twitter Facebook Instagram About Us Contact Us

Dig In: Garden checklist for week of Nov. 29

Frosty mornings serve as reminder: Are your plants protected?

Sacramento Digs Gardening
BY Debbie Arrington PUBLISHED NOV 28, 2020

PVC hoops can be used to help protect tender plants from
frost. Before sundown, the frost cloth can be pulled up and
over the hoops without damaging the plant.
(Photo courtesy UCCE Sacramento County master gardeners)

Frost is in the air -- and that can mean trouble for tender plants.

According to the National Weather Service, Sacramento will flirt with freezing temperatures all week with overnight lows dipping into the low 30s.

Time to haul out the frost blankets and other protective coverings. Put covers in place before sundown to keep in as much warmth as possible. Remember to remove frost protection in the morning -- it can cook plants during sunny days.

(For more frost protection tips, see this
information from the UCCE Sacramento County master gardeners.)

And that's what's expected almost all week. November ends and December starts with mostly clear skies and high temperatures in the low to mid 60s.

The last days of November stay dry, which is not good news for water watchers. On average, Sacramento receives a total of 3 inches of rain in October and November combined, the first two months of our water year. So far we've had scant precipitation.

What's in store in December? Historically, Sacramento averages highs of 54 degrees and lows of 38 -- with 3.25 inches of rain. Don't expect any heat waves. The warmest Sacramento December day on record: 76 degrees.

Although days will get off to a chilly start, it's still prime gardening weather with plenty to do:
* Prune non-flowering trees and shrubs while they're dormant.
* To help prevent leaf curl, apply a copper fungicide spray to peach and nectarine trees after they lose their leaves.
* Clean and sharpen garden tools before storing for the winter.
* Brighten the holidays with winter bloomers such as poinsettias, amaryllis, calendulas, Iceland poppies, pansies and primroses. Keep poinsettias indoors.
* Rake and remove dead leaves and stems from dormant perennials.
* Bare-root season begins. Plant bare-root berries, kiwifruit, grapes, artichokes, horseradish and rhubarb.

Comments

0 comments have been posted.

CHECKLIST FOR THE WEEK

Your weekly checklist of activities in the garden.

Keywords:

cool-weather annuals December Sacramento peach leaf curl frost frost blankets fungicide garden checklist bare-root plants frost danger leaves gardening pruning

Newsletter Subscription

Sacramento Digs Gardening to your inbox.

Taste Fall! E-cookbook

Find our fall recipes here!

Thanks to Our Sponsor!

Local News

Sites We Like

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.

Taste Spring! E-cookbook

Find our spring recipes here!

Taste Summer! E-cookbook

Find our summer recipes here!

Taste Winter! E-cookbook

Find our winter recipes here!