Sacramento Digs Gardening: Dig In: Garden checklist for week of Jan. 26

It's still a good time to transplant violas -- they'll be a bright spot well into

spring. (Photo: Kathy Morrison)

Between raindrops, finish winter pruning

Time to bundle up and get to work. Weather conditions continue to be cool and moist – not too wet but damp enough.

All this moisture is cuing some plants to start pushing out new growth. If you’re not already done pruning, stop procrastinating and finish this task.

In between raindrops, there’s plenty more to do in the garden, too.

* Prune, prune, prune. Now is the time to prune most deciduous fruit trees. (The exception is apricots). Clean up leaves and debris around the trees to prevent the spread of disease.

* 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.

* After pruning, 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.

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

* Plant bare-root fruit trees and roses.

* In the bulb department, plant callas, anemones, ranunculus and gladiolus.

* Plant blooming azaleas, camellias and rhododendrons. If you’re shopping for these beautiful landscape plants, you can now find them in full flower at local nurseries.

* On rainy or cold days (or evenings), browse through seed catalogs and start making plans for spring and summer.

CHECKLIST FOR THE WEEK

Your weekly checklist of activities in the garden.

Keywords:

seeds Sacramento garden chores winter gardening garden checklist fruit trees bare-root plants weather horticultural oil winter annuals gardening pruning leaf curl bulbs rain

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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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