CANGC

The January 2007 Garden News Releases

Gardener's Checklist December 31, 2006 - January 6, 2007

Prepare your planting beds for roses, fruit and shade trees, cane berries and deciduous shrubs now available in bare root form.
If you haven't already done it, prune your dormant trees (especially fruit trees). Wait to prune spring flowering trees or shrubs until they finish blooming.
Plant bare root strawberries now for a spring harvest. Consider planting in a raised bed, hanging basket, a barrel or an attractive strawberry jar.
It's not too late for the first application of spray on dormant plants or to follow up with a second or third shot to kill insect and fungus pests before spring.

Gardener's Checklist January 7-13, 2007

Move houseplants that need lots of light closer to the light source while days are short.
Camellias are at their peak so plant now. They bloom best when planted in spots sheltered from strong sun and dry winds.
Rake up leaves and debris from lawn so a build-up won't flatten the grass.
Plant artichokes now. Fill a hole with one part humus and two parts soil. Plant with buds at surface and add mulch after growth starts.

Gardener's Checklist January 14 - 20, 2007

Don't forget to feed winter flowering plants along with your lawn and garden.
Give your lawn a high nitrogen feeding containing pre-emergence materials to combat crabgrass.
Prune your roses, leaving only the most vigorous and healthiest canes. Check with a California Certified Nursery Professional for advice.
Spray peach and nectarine trees for leaf curl now and again just before they bloom to prevent a severe fungus attack in the spring.

Gardener's Checklist January 21 - 27, 2007

Outdoor container plants can dry out even in the winter, especially hanging plants and other container plants protected by the eaves of your home.
Make your first planting of gladiolus this month and follow up with additional plantings at 15 to 25 day intervals until July for color from spring to early fall.
Early blooming shrubs to plant now are forsythia, acacia and flowering quince.
Color your winter garden - plant violas, pansies, Iceland poppies, snapdragons and more!

Gardener's Checklist January 28 - February 3, 2007

Divide overcrowded perennials this month and next.
For exquisite shade color this spring and summer, begin tuberous begonias indoors in moist peat moss. Do not bury the tops. Plant outside once the frost is past.
Place three inches of mulch around trees, shrubs and flowerbeds to keep weeds under control. Keep the mulch away from the trunks of trees and shrubs as well as the stems of bedding plants.
Plant a grape vine on fence or arbor for shade and sweet fruit this summer.

January Garden Fillers

Lettuce is never better than when picked fresh - which is true for most vegetables, but particularly for those on the delicate side. You can grow the head type of lettuce but an easier solution may be planting Romaine and loose leaf kinds of lettuce. They are easy to plant and young tender leaves can be harvested for a very tasty salad. Remember to place bait around the new plantings to discourage slugs and snails.
One of the prettiest early blooming shrubs is the old fashioned quince. The fat, colorful buds pop open early in the year when the rains are still falling down. Quince is available in red, white, pink, apple blossom and salmon. Spacing between the flowers gives the blooming branches an arty look that makes them a favorite for flower arrangements.
Violas are at their most colorful during the cool season of the year. Massed together in flowerbeds they create a colorful statement that says the coppery new leaves, followed by heavy clusters of white, urn-shaped flowers. Plant in a semi-shaded area with well-draining soil.
Carnations will soon be on the market in most nurseries. It is true that they will take care of themselves most of the time if you give them a hot, dry spot with perfect drainage, but a little attention will pay off in a grand manner. Stake them up as they grow so that they don't straggle around on the ground. Pinching off about half the buds that form will result in big beautiful carnations over a longer period.
Iceland poppies are too often neglected. They are ideal for a spot a full sun where the drainage is good and you don't intend to water too often. The trick is not to bury the crown. The result will be a long period of beautiful, pastel flowers on wiry stems that make long-lasting flowers. Cut them as the buds begin to show color.
Fuchsias may be pruned this month, except where danger of frost exists. Like roses, they bloom only on new wood, so heavy pruning will ensure a high proportion of new wood on each plant and more flowers. Hanging basket fuchsias can be cut back right to the rim of the basket.
You don't have to be a bird watcher to watch Bird of Paradise in the garden. In some areas of Southern California it always seems to be showing garden color. Elsewhere, it can be an attraction at least six months of the year. For special effects, plant Bird of Paradise in a tub on a sunny patio. In extra cold winter climates, tub planting enables the gardener to move it to shelter and reduces the chance of freezing.
The blooming bulbs planted last fall will soon be faded. The temptation is to quickly cut the tops back soon after they fade. Resist the temptation. The bulbs will bloom beautifully again next year if you first let the tops dry off. The bulbs draw food from the tops as they fade. A generous feeding of bone meal will ensure better bloom for next year. This should be done as they reach the end of their blooming period.

