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Happy New Year! Now, write this down

Sacramento Digs Gardening
BY Debbie Arrington PUBLISHED JAN 1, 2019

For its customers, Davey Tree created this 2019 calendar of big trees, with handy big spaces for making notes. (Photo: Debbie Arrington)

Calendar an important tool for garden success

Happy new year and new month!

January in Sacramento is usually a lot like December; both months average high temperatures of 54 degrees. January nights are slightly warmer; averaging 39 degrees, one more than December.

January usually is Sacramento's rainiest month, averaging more than 3.6 inches. It rarely gets hot; Sacramento's December record is 75 degrees. But it can get cold; this is our frostiest month, too.

But what will it be like in 2019?

Here's a page from Kathy Morrison's 2018 calendar: March temperatures in Carmichael
got down to 33 degrees, but shot up to 84 by the end of the month. (Photo: Kathy Morrison)

Keeping track of variations in weather and other factors can help explain how our gardens grow. A calendar becomes an important tool, especially for us busy (and forgetful) gardeners. It helps you remember as well as plan.

With big spaces, a monthly calendar serves as an at-a-glance garden journal, no app or power required. Jot down when you do something -- prune, spray, feed, plant, deep water, etc. You'll thank yourself later when you try to remember those dates.

Here's why a garden journal is important: If you stumble on something that works, you want to know what it was. That way, you may be able to repeat that success.

Make notes of significant weather -- rain, fog, very low or high temperatures, wind storms, frost. Changes in weather or unusual events may explain changes in plants. Those notes also may jog your memory when looking for answers.

After that, be as detailed as time and space allows. Name what varieties were planted (in case you want to plant them again). Note first harvests, and late harvests, too.

Still need a 2019 gardening calendar? Local UCCE master gardeners offer first-rate calendars and gardening guides. Find more about them here: https://bit.ly/2GPCEM6

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An article about gardening.

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UCCE master gardeners gardening harvests Sacramento planning calendar planting frost seed starting rainfall weather

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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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