Control district sees spike in calls -- but winter storms this week will bring relief
Beat the winter blahs with cool-season aahs!
Green Acres offers free seed-starting workshop at all seven locations
Huge three-day show features designer landscapes and free seminars
Hearty winter warmer also is gluten-free
January ends with a touch of spring, but more rain on the way
Warm days and early blooms belie true weather conditions
Sign up for a free winter ramble Sunday near Davis
In-street pick-up service wraps up for another winter
California Rare Fruit Growers host popular event Feb. 4
Citrus Heights location offers three workshops, curated collection and expert advice
Recipe: Pantry ingredients add up to a filling meal
Get comfy indoors during very rainy days to come.
Sacramento expects 2.3 inches of rain (or more) in the next three days
These slimy pests are particularly active after rain
Share seeds with other gardeners and bring home some for your own garden, too
Garden clubs meet at the McKinley Park site -- arts groups, too
Get answers to garden questions while watching experts at work
Just a bite's worth and easy to make
Soggy week offers some gardening breaks
Sacramento Digs Gardening to your inbox.
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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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