January Garden Articles

Why Dormant Spray?

Probably the most important gardening job in winter is dormant spraying. Use a copper based spray to control the over-wintering population of insects and diseases on your fruit trees, roses, berry plants, grapevines and deciduous ornamentals.

If there are few early rains, it is essential that you dormant spray. Over-wintering insects will take over the garden this spring and summer if not controlled now. Fungal diseases over-winter in the soil and old decayed leaves. Early spring winds often blow the spores up into trees.

Fungal diseases are among the most widespread plant disorders, although most are controllable. You can spray now to prevent peach leaf curl from affecting peach, nectarine and almond trees later in the year. The fungus winters over on the bark and twigs and causes the leaves to pucker, possibly turn red or yellows and fall prematurely. One application after the old leaves have fallen and another just before flower buds open is best.

Copper-based sprays contain all the necessary controls for the eggs of such insects as scale, whiteflies, aphids and spider mites, which are in a soft susceptible stage at this time. It also contains the elements necessary to control the spores of fungi that cause blackspot, powdery mildew and rust on roses.

Control peach leaf curl by two applications of copper-based spray, one spraying now and one when the flower buds are in the "pink bud" stage. This combination resists "wash-off" during rainfall, making the treatment very effective.

A forceful, penetrating spray is needed to do the job successfully. Use a portable pressurized tank sprayer. Lacking that, use a hose-end sprayer. Whichever is used, make sure that the remaining foliage, all branches, and the ground around the area are thoroughly soaked on all sides.

Make a list of all your dormant plants and ask your local California Certified Nursery Professionals ª at your local garden center which product to use in your area. Read the entire label for dilution rates and time intervals necessary for proper application. Clean up around the base of your trees, remove leaves and other debris. Bag it and haul it away. Spray the soil as well as the plant.

Fragrant Showy Lilacs

A mass planting, or even a small clump of lilacs, is one of the most spectacular of spring sights. Lilacs are not only showy but most offer a wonderfully memorable fragrance as well. They like sun, good, well-drained soils and respond well to feeding. Most varieties prefer climates with a pronounced winter chilling period. The lilacs listed prefer a moderately high soil pH. Areas with acidic type soils will benefit by applications of lime. Adjust pH levels to around seven for best results. Prune after blooming to shape, and remove spent flower clusters. To produce a showy effect, do a mass planting of lilacs in groups of the same or complimentary colors and blooming times for best results. They are excellent for screening or background planting, and are very popular for tall hedges or lawn specimens.

For areas which lack adequate winter chilling to grow French hybrid lilacs (U.S.D.A. hardiness zones nine and ten), choose the Descanso Hybrid. Developed and promoted by the famous Descanso Gardens in southern California, these lilacs resemble the Eastern types with white, purple, lavender and rose pink panicles, but will grow in areas with much warmer winters. They will supply the same nostalgia, and their consistent blooming habit will produce large, sweet-scented flowers every year.

Following is a description of some of the varieties on the market. Descanso Hybrid lilacs, as well as a few others known to produce well on mild winter climates, are marked with an astrisk (*). This will help you make a good decision before going to the garden centers. Remember to check with a California Certified Nursery Professional if you have questions about which plants to choose.

Blue

Blue Skies 'Monroe' - French Hybrid PAT #6877 (Syringa vulgaris X). Single, light lavender-blue flowers. Produces excellent flowers without winter chilling. Bright green foliage holds up well in summer heat.

Clarke's Giant - French Hybrid (Syringa X hyacinthiflora). Single flowers. Enormous trusses of very fragrant, exquisite blue flowers in late spring. This grand, upright bush is covered with glossy heart shaped foliage. Clark 1948.

Olivier De Serres - French Hybrid (Syringa vulgaris X). Strong, clear blue, double florets produce in showy large clusters.

Pink

Annabel - French Hybrid (Syringa X hyacinthiflora). Pink, double flower. Blooms as a young plant. Average watering. Can tolerate some drought when established. Height of ten feet.

California Rose * - Descanso Hybrid (Syringa vulgaris X). Tall, vigorous growing habit. Flowers are clear light pink, panicles are small but very numerous and showy.

Charm - French Hybrid (Syringa vulgaris X). Single, deep rose-pink in bud, opening to large florets of pinkish lilac. Blooms early on young small plants.

Dark Night* - Descanso Hybrid (Syringa vulgaris X). Darkest of the Descanso Hybrid lilacs. The flowers are a deep rose lavender with some color carrying through to the foliage. The leaves exhibit a purplish cast. A medium grower.

