Help trees and shrubs grow their best with timely cuts
Ripe limes, lemons become breakfast treat -- no canning required
Frost reminds us: It’s still winter
Lost trees will be replaced by climate-ready alternatives
Rain, cold can send ants indoors
Warmer weather brings out rapid rose growth
Hands-on opportunity uses bounty of estate's flower-filled gardens
Citrus Heights nursery location holds celebration of indoor jungles
In-season Meyers are sweeter, ideal for baking
Chilly nights follow clear days; watch for frost
Sacramento County master gardeners host free event Saturday
Bohart Museum hosts afternoon of insect fun
Organize your own local swap for Jan. 28
Sacramento posts impressive rain totals after a series of atmospheric rivers
Get tips on tackling roses, trees, shrubs
Easy and warming, this treat can be tailored to taste
After so much rain, our gardens gets a chance to dry out
Saturated soil can lead to crown and root rots long after the rain has stopped
Free self-guided tour available Jan. 29, rain or shine
Art by Fire hosts annual Seconds Sale at Shepard Center
Sacramento's urban forest took a big hit from storms
Sacramento Digs Gardening to your inbox.
Dig In: Garden checklist for week of Jan. 29
Bundle up and get work done!
* 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 apricot and cherry 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 or sprouting new growth. 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.
* 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 oil to peach and nectarine trees to fight leaf curl. Avoid spraying on windy days.
* 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 gladiolus 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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Send us a gardening question, a post suggestion or information about an upcoming event. sacdigsgardening@gmail.com