Sacramento Speakers Series supports scholarships for future farmers and more
Recipe: Bake them in ramekins for easy serving now or later
Rain will dampen gardening plans, keep soil wet
Feb. 24 event includes blossom show, tours and speaker Greg Gayton
Save these dates for great finds at great prices
Roses are more popular than ever, but what do they mean?
Wild Boar Farms breeder will be at Green Acres in Auburn and Sacramento
Volunteer birdwatchers of all ages can take part in four-day census
Recipe: Brussels sprouts-spinach slaw with dried cranberries
Super weather for late-winter gardening on tap
Trees got a good, deep soaking from recent 'atmospheric rivers'
Calendar is packed with gardening and related events
Recipient can make a birdhouse with a succulent roof or a living centerpiece
Placer County master gardeners offer free workshop
Sacramento master gardeners will be on hand to offer advice and tips
Recipe: Make bourbon apple butter for extra flavorful filling
More heavy rain is on the way; watch out for gusty winds
After heart surgery, popular garden expert changed his life with homegrown vegetables, fruit
Enjoy winter fruit and vegetables with these home-grown recipes
Control district sees spike in calls -- but winter storms this week will bring relief
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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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