Good Cleanup In January Starts The Garden Year On A Healthy Note

Happy new year! This year we spend more time digging the soil. It's good for our immune system, it's good for our mental health, and it's also good for the planet.

Start the new year with a clean garden

Wash and discard (do not compost) the leaves of fruit and deciduous trees: peaches, plums, apples, etc.

Trim dead branches from shrubs and trees.

Cut back dead flower stems on perennials, flowering trees and flowering shrubs. Gardeners call it "dead". Make the segments.

Do not cut off parts of the plant that are damaged by frost. Damaged parts protect the rest of the system from nearby freezing. Cut these pieces in late February.

Place sidewalks and mulch under and around plants.

Make your cold compost pile a corner pile in your garden. Cut off the top leaves. Use ready-made mulch in your garden.

Clean tools, empty pots where plants are dead. Save the used soil for future pots.

Empty the tubes and wrap them after each use. Pressure pipes are leaking.

Repair the pipe holes with a metal pipe repair kit that matches the diameter of the pipe (standard garden hoses are ¾", 5⁄8" or 1" diameter). Cut the pipe on both sides of the hole and remove the damaged setting. parts of the repair kit, then secure it with a screwdriver.

Clean, sharpen and oil scrapers, saws, cutters, etc.

Clean up and organize your garden. Shelves, drawers and wall hooks help keep tools, hose nozzles, sprayers, cords, plant markers and more organized and easy to find. Fishing boxes are great for organizing and storing fishing gear.

Store organic compost bags in a container with a tight-fitting lid to keep hungry animals out.

water resources management

There hasn't been much rain in December, so check the soil moisture levels. If it is really dry, water it.

Don't overdo it. In cool weather and little sunshine, the gardens were watered only occasionally, even when it wasn't raining. Once a week, every two weeks, once a month is fine except for grass and vegetables.

Deep and rare, that's our casting mantra. Long water, but not often.

Add a dry stream, trough, or multiple areas to your garden. These are all strategies for collecting and storing rainwater in your garden soil.

If your laundry room is enclosed by an exterior wall, install a simple "laundry room" gray water system. Direct the wash water onto fruit trees and ornamental plants. Watch A Growing Passion Episode 105 titled Cycle and Recycle.

Check your sprinkler system for leaks, kinks, etc.

Open the ends of the drip lines and run the system for a few minutes to remove any sand or debris.

Spray it to see if the heads are aligned correctly, if they work properly, etc.

Plant new fruit trees, vines and shrubs

Shop this month for the best selection and price on fruit trees, vines and bare root shrubs. "Bare roots" are 1- to 2-year-old plants that are dug up and the roots removed from the soil. They look like sticks with a ball at the base, but don't worry, they will soon grow into strong, productive plants.

Some bare roots—stone fruits, apples, and pears—are grafted, that is, two plants united into one;

Fruitwood (also called "shoot") is the top of the tree. They grow leaves, flowers and fruits.

The rhizome is the lower part of the tree and gives roots.

The best grafted fruit trees for your garden combine the best shoots with the best rootstock. You will find several options for everyone.

Choose a fruit tree keeping in mind:

Fruits that you like to eat the most.

How many hours of coolness lasts in your garden?

Time of summer when the fruit should ripen: early, mid-season, late.

Choose with your roots in mind.

Your garden soil (clay, sand, or anything in between).

Soil pathogens: harmful bacteria, fungi, etc.

Your preferred tree size: full size, semi-dwarf or dwarf.

Cool hours in your garden.

In winter, stone fruits, apples and pears are cold. Mostly cold is the accumulation of overnight temperatures in the 90s and 100s from late fall to early spring. Different types of fruit require different amounts of cold, so it's important to adapt your fruit trees to the cold in your garden. Without this critical break, the trees will not bear fruit.

Due to our variety of microclimates, cooling times vary from garden to garden, but in general;

Indoor gardens have 100 to 500 chill hours.

100 to 400 hours of freezing in inland coastal gardens and desert gardens.

Coastal gardens have 100 to 300 hours of coolness.

Mountain Gardens, like Julian, can be frozen for up to 1000 hours.

See how bare root plants are grown, grafted, cultivated, harvested, processed and shipped in A Growing Passion Episode 601, From Fruit to Nut.

Prepare the site

Deciduous trees, shrubs and vines need full sun (more than six hours a day) during the growing season. In winter, when the plant is dormant, it can be shaded.

Do a drainage test. Dig a hole 2 meters wide and 2 meters deep. Fill with water and let it drain. Fill it up and watch how long it takes to empty the hole. If the water disappears after a few hours, it is a fast-draining soil. If water sits for a day or two (or more), it is slow-draining soil, also known as "heavy" soil. The rest is in between. The root must comply with the drainage.

Pre-drill a hole for approximate size. It's best to plant bare root plants the day you bring them home so the roots don't dry out.

Apply drip irrigation to the area to complete the installation after planting.

Buy bare carrots

Choose plants with flexible roots that are not too knotty. The roots should spread widely and not grow in circles.

Choose low branches. Ripe fruits are easily obtained.

The manger wraps the roots of the plants with plastic so that the roots do not dry out. This is very important, so plant your carrots the same day you bring them home.

Remove the plant from the plastic and spread the roots. Notice where the color changes on the trunk; this is the "baseline" since the tree was planted. Mark the unpaved line with a sharpie so you don't lose track.

In grafted plants, thickening is observed on the stem above the soil line. This is where the fruit offspring, roots and wood are grafted. It's always better than scratch.

Cut the main trunk of all trees in half. Although heavy, it's the best way to encourage low-hanging branches for easy maintenance and harvesting. Balance the size of the plant and the size of the root ball. Cut back the side branches to one or two buds.

