Learn pruning while helping McKinley Park rose garden at two January events
Bundling up to prune McKinley Park's many rose bushes each January is a Sacramento tradition among rose lovers. Debbie Arrington
Sacramento’s most romantic spot needs some love.
The City of Sacramento’s Parks and Recreation Department is now recruiting volunteers to prune McKinley Park’s famous Memorial Rose Garden, immortalized in the movie “Lady Bird” and countless wedding photos.
Each January, volunteers prune the garden’s 1,200 rose bushes so the garden can look its best for spring and summer events. Instead of tackling all the bushes in one day, the job is now spread over a few Saturday mornings.
Registration is now open for two Saturdays, Jan. 11 and 18. Both pruning sessions officially start at 9 a.m. with some basic instruction; work wraps up at 11:30 a.m. Assemble at the park’s Rose Garden Room, the small structure located on the north side of the garden.
No prior experience is necessary and it’s an opportunity for some real hands-on experience. (Just remember to wear gloves.) All ages are welcome. Volunteers under age 18 need a parent’s consent form in order to participate.
To register: https://rb.gy/bs4aj3
“Volunteers should plan to meet at the Rose Garden,” say the organizers. “Tools, gloves and instruction will be provided. Please dress appropriately for working outdoors, including closed-toe shoes.”
And maybe a rain slicker, too; the pruning sessions will take place, rain or shine.
On the south edge of McKinley Park, the Frederick N. Evans Memorial Rose Garden – named for Sacramento’s first parks superintendent – is located on H Street between Alhambra Boulevard and 33rd Street in East Sacramento. Originally planted in 1929, the rose garden replaced what was a running track (hence its oblong shape). In 2012, the bushes were almost entirely replaced with newer, disease-resistant varieties.
The McKinley rose garden also needs volunteers year round to keep up with dead-heading and other rose care. Email rosegardenvolunteer@cityofsacramento.org for more details.
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Garden Checklist for week of Jan. 12
Once the winds die down, it’s good winter gardening weather with plenty to do:
* 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.
* After the wind stops, 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 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, 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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