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Dig In: Garden checklist for week of Jan. 27

Sacramento Digs Gardening
BY Debbie Arrington PUBLISHED JAN 26, 2019

A gentle squeeze will let you know if an orange is ready to pick -- it will give just a little. But be sure to taste it before picking more. (Photos: Kathy Morrison)

Warm weather wakes up garden; pick citrus

January weather like this is why so many people move to California -- or never leave.

Our gardens sure seem to be enjoying these sunny afternoons. With temperatures in the high 60s, new growth is sprouting everywhere. The weather feels like spring, and plants are responding.

Make the most of these dry, warm days by finishing winter chores. Then, welcome a (likely) early spring.

* Pick citrus as it ripens. Test oranges for flavor; if not sweet, wait another week and test again. Navel oranges ripen first, followed by blood oranges and Valencias. For more on harvesting citrus, read this .

* 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.

* Prune Christmas camellias (Camellia sasanqua), the early-flowering varieties, after their bloom. They don’t need much, but selective pruning can promote bushiness, upright growth and more bloom next winter. Feed with an acid-type fertilizer. But don’t feed your Japonica camellias until after they finish blooming in early March. Feeding while camellias are in bloom may cause them to drop unopened buds.

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

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

* Spray a copper-based oil on peach and nectarine trees to fight leaf curl.

* Plant bare-root roses, trees and shrubs. If your soil seems saturated, plant your garden additions in large black plastic pots. Then, transplant the new addition (rootball and all) into the ground in April as the weather warms and soil dries.

Violas brighten up dormant landscapes.

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

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

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

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Sacramento garden chores winter gardening citrus fruit fruit trees bare-root plants citrus trees winter annuals citrus gardening pruning rose pruning mulch

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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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