Expect a wet finale to 2022 with widespread rain
Our bare trees will get some wet post-Christmas decoration from the predicted storms this next week. Make sure your garden is prepared for the returning rainy weather. Kathy Morrison
It looks like Northern California will get what it really needs this holiday season – rain.
According to the National Weather Service, the week after Christmas will be wet. Heavy rain is expected Monday through Friday, thanks to a series of late December storms. The weather service warned of potential impacts including road flooding, slick streets, rising creeks and rapid snow melt. The main question: When? Uncertainty surrounds the timing of each storm as well as amounts, says the weather service.
As of Saturday morning, the weather service predicts the first wave to hit the day after Christmas. Sacramento can expect morning fog on Monday followed by afternoon or evening rain. Those storms will build through the night along with gusty winds. Tuesday will see heavy rain especially early in the day.
More stormy weather is expected to hit Wednesday – or Thursday – or both – and hang around through Friday.
Bookending these storms are dry days on Christmas and New Year’s Day. (But still expect fog, says the weather service.)
Temperatures will be relatively mild: Low 50s in the afternoon and low 40s overnight. So frost danger is low, too.
Make the most of the gaps between storms. But beware of soggy soil; it can compact easily and rot new transplants.
* Rake up debris dropped by trees during storms. Keep drains clear.
* Rake and remove dead leaves and stems from dormant perennials.
* Prune roses.
* Prune non-flowering trees and shrubs while they're dormant.
* Clean and sharpen garden tools before storage.
* Just because it rained doesn't mean every plant got watered. Give a drink to plants that the rain didn't reach, such as under eaves or under evergreen trees.
* If you have a living Christmas tree indoors, get it outdoors as soon as possible. Potted evergreens need light.
* Plant garlic and onions for harvest in summer.
* Plant bare-root berries, kiwifruit, grapes, artichokes, horseradish and rhubarb.
* Got bulbs? Plant them in pots.
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Garden Checklist for week of Jan. 19
Dress warmly in layers – and get to work:
* Apply horticultural oil to fruit trees 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 oil 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.
* 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. Clean up leaves and debris around the trees to prevent the spread of disease. (The exceptions are apricot and cherry trees, which are susceptible to a fungus that causes dieback if pruned now. Save those until summer.)
* 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.
* 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, ranunculus and gladioli 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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