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Winter garden prep session offers perks

Sacramento Digs Gardening
BY Debbie Arrington PUBLISHED OCT 24, 2018

A winter garden prep class will be taught by Taylor Lewis, nursery manager at the UC Davis Arboretum. (Photo courtesy UC Davis Arboretum)

Learn and shop at the UC Davis Arboretum Teaching Nursery

Taylor Lewis knows how to make things grow. As nursery manager of the UC Davis Arboretum Teaching Nursery, he grows tens of thousands of healthy plants for use both in the arboretum's gardens as well as for sale to the public.

Besides the nursery, Lewis is an avid organic gardener, adept at growing all sorts of vegetables.
What's the secret to garden success? Like anything, it's preparation.

On Tuesday, Oct. 30, Lewis will lead a special class, "Garden Prep for Winter." Held at the Arboretum Teaching Nursery, the 10 a.m. session starts with 90 minutes of tips and expert advice from Lewis on how to put some parts of the garden to sleep for winter cold while adding winter flair to other areas.

Late October and November are excellent for transplanting many things in our area. There's also still time to put in a winter vegetable garden.

After discussion and Lewis' suggestions, class attendees enjoy a private sale at the nursery, which specializes in low-water flowering plants that grow terrifically in the Sacramento area. With no crowd, it's a great opportunity to shop for perennials, shrubs, trees, ground covers and California natives including many Arboretum All-Stars.

There's still a lot to choose from; Lewis grew about 670 varieties this season.

The class is $18 ($12 for Friends of the Arboretum); $28 ($22 for Friends) including reserved parking in front of the nursery, located on Garrod Drive on the UC Davis campus. Reserved parking must be purchased at least three days in advance.

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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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