Check the size of the planting hole. It should be loose enough to fit around the roots without bending, buckling, or buckling; so that it is deep enough so that when the plant is in the soil, the ground line of the stem or stem to be planted is level with the soil.

Submerge the bare root in a bucket of water or trash to cover the roots while you prepare the planting hole. The container should be large enough to hold the roots without bending or twisting. Do not leave the roots in the water for more than two hours.

Once the planting hole is the right width and depth, sprinkle in a few handfuls of worm compost and fill the empty hole with water and let it drain.

When you plant, fill the hole with only native soil, no topsoil, compost, compost, just native soil. Water to colonize the soil around the roots.

Make a trench a foot or two from the trunk. Add two drip rings, the first 8 to 10 inches from the trunk and the second about a foot from the first ring. As the tree grows, you will add more rings.

Prune and spray established forest fruit trees

Pruning fruit trees to promote fruit production. Different types of fruits (peaches, plums, apples, etc.) are fruits in different places on the branches, so each one is pruned differently. If you cut them incorrectly, there is a risk of cutting the fruit wood.

Learn how to prune from experienced gardeners or online information, or find a good pruning book like my favorite How to Prune Fruit Trees and Roses by Ken Andersen and R. By Sanford Martin.
Spray dormant fruit trees to prevent leaf curl, fire blight, downy mildew, aphids, scale and other spring and summer problems. Use Liqui-Cop ^{or Daconil fungicides along with mineral-based horticultural oil. Each crop should be sprayed three times before the trees begin to flower in the spring. Follow all label directions.}

citrus fruits

Winter is citrus season. Harvest Kumquats, Washington Navels, Oro Blanco Grapefruits, Pummelos, Eureka Lemons, Limes and more as they ripen.

In the case of citrus fruits, the color does not indicate ripeness. If your oranges are orange but bitter or sour, they are not ripe. Taste is the best proof of maturity.

the garden

Take turnips, turnips, carrots, etc. When picking green leaves, take only the leaves you need. There's no reason to rip the whole head off.

Feed Brassica - Cabbage, Cauliflower, etc. with daily fertilizers

Beware of aphids. Blast them with a powerful blast of water using the nozzle at the end of the Bug Blaster tube.

Watch out for holes and jagged edges on the cabbage leaves. These are clear signs of small green worms. The leaves may be unsightly, but treat only if the damage to the plant is severe. In this case, use an organic Bt pesticide specifically designed for earthworms and mosquito larvae. It also kills caterpillars, so keep it away from passionflower, parsley, dill, fennel, milkweed, and other plants that attract butterflies.

Grow some parsley, dill and cilantro for a constant supply.

Harvest beans and peas when they are ripe.

Continue planting from seed: turnips, carrots, turnips, turnips, radishes, leafy greens.

Choose deciduous trees and ornamental shrubs

If you like the seasons, plant deciduous trees and ornamental shrubs . They lose their leaves in autumn, bloom in spring, then sprout. Deciduous plants whose leaves change color in autumn.

- smoke tree ( Cotinus coggygria )

- Crape myrtle ( Lagerstroemia indica )

- Chinese pistachio ( Pistacia chinensis )

- Roger's red grape ( Vitis 'Roger's Red')

- Native black oak ( Quercus kelloggii )

Plant deciduous trees on the south side of your home for summer shade and winter warmth.
Adjust the final size of all plants to fit the space. Don't expect to trim trees and shrubs to keep them small.
Plan ahead. Create tree structure and branching patterns with early pruning by a licensed arborist.

planting ornamental plants

All native and non-native drought tolerant plants are planted during the cooler months.

start small a 5 or 15 liter plant will grow faster and stronger than a larger container. It will grow faster than a larger 1 or 5 gallon bush.

Check the roots. Avoid bare-rooted, taprooted, wrapped-around-the-stem or potted roots, etc.

Plant correctly. Place the plant at the same height as the container. Loosen the root ball. Do not modify the implant hole.

Constant water. In the absence of rain, new trees, bushes, etc. kept moist (not wet) in the soil for the first year or two. Then reduce the water.

leave the leaves Despite what your parents say, garden leaves are good. Leaves of ornamental plants (not fruit trees) are used as mulch. Cars and yards. Leave leaves everywhere.

Cover all flower beds with a 2- to 3-inch layer of mulch. Leave a 10' x 10' area for native ground nesting bees (they won't sting you).

Plant a poinsettia in your garden. Choose a spot in full sun or shade where the night sky is completely dark between September and December. A long period of darkness encourages flowering the following winter. Poinsettias like good drainage and little water. Fertilize monthly when daytime temperatures are above 60 degrees (see https://athroatingpassion.com/poinsettias-holiday-season/ for instructions).

Keep potted plants moist but not too wet.

Cut the rose bushes by a third and remove the hanging leaves. Remove leaves, petals, rose hips and cut branches into green waste. Plant bare-root roses as soon as they reach the nursery.

house plants

Heating homes dries out the air, which is a problem with many indoor plants. So treat your plants to a spa day. in the bathroom. Fill the container with a few centimeters of water. Place your houseplants on empty pots (upside down) or other "supports" in the container. Let your houseplants enjoy the humidity, but don't let them sit in water. Leave it for a day or so.

Check your houseplants for aphids, mealybugs, or scale. Use a cotton swab dipped in rubbing alcohol to kill the mites.

A one-inch layer of fine gravel or rounded stones on top of the cocoon soil will prevent the fungal cocoons from laying eggs in the moist soil, and they will soon disappear.

Sterman is a waterscape designer, writer and host of KPBS's "A Growing Passion." For more information, visit athroatingpassion.com and waterwisegardener.com.