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Keep bees in mind during fall and winter, too

Many native species sleep in the soil

Sacramento Digs Gardening
BY Kathy Morrison PUBLISHED NOV 19, 2020

During spring and summer, sweat bees such

as these can be seen foraging on many

blooming plants. (Photos: Kathy Morrison)

Mulch is a wonderful thing, and we have lots of free mulch falling from our trees now. But please don't cover every inch of the garden with it. The native bees we've worked so hard to entice to our plants need some bare soil.

Many California species -- and there are about 1,600 native bee species -- nest underground. Honeybees, which are not native, live in hives, of course. Native carpenter bees do what they're named for: carve holes in fence posts and other wood for their nests.

But other bees are solitary. Smaller than honeybees, sometimes tiny, they nest in soil holes barely the width of a pencil lead, usually in flat, sunny spots. Some bee species nest in already-existing cavities or holes.

I was able to see ground-nesting bees up close earlier in the year when I was adding new chip mulch around my rose bushes. Suddenly 5 or 6 little bees appeared, hovering in a rather agitated manner. I scraped back the chips they were flying over and, sure enough, there were little holes in the ground near the base of one bush. I found other tiny holes at the edge of the same planting area, near the driveway. I watched one bee crawl into its hole.

Now I'm more cautious about what I cover up, and am careful to leave some areas uncovered in each planting bed. (Note: Mulch shouldn't come right up against stems or trunks anyway, since that can promote rot.)

Now, leaf mulch or leaf litter does offer protection for bumble bee queens, and butterfly and moth species, as well as that gardener favorite, the lady beetle. So do leave some leaves!

Pollinators may go into hibernation when the weather turns colder, but they don't go away entirely. And we want them back in spring.

(For more on pollinators and winter, check out this excellent post from the Xerces Society.)

A postscript on an oak tree

This is the remaining stump from the blue oak that

lost its leader branch in late October.

Remember a few weeks ago when I wrote about a big blue oak tree that lost a huge branch? I guessed then that the tree itself would be a liability in the park where it grew, and likely would be removed.

Sure enough, it's been cut down to the final few feet of its 4-foot-wide trunk. I peeked at the stump and wasn't surprised to see the center rotted out. We're probably lucky that the branch fell when it did, rather than the entire tree falling down and taking out a lot of the nearby trees and the utility building next to it -- and potentially harming park visitors.

But I will miss this tree.

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An article about gardening.

Keywords:

gardening Sacramento oak trees bees cold weather mulch pollinators flowers leaves native bees native species

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Flowers in My Back Yard Series

Aug. 25: Crape myrtles, Sacramento's unofficial tree of summer

Aug. 18: Pollinators adore scabiosa, aka pincushion flower

Aug. 11: Hardy hibiscus adds big tropical impact

Aug. 4: Dianthus a deceptively hardy flower

July 28: Naked Ladies put on summer show

July 21: Thank Luther Burbank for these long-lasting beauties (Shasta daisies)

July 14: How to keep hydrangeas happy

July 7: Grow these bright cosmos for bees and butterflies

June 30: Agapanthus adds blue fireworks to the garden

June 23: Easy-care gazanias fill those hot corners

June 16: Daylilies are perfect for water-wise gardens (and a lot more)

June 9: Grow coneflowers for pollinators -- and yourself

June 2: Sunflowers capture Sacramento's summer attitude

May 29: Are your roses going 'blind'?

May 26: Zinnias are the summer flowers every garden needs

May 19: Plant dahlias now for late-summer flower power

May 12: Know your coreopsis from your bidens

May 5: Mums the word on Mother's Day weekend

April 28: Majestic Matilija poppy is worth a look

April 21: Celebrate roses, America's favorite flower

April 14: Small flowers with outsized impact

April 7: Calendulas do double duty

April 3: Make Easter lilies last for years to come

March 31: In praise of a pollinator magnet (small-leaf salvias)

March 24: Azaleas brighten shady spots

March 17: The perfect flower for beginners? Try zonal geraniums

March 10: Keep camellias happy for years to come

March 3: Fruit tree blossoms are a fleeting joy

Feb. 27: Are your roses looking rusty?

Feb. 24: Treasure spring daffodils now and for years to come

Feb. 17: How and why to grow wildflowers

Feb. 10: Let's talk Valentine's Day roses

Feb. 3: Why grow flowers?

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Garden checklist for week of Aug. 16

During this break in the heat, feed your garden. Make sure to water before and after applying fertilizer.

* In the garden, direct seed beets, carrots, leaf lettuce and turnips.

* Plant potatoes.

* Harvest tomatoes, beans, squash, pepper and eggplants to prompt plants to keep producing. Give your plants a deep watering twice a week, more if planted in containers. Also, give them a boost with phosphate-rich fertilizer to help fruiting.

* Watch out for caterpillars and hornworms in the vegetable garden. They can strip a plant bare in one day. Pick them off plants by hand in early morning or late afternoon.

* Feed citrus trees their last round of fertilizer for the year. This will give a boost to the fruit that’s still small.

* Mulch can be your garden’s best friend – it conserves moisture while blocking out weeds. But don't let mulch mound around stalks, stems or trunks. That can promote rot.

* Camellia leaves looking a little yellow? Give them some chelated iron. That goes for azaleas and gardenias, too.

* Pick up after your fruit trees. Clean up debris and dropped fruit; this cuts down on insects and prevents the spread of brown rot. Then feed fruit trees with slow-release fertilizer for better production for next year.

* To prolong bloom into fall, feed begonias, fuchsias and container plants. Always water before fertilizing.

* Fertilize fall-blooming perennials, too. Chrysanthemums can be fed until the buds start to open.

* Prepare for a fall full of flowers by paying a little extra attention to your garden. Cut off spent blooms from roses, annuals and perennials, then give them a boost of fertilizer. Make sure to water plants before feeding. Roses will rebloom about six to eight weeks after deadheading.

* Indoors, start seedlings for fall vegetable planting, including bunching onion, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, kale, radicchio and lettuce.

* Sow seeds of perennials in pots for fall planting including yarrow, coneflower and salvia.

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