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Dig In: Garden checklist for week of Dec. 23

Sacramento Digs Gardening
BY Debbie Arrington PUBLISHED DEC 22, 2018

Plant pansies now to instantly brighten up the winter garden. (Photo: Debbie Arrington)

Focus on holiday plants; keep them looking fresh

With the holidays upon us and rainy weather, we’ll be more focused this first week of winter indoors than outside.

The key to keeping holiday plants looking fresh? Make them feel comfortable.

* Treat cut Christmas trees like a giant flower. They need water; otherwise, they dry out and become more susceptible to fire danger. (Dry trees also shed needles like crazy.) Check the water bowl under the tree daily; a 6-foot tree drinks a lot.

* If you have a living Christmas tree, make sure it stays watered. Check the soil; it should be moist, not soggy. Try to get these young evergreens outdoors as soon as possible. More than a week inside can weaken the tree.

* Poinsettias can be fussy. They like it cool; six hours of indirect light in the low to mid-60s; dark nights at 55 degrees. Make sure to take off the foil wrapper or punch holes for drainage. More on poinsettias here: https://bit.ly/2PW6Moz

When you do get outside:

* Prune non-flowering trees and shrubs while they're dormant.

* Turn fallen leaves into mulch. Chop up larger leaves with a lawn mower.

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

* Bare-root season is under way. Plant bare-root berries, kiwifruit, grapes, artichokes, horseradish and rhubarb. Roses and fruit trees are available, too. No time to plant? Hydrate the roots in a bucket of water with 1 teaspoon bleach. They’ll keep for at least two or three days.

* Brighten your new year with winter bloomers such as calendulas, Iceland poppies, pansies and primroses.

* Get any remaining spring bulbs in the ground.

* Transplant lettuce, cabbage, chard, kale, peas and greens.

* Plant from seed, cloves or sets: peas, fava beans, greens, beets, radishes, onions and garlic.

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Keywords:

Sacramento garden chores bare-root plants leaves winter annuals gardening holiday decor holiday plants mulch poinsettias Christmas trees transplants

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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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