Learn pruning while helping McKinley Park rose garden at two January events
Bundling up to prune McKinley Park's many rose bushes each January is a Sacramento tradition among rose lovers. Debbie Arrington
Sacramento’s most romantic spot needs some love.
The City of Sacramento’s Parks and Recreation Department is now recruiting volunteers to prune McKinley Park’s famous Memorial Rose Garden, immortalized in the movie “Lady Bird” and countless wedding photos.
Each January, volunteers prune the garden’s 1,200 rose bushes so the garden can look its best for spring and summer events. Instead of tackling all the bushes in one day, the job is now spread over a few Saturday mornings.
Registration is now open for two Saturdays, Jan. 11 and 18. Both pruning sessions officially start at 9 a.m. with some basic instruction; work wraps up at 11:30 a.m. Assemble at the park’s Rose Garden Room, the small structure located on the north side of the garden.
No prior experience is necessary and it’s an opportunity for some real hands-on experience. (Just remember to wear gloves.) All ages are welcome. Volunteers under age 18 need a parent’s consent form in order to participate.
To register: https://rb.gy/bs4aj3
“Volunteers should plan to meet at the Rose Garden,” say the organizers. “Tools, gloves and instruction will be provided. Please dress appropriately for working outdoors, including closed-toe shoes.”
And maybe a rain slicker, too; the pruning sessions will take place, rain or shine.
On the south edge of McKinley Park, the Frederick N. Evans Memorial Rose Garden – named for Sacramento’s first parks superintendent – is located on H Street between Alhambra Boulevard and 33rd Street in East Sacramento. Originally planted in 1929, the rose garden replaced what was a running track (hence its oblong shape). In 2012, the bushes were almost entirely replaced with newer, disease-resistant varieties.
The McKinley rose garden also needs volunteers year round to keep up with dead-heading and other rose care. Email rosegardenvolunteer@cityofsacramento.org for more details.
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Garden Checklist for week of May 11
Make the most of the lower temperatures early in the week. We’ll be back in the 80s by Thursday.
* Plant, plant, plant! It’s prime planting season in the Sacramento area. 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. (You also can transplant seedlings for many of the same flowers.)
* Plant dahlia tubers.
* 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.
* Add mulch to the garden to maintain moisture. 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.
* Remember to weed! Pull those nasties before they set seed.
* Water early in the day and keep seedlings evenly moist.
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