Dig In: Garden checklist for week of Jan. 4

Our new year continues where 2025 left off – wet!

According to the National Weather Service, more rain is in the Sacramento forecast – at least through Wednesday – with a few little breaks in between.

Keep your umbrella and mud boots handy. Between Saturday’s showers and Monday’s thunderstorms, Sacramento could get another 1 to 2 inches of rain from this current atmospheric river, says the weather service. When it’s not raining, it will be cloudy and cool with temperatures mostly in the 40s.

All this water can saturate soil, filling the vital air pockets that let microorganisms and roots breathe. Try to avoid stepping on soggy ground; it compacts the soil and squeezes out any remaining air. Instead, lay planks out across the ground – your rainy day boardwalk – and use those as a way to navigate the garden while stepping in as little mud as possible.

Got transplants or bare-root plants that need to go in the ground? Wait until later in the week or next weekend after the soil has a chance to drain. In the meantime, hydrate the roots of bare-root roses, trees or other plants in a bucket of water.

Make the most of non-rainy days – especially when it comes to pruning. Sacramento’s street pickup of garden waste (a.k.a. Claw season) ends Feb. 1.

* 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 (except cherry and apricot trees). 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.

* Prune Christmas camellias (Camellia sasanqua), the early-flowering varieties, after their bloom. They don’t need much, but selective pruning can promote bushiness, upright growth and more bloom next winter. Feed with an acid-type fertilizer. But don’t feed your Japonica camellias until after they finish blooming next month. Feeding while camellias are in bloom may cause them to drop unopened buds.

* Clean up leaves and debris around your newly pruned roses and shrubs. Put down fresh mulch or bark to keep roots cozy.

* Browse through seed catalogs and start making plans for spring and summer.

* Divide daylilies, Shasta daisies and other perennials.

* Cut back and divide chrysanthemums.

* 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 gladiolus for bloom from late spring into summer.