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Dig In: Garden checklist for week of Jan. 17

Windy, dry conditions bring possible danger

Sacramento Digs Gardening
BY Debbie Arrington PUBLISHED JAN 16, 2021

A lightly shaded spot with an eastern exposure is a good location for a blooming

azaleas. (Photos: Kathy Morrison)

Watch out for falling branches – and stray sparks!

According to the National Weather Service, windy and dry conditions may bring danger to Northern California. A high wind watch is in effect Sunday evening through 11 p.m. Tuesday, with north to east winds of 25 to 35 mph blowing through the Valley. Gusts of 40 to 50 mph could bring down tree limbs and power lines. Be ready for power outages, too.

Coupled with unusually dry and warm weather, those high winds increase fire danger, too. Be careful using power machinery outdoors. Do not park vehicles or mowers on dry grass.

No rain is in sight. Although dormant plants don’t need much, make sure your garden gets irrigated – especially your vegetable garden and new transplants.

On the plus side, temperatures will continue above average; instead of the typical 53-degree highs for mid-January, Sacramento will be 10 to 15 degrees warmer each day. Overnight lows will stay above freezing, too.

Make the most of these warm, clear winter days:

* Apply horticultural oil to deciduous 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.

* Divide daylilies, Shasta daisies and other perennials.

* Cut back and divide chrysanthemums.

* Finish pruning roses, deciduous trees and shrubs before buds break.

* Plant bare-root roses, trees and shrubs.

Primroses and polyanthas bring bright spots of color to

the winter garden.

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

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

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

* In the bulb department, plant callas, anemones, ranunculus and gladiolus for bloom from late spring into summer.

* Plant blooming azaleas, camellias and rhododendrons. If you’re shopping for these beautiful landscape plants, you can now find them in full flower at local nurseries.

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Keywords:

winter chores Sacramento peach leaf curl roses primroses garden checklist January weather cool-weather plants gardening pruning azaleas checklist summer bulbs

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Garden Checklist for week of April 21

This week there’s plenty to keep gardeners busy. With no rain in the immediate forecast, remember to irrigate any new transplants.

* Weed, weed, weed! Get them before they flower and go to seed.

* April is the last chance to plant citrus trees such as dwarf orange, lemon and kumquat. These trees also look good in landscaping and provide fresh fruit in winter.

* Smell orange blossoms? Feed citrus trees with a low dose of balanced fertilizer (such as 10-10-10) during bloom to help set fruit. Keep an eye out for ants.

* Apply slow-release fertilizer to the lawn.

* Thoroughly clean debris from the bottom of outdoor ponds or fountains.

* Spring brings a flush of rapid growth, and that means your garden is really hungry. Feed shrubs and trees with a slow-release fertilizer. Or mulch with a 1-inch layer of compost.

* Azaleas and camellias looking a little yellow? If leaves are turning yellow between the veins, give them a boost with chelated iron.

* Trim dead flowers but not leaves from spring-flowering bulbs such as daffodils and tulips. Those leaves gather energy to create next year's flowers. Also, give the bulbs a fertilizer boost after bloom.

* Pinch chrysanthemums back to 12 inches for fall flowers. Cut old stems to the ground.

* Mulch around plants to conserve moisture and control weeds.

* From seed, plant beans, beets, cantaloupes, carrots, corn, cucumbers, melons, radishes and squash.

* Plant onion sets.

* In the flower garden, plant seeds for asters, cosmos, celosia, marigolds, salvia, sunflowers and zinnias.

* Transplant petunias, zinnias, geraniums and other summer bloomers.

* Plant perennials and dahlia tubers for summer bloom.

* Mid to late April is about the last chance to plant summer bulbs, such as gladiolus and tuberous begonias.

* Transplant lettuce seedlings. Choose varieties that mature quickly such as loose leaf.

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