NEW GARDENING YEAR OPPORTUNITIES AND TASKS

Paperwhites with yellow centers, the first to bloom.

Paperwhites with white centers, the first to bloom with yellow-centered ones. And pink lycoris.

Fragrant violets.

Double Delight roses in bloom from October pruning.

Cestrum

Potatoes left unharvested in "Tower of Tires" start growing after last month's rains.

Dancy Tangerine begins to ripen.

Both colors of alyssum self-sow and smell like honey.

Salvia coccinea blooms almost all year-round, even right after pruning to shape the plant.

Scatter-sowing of kales and bok choys for transplanting and harvesting when they're larger. Fruit tree netting is staked to deter skunks and opposums from digging for their sluggy and grubby treats.

     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.