Tips to help make 2023 your best gardening year
Resolve to bring more pollinators into your garden with plants such as lavender. Kathy Morrison
Happy new year! Now what?
These past 12 months have been challenging for our gardens – something we can say about all drought years. How can we make 2023 better? Be prepared. Plan ahead. Have more fun.
We can’t control the weather (if we could, we would). But as we get drenched by an atmospheric river to close out 2022, our prospects for a “normal” water year at least look promising.
We thought the same thing last December when heavy rain brought declarations that our drought days were over. Then, we experienced the driest spring in Sacramento history.
Tradition dictates that it’s time to look ahead with resolve. But to do what? For us gardeners, these simple resolutions will make our lives easier and help our gardens thrive – no matter the weather.
1. Take notes. Be observant and write down what you see. Your landscape is changing. (Trees and shrubs grow; sunny spaces turn to shade.) You may need to make adjustments. Also, note what varieties did well, which didn’t. (This is key to veggie success.)
2. Use a calendar. Paper or digital, calendars are handy for jotting down those notes and keeping track of dates. For example, when did you plant seeds or transplants? When did you harvest your first tomato? You can refer to those dates later when making decisions about next season. (Tip: Get a master gardener calendar; it comes packed with monthly reminders.)
3. Do things at the right time. Plant, prune, fertilize, harvest; gardening is all about timing. For example, plants need important nutrients at critical steps in their development. Figure out in advance when you should feed certain plants (and mark it on that calendar!)
4. Install a smart controller and upgrade irrigation. Never have your sprinklers come on again during a storm. If you haven’t done this yet, now is the time. Water providers have rebates available for upgrading your irrigation technology. It will make your life simpler (and save water and money, too). For rebates: www.bewatersmart.info.
5. Invite wildlife into your garden and enjoy the show. Plant nectar- and pollen-filled flowers that hummingbirds, bees and butterflies love. Other birds like berries and seeds; they appreciate bushes that provide them a feast. Make them feel at home, too. Besides plants, provide a bird feeder, bird bath or bee house. For yourself, put a comfortable chair or bench in a spot where you can watch the antics of visiting winged friends. It’s a sure way to get more fun out of your garden space.
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Food in My Back Yard Series
June 17: Help pollinators help your garden
June 10: Battling early-season tomato pests
June 3: Make your own compost
May 27: Where are the bees when you need them?
May 20: How to help tomatoes thrive on hot days
May 13: Your plants can tell you more than any calendar can
May 6: Maintain soil moisture with mulch for garden success
April 29: What's (already) wrong with my tomato plants?
April 22: Should you stock up on fertilizer? (Yes!)
April 15: Grow culinary herbs in containers
April 8: When to plant summer vegetables
April 1: Don't be fooled by these garden myths
March 25: Fertilizer tips: How to 'feed' your vegetables for healthy growth
March 18: Time to give vegetable seedlings some more space
March 11: Ways to win the fight against weeds
March 4: Potatoes from the garden
Feb. 25: Plant a fruit tree now -- for later
Feb. 18: How to squeeze more food into less space
Feb. 11: When to plant? Consider staggering your transplants
Feb. 4: Starting in seed starting
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Garden Checklist for week of June 22
Mornings this first week of summer will remain comfortably cool – just right for gardening!
* Water early in the morning to cut down on evaporation. Check soil moisture and deep water trees and shrubs. Keep new transplants and veggies evenly moist. Deep water tomatoes to encourage deep roots.
* From seed, plant corn, melons, pumpkins, radishes, squash and sunflowers.
* Plant basil to go with your tomatoes.
* Transplant summer annuals such as petunias, marigolds and zinnias. It’s also a good time to transplant perennial flowers including astilbe, columbine, coneflowers, coreopsis, dahlias, rudbeckia, salvia and verbena.
* Tie up vines and stake tall plants such as gladiolus and lilies. That gives their heavy flowers some support.
* Dig and divide crowded bulbs after the tops have died down.
* Feed summer flowers with a slow-release fertilizer.
* Mulch, mulch, mulch! This “blanket” keeps moisture in the soil longer and helps your plants cope during hot weather.
* Avoid pot “hot feet.” Place a 1-inch-thick board under container plants sitting on pavement. This little cushion helps insulate them from radiated heat.
* Thin grapes on the vine for bigger, better clusters later this summer.
* Cut back fruit-bearing canes on berries.
* Feed camellias, azaleas and other acid-loving plants. Mulch to conserve moisture and reduce heat stress.
* Cut back Shasta daisies after flowering to encourage a second bloom in the fall.
* Trim off dead flowers from rose bushes to keep them blooming through the summer. Roses also benefit from deep watering and feeding now. A top dressing of aged compost will keep them happy. It feeds as well as keeps roots moist.
* Pinch back chrysanthemums for bushier plants with many more flowers in September.
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