Placer County master gardeners offer expertise at several locations during the month
Recipe: Roasting the tomatoes adds extra flavor
August ends on a warm note, but cooler days coming soon
Triple-digit temperatures can keep tomatoes from turning full red, says Farmer Fred
Native plants, Arboretum All-Stars and more will be offered
El Dorado County master gardeners offer free workshop
Exotic Plants offers carnivorous plant terrarium workshop
Heat spikes dried out flowers or caused plants to abort fruit
Recipe: Try this classic with cherries, peaches or other favorites
Some rain possible from unusual storm system, but not a deluge
How to renew vigor of bearded iris, a perfect perennial for Sacramento
Still plenty of time for nonprofits and schools to apply
Tri-County Home & Garden Show offers 15 seminars
Hands-on workshop shows what to do with cuttings, divisions and seeds
Florists compete in design competition; clubs and master gardeners offer expert advice
Recipe: Onions, garlic add to this summer side dish
More triple-digit heat coming soon; plan accordingly
Stink bugs and leaf-footed bugs like August weather and ripening fruit
Using basil, growing beets to be topics of Yolo master gardeners' workshop
Master gardeners offer two free workshops on fall and winter vegetables
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Garden Checklist for week of Jan. 5
Take advantage of this break between storm systems to give your garden some much-needed TLC.
* Prune, prune, prune. Now is the time to cut back most deciduous trees and shrubs. The exceptions are spring-flowering shrubs such as lilacs.
* Now is the time to prune fruit trees. (The exceptions are apricot and cherry trees, which are susceptible to a fungus that causes dieback. Save them until summer.) Clean up leaves and debris around the trees to prevent the spread of disease.
* Prune roses, even if they’re still trying to bloom. Strip off any remaining leaves, so the bush will be able to put out new growth in early spring.
* Clean up leaves and debris around your newly pruned roses and shrubs. Put down fresh mulch or bark to keep roots cozy.
* Apply horticultural oil to fruit trees soon after a rain to control scale, mites and aphids. Oils need 24 hours of dry weather after application to be effective.
* This is also the time to spray a copper-based fungicide to peach and nectarine trees to fight leaf curl. (The safest effective fungicides available for backyard trees are copper soap -- aka copper octanoate -- or copper ammonium, a fixed copper fungicide. Apply either of these copper products with 1% horticultural oil to increase effectiveness.)
* When forced bulbs sprout, move them to a cool, bright window. Give them a quarter turn each day so the stems will grow straight.
* Browse through seed catalogs and start making plans for spring and summer.
* Divide daylilies, Shasta daisies and other perennials.
* Cut back and divide chrysanthemums.
* Plant bare-root roses, trees and shrubs.
* 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, ranuculous 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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