The gardening year gets off to a fast start
The first Open Garden of 2024 at the Fair Oaks Horticulture Center will be Jan. 20. Visitors in January 2022, above, check out the vegetable garden. Kathy Morrison
Welcome to winter, officially! Today, Dec. 21, is the winter solstice, the day with the least amount of daylight. Which means -- hurray! -- that we'll have gradually longer days from here until June 21.
And that, my friends, is prime gardening time.
So get out your 2024 Gardening Guide & Calendar -- Sacramento or Placer editions, still available if you need one -- and start marking down these key dates. The Sacramento Digs Gardening Calendar, visible on our home page and in our newsletter, will try to keep up with additional event dates as we learn them, plus times and other pertinent details. Follow the links below for more details.
Sacrameto County master gardeners:
-- Open Garden Days, Fair Oaks Horticulture Center: Jan. 20, Feb. 10, March 16, April 17, May 11, June 6, June 15, Sept. 14, Oct. 16.
-- Harvest Day at FOHC, Aug. 3.
-- Worm Composting class, March 23
Placer County master gardeners:
-- A full slate of free classes and workshops, starting with "Seed Saving Flowers and Vegetables," Jan. 13, and "Designing Water-wise Gardens" on Jan. 20. Blueberries (Feb. 10), compost and mulch (Feb. 17), straw bale gardening (March 9) and "Tomato Mastery" (March 16) will be the remaining winter topics. The spring presentations will start with "Planning Your Summer Vegetable Garden" on April 13.
El Dorado County master gardeners:
-- First Saturday Garden Tours, Sherwood Demonstration Garden, Placerville. Jan. 6, Feb. 3, March 2, April 6, May 4, June 1, July 6, Aug. 3, Sept. 7, Oct. 5, Nov. 2, Dec. 7
-- Presentations and classes (all free) begin with "Gardening for the Future" on Jan. 10, followed by "Vegetable Gardening" on Jan. 13. "Grow Your Own Flower Cutting Garden" is scheduled Feb. 10, as is "Rose Pruning and Care" (different locations). Celebrate Valentine's Day, Feb. 14, by learning about "Gardening in Small Spaces." "Starting Plants from Seed" is set March 2, along with "Kids! Grow and Show Your Plant at the Fair." Several presentations also are set for the remainder of March and through June.
Other events (with more due to be scheduled soon):
-- McKinley Park Rose Garden pruning days: Jan. 6, 13, 17, 20 and 27 plus Feb. 10 and 17. See Debbie's post on that here.
-- Sacramento Seed Swap and Share, afternoon of Jan. 27 at the Fair Oaks Library.
-- City of Roseville workshops (which are free but often fill up) include "Pruning With Purpose" on Jan. 13, Feb. 7 and March 9 (three separate sessions), "Growing Fruit Trees" on Jan. 27 and "Compost and Mulch" Feb. 17. "Pruning Fruit Trees" will be held Feb. 22.
-- Northern California Home & Landscape Expo runs Feb. 2-4 at Cal Expo. This event is primarily aimed at home improvement and outdoor landscaping, but the Sacramento County master gardeners will staff a booth at the event all three days. That makes it a great opportunity to get gardening advice early in the year or ask questions about ongoing garden issues or problems.
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Garden Checklist for week of April 21
This week there’s plenty to keep gardeners busy. With no rain in the immediate forecast, remember to irrigate any new transplants.
* Weed, weed, weed! Get them before they flower and go to seed.
* April is the last chance to plant citrus trees such as dwarf orange, lemon and kumquat. These trees also look good in landscaping and provide fresh fruit in winter.
* Smell orange blossoms? Feed citrus trees with a low dose of balanced fertilizer (such as 10-10-10) during bloom to help set fruit. Keep an eye out for ants.
* Apply slow-release fertilizer to the lawn.
* Thoroughly clean debris from the bottom of outdoor ponds or fountains.
* Spring brings a flush of rapid growth, and that means your garden is really hungry. Feed shrubs and trees with a slow-release fertilizer. Or mulch with a 1-inch layer of compost.
* Azaleas and camellias looking a little yellow? If leaves are turning yellow between the veins, give them a boost with chelated iron.
* Trim dead flowers but not leaves from spring-flowering bulbs such as daffodils and tulips. Those leaves gather energy to create next year's flowers. Also, give the bulbs a fertilizer boost after bloom.
* Pinch chrysanthemums back to 12 inches for fall flowers. Cut old stems to the ground.
* Mulch around plants to conserve moisture and control weeds.
* From seed, plant beans, beets, cantaloupes, carrots, corn, cucumbers, melons, radishes and squash.
* Plant onion sets.
* In the flower garden, plant seeds for asters, cosmos, celosia, marigolds, salvia, sunflowers and zinnias.
* Transplant petunias, zinnias, geraniums and other summer bloomers.
* Plant perennials and dahlia tubers for summer bloom.
* Mid to late April is about the last chance to plant summer bulbs, such as gladiolus and tuberous begonias.
* Transplant lettuce seedlings. Choose varieties that mature quickly such as loose leaf.
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