Expect a soggy end to winter and start of spring
This happy little rose bush is putting out a lot of new growth. Be sure to feed roses now and watch out for aphids. Kathy Morrison
Appropriately, winter will end on a wet note – and spring will start a little soggy, too.
According to the National Weather Service, Sacramento can expect rain on Sunday, the last day of winter. Those showers will linger into Monday, the first day of spring.
“Definite rain showers” are in Sunday’s forecast, starting at 7 a.m., says the weather service.
Most of this storm’s moisture is likely headed for the Sierra, with heavy snow expected in the passes. Meanwhile in Sacramento, we’ll get between one-fourth and one-half inch of rain, the forecast says.
Keep those umbrellas handy. According to the weather service, more rain is expected Tuesday through Friday with off and on showers.
These storm clouds will really cool down our temperatures. After enjoying warm springlike temperatures on Saturday, we’ll be back in the low 50s by Tuesday with a high of 52 predicted. Overnight lows will be chilly, too, plunging to 41 degrees (or colder) on Thursday and Friday.
Normal for this week of March: Highs of 68 degrees and lows of 46.
All this cold and wet will keep our soil cooler longer – not good for tomatoes. According to UC Davis, local soil temperatures are still in the 51 to 53 degree range, more than 10 degrees colder than what tomatoes need to start growing.
Hold off on putting any summer veggies in the ground at least two more weeks. If you can’t sit comfortably on bare ground in your underwear, it’s too cold to transplant tomatoes.
There’s still plenty to do between showers:
* Fertilize roses, annual flowers and berries as spring growth begins to appear.
* Watch out for aphids. Wash off plants with strong blast from the hose.
* Pull weeds now! Don’t let them get started. Take a hoe and whack them as soon as they sprout.
* Prepare summer vegetable beds. Spade in compost and other amendments.
* Prune and fertilize spring-flowering shrubs after bloom.
* Feed camellias at the end of their bloom cycle. Pick up browned and fallen flowers to fight blossom blight.
* Feed citrus trees as they start to blossom.
* Cut back and fertilize perennial herbs to encourage new growth.
* Seed and renovate the lawn (if you still have one). Feed cool-season grasses such as bent, blue, rye and fescue with a slow-release fertilizer. Check the irrigation system and perform maintenance. Make sure sprinkler heads are turned toward the lawn, not the sidewalk.
* In the vegetable garden, transplant lettuce and kale.
* Seed chard and beets directly into the ground.
* Plant summer bulbs, including gladiolus, tuberous begonias and callas. Also plant dahlia tubers.
* Shop for perennials. Many varieties are available in local nurseries and at plant events. They can be transplanted now while the weather remains relatively cool.
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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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