With daytime temperatures in the mid-70s, nighttime temperatures in the low-50’s, sunny but low-intensity sunlight, and soil that’s thoroughly moistened but well drained from those glorious rainstorms, this is the perfect environment for planting our new gardens for spring and summer.  Seeds, seedlings, perennial vegetables, deciduous bareroot fruit trees and roses, rooting cuttings and separating divisions are all methods that are ideal to start now because the mild weather will enable them to thrive.
 
Seeds
     So many greens and other cool-season crops include broccoli, bok choy, cabbage, cauliflower, chard, chives, cilantro/coriander, kale, leeks, leaf and heading lettuces, mustards, green and bulb onions, parsley, peas, radishes, and savoy spinaches.
     Flowers to sow include alyssum, bachelor's button (cornflower), calendulas, candytuft, celosia (cockscomb), coreopsis, dianthus, four-o-clocks, hollyhocks, larkspur, lunaria (honesty, money plant, silver dollar plant), pansies, California and Iceland and Shirley poppies, salvias, snapdragons, stocks, sweet peas, sweet William, and native wildflowers.
 
Seedlings
     I always purchase whatever seedlings are in the nurseries for a 6-week jump start of the same seeds I’ll sow.  Then I’m guaranteed something to eat as early as possible from planting the purchased seedlings (usually of pretty basic varieties), and then lots more from the plants I’ve seeded (of more specialized varieties).
 
Perennial Vegetables and Fruits
     The big three perennials to establish in their own beds are artichoke, asparagus, and rhubarb.  They’re all heavy feeders, so need lots of manure and compost every year at this time.
     Other perennials to get into the ground include grapes, berry vines, and strawberries.
     Pruning cane berries gets rid of dead canes that bore last summer and then died, and energizes new canes that’ll produce on second-year wood.
     Pruning grapes limits new growth to fruiting wood, and cuttings can be rooted for plants to giveaway.
 
Deciduous Bareroot Fruit Trees and Roses
     Like seeds, planting bareroot fruit trees and roses adapt more quickly and healthfully when planted now in cool weather, catching up to and surpassing already-leafed-out plants.  So, if you have the choice of the specific varieties you want, go for the bareroot ones. 
     Pruning existing fruit trees now before they blossom out keeps their spring growth within reaching harvest height and limits the amount of fruit that’ll set to what you can manage to use, stressing the tree less so it’ll remain healthy.
     Pruning roses gets rid of twiggy branches and redirects new growth outward for a healthier plant.
 
Rooting Cuttings
     Grapes and mini-roses that are grown on their own roots are good bets for rooting to create more plants for your own garden or for friends.
 
Separating Divisions
     Dividing crowded plant root systems are another excellent way to take advantage of multiplying strong plants.  These include agapanthus, amaryllis, asters, chrysanthemums, coreopsis, daylilies, dianthus, gaillardias, gazanias, rudbeckia, statice and violets.
 
More Detailed Monthly Garden Tips
     For more info on all these topics, see January and February tips.

     Our wonderful rains weeks ago germinated lots of seeds, including wildflowers and veggies but also weeds.  Pleasant daytime temperatures in the low 70 degrees get everything moving ahead, while under-50-degree nighttime temperatures keep growth rate slow to moderate.  Together with the rain-moistened soil, our new gardening year is off to a great start. 
     So take advantage of this great garden timing to get your fingernails dirty!
 
Plant Bare-Root Roses

1. Dig a hole about 18 inches across and 9 inches deep.
2. Fill with water and wait until it is completely absorbed (ok to do the day before planting).
3. Soak the roots in a bucket of water for a couple of hours before planting.
4. orm a cone of loose soil in the center.
5. Snip too-long roots to fit over the cone without bending.
6. Place plant onto cone so center of cone is no higher than outer edges of hole.
7. Refill hole with native soil.
8. Form a berm at least 2 feet wide with excess soil to serve as a watering hole.
9. Fill hole with water three times to ensure that the entire rootzone is moistened and soil is “melted” around roots.
10. Add a 2-inch layer of organic mulch (including the wood shavings that came with the bare-root rose) within the berm area.

 
Plant Bare-Root Trees

If purchased in a 5-gallon container

1. Water the container thoroughly to make sure roots are moistened (ok to do the day before planting).
2. Dig a hole 2 feet across and only as deep as the container.
3. Upturn container so tree and rootball will easily come out of the container without disturbing rootball too much.
4. Gently massage the rootball to loosen the soil mix a good 2 inches on the outer edges and bottom.
5. Mix this loosened mix with the soil in the hole. This will provide a mixture of soil that the tree grew in with the native soil to encourage roots to reach out beyond the mixture into native soil.
6. Place the rootball into the hole so the top surface where the trunk emerges is even with surrounding soil.  
7. Pull in remaining native soil and gently prod fingers into the soil to anchor the tree.
8. ​Form a berm at least 2 feet wide with excess soil to serve as a watering hole.
9. Fill hole with water three times to ensure that the entire rootzone is moistened and soil is “melted” around roots.
10. Add a 2-inch layer of organic mulch within the berm area.

If purchased bare-root

1. Soak the roots in a bucket of water for a couple of hours before planting.
2. Dig a hole 2 feet across and only as deep as the roots.
3. Hold tree by its trunk so the section of the trunk that’s just above where the roots splay outward is at the level of the soil.
4. Pull in the native soil and gently prod fingers into the soil to anchor the tree.
5. Form a berm at least 2 feet wide with excess soil to serve as a watering hole.
6. Fill hole with water three times to ensure that the entire rootzone is moistened and soil is “melted” around roots.
7. Add a 2-inch layer of organic mulch within the berm area.

 Spray Fruit Trees

1. If your fruit trees were troubled with pests last year – whether diseases or insects or other critters – spray soon and again in early February with dormant sprays for the specific pest issues.
2. Consult with your local knowledgeable nurseryperson, and follow directions.  Time sprays within 48 hours of rain so the spray dries on the tree surfaces and crevices.

Separate Clumps of Perennials and Bulbs

1. Dig, split, and replant clumps of perennials and bulbs that have become crowded and bloomed less than usual last year.
2. Water the newly planted sections well to ensure good contact of roots to soil.

Sow Vegetable and Flower Seeds
In containers
     Sow 3 or 4 seeds per container, in either 6-packs or 4” containers, to assure you have at least one that’ll survive to transplanting with an extensive root system.
 
In garden soil where they’ll mature

1. Sow large seeds and root-crop seeds barely closer than the plants will mature to assure that you get sufficient germination but don’t have to thin seedlings too much.
2. Sow small seeds an inch or so apart to assure good germination and allow for thinning for either eating or transplanting.
3. Cover with bird tree netting to keep critters from digging the beds in search of the sluggy and grubby treats they prefer.

 
Plant Vegetable and Flower Seedlings
     Six-pack size are best, since they’re the least expensive, will catch up to larger sizes within a month or two, and will thrive better after that because they matured in place instead of having to spend time reacclimating to their new homes.

More January Tasks
           See January Monthly Tips.