Lavender, Lilac or Purple

Lavender Lady* - Descanso Hybrid (Syringa vulgaris X). Beautiful, lilac-covered fragrant flowers in huge clusters. Especially developed for California.

Michel Buchner - French Hybrid (Syringa vulgaris X). Medium growing plant producing a profusion of rosy lilac/pale lavender, double flowers. Late bloom.

Sylvan Beauty* - Descanso Hybrid (Syringa vulgaris X). The flowers are typical lilac color, a good deep purple. The fully developed panicles are rather laong and the petals will flare out at the ends. The bush is strong and tall.

William Robinson - French Hybrid (Syringa vulgaris X). Lovely lilac pink colored blooms. Recommended in color class. Blooms mid to late season.

Red, Magenta or Purple

Adelaide Dunbar - French Hybrid (Syringa vulgaris X). Excellent, large, compound, purple, double flowers. Best in this color group.

Burgundy Queen - French Hybrid (Syringa vulgaris X). Vibrant burgundy red, single flowers in large conical clusters. This is a new introduction from one of the top bare-root growers in California. This special selection promises to be at the top of everyone's favorite list for magenta/purple color classes.

Clyde Heard - French Hybrid (Syringa vulgaris X). Exceptional new hybrid with beautiful, single, magenta flowers.

Ludwig Spaeth - French Hybrid (Syringa vulgaris X). Lilac perfection! Very large panicles of deep, small purplish red blooms. Most popular of the deep purples and considered the best of its class. Blooms late in season.

Paul Thirion - French Hybrid (Syringa vulgaris X). Bright, rich red, double flowers with silvery reverse. Compact heads with flat, double flowers suggest small roses in young stages. A good cut flower, scented and long lasting. Average watering. Will tolerate some drought when established.

Sensation - French Hybrid (Syringa vulgaris X). Stunning, wine red, single blossoms are edged with white.

Rock Gardening Adds A New Dimension to the Garden

Give a gardener an interesting, weathered rock, a handful of succulents, and a place to plant them both, and he's in for the kind of landscaping fun more Californians are enjoying every day.

You don't have to embark on an elaborate, old fashioned "rockery" in order to take advantage of the natural charm of stone. One handsome rock can make the focal point for an eye stopping garden scene.

For instance, a crisp, bright green Mugho pine, a well-scaled grey rock, and a spreading blue green Tamariz Juniper, would provide all the ingredients for an enchanting garden picture, complete and integral in itself. Set this "garden"in a terrace inset, an island or peninsula in the lawn, at the entry, or stage it in front of a fence, and you have a small jewel of a garden to enjoy all year round. You might add a groundcover of flat, smooth pebbles, or sparkling white crushed rock, and tuck in crocuses or miniature daffodils for spring color - maybe add some purple alyssum, candytuft, or bright low growing phlox - it's a gardener's choice. Or use a goundcover of spicy chamomile, plush Irish moss, or, in the shade, dichondra. Whatever you put in, a basically dramatic planting is bound to be effective.

The delicate Japanese maple is a natural with a large rock, ferns and a bronzy ajuga ground cover. For smaller scaled rock pictures, you might try the soft charm of silver-grey perennials (such as Snow In Summer, Basket of Gold alyssum, dianthus, rockcress and aubretia) tucked among bluish-grey rocks. Or, for a rock planting in the shade, use primroses, bellflowers, and bleeding hearts. Succulents are always effective with rocks, and sometimes you can grow them right in the crevice of a stone.

Whatever you plant among rocks, don't be afraid to use your own ingenuity to make exciting garden pictures.

Japanese Maples Add a Special Touch

Even though they lose their leaves in winter, the Japanese Maple has something special to show off the garden year round. The Japanese maple usually refers to the upright small tree with gracefully arching branches and green foliage. They have the further advantage of fitting into gardens no matter what the size.

Here is a typical year round story of the Japanese maple; delicate light green or delicate purplish-red foliage appears in spring, depending upon the variety you choose. As the foliage matures, the greens deepen and the purplish-red gives way to a greenish bronze. The autumn finale is coppery - then the leaves disappear for the dormant season. At this time it becomes a graceful silhouette of delicate foliage. Always plant them when the drainage is good - maples don't like wet feet.

To help you choose the right tree for a particular location in your garden, here are the varieties you are likely to find at the local garden center. The Japanese red maple is the term used for the same type of tree with reddish-purplish foliage. There are several variations of the latter, including "Bonfire" (orange-red foliage), "Ribbonleaf" and "Ribbonleaf Purple".

The "Cutleaf" and "Laceleaf" maples have a spreading rather than upright habit. They are used where a shrub-like effect is desired. The descriptive names refer to the delicate pattern of the foliage, and you can buy either with green or reddish-purplish foliage.

To prevent the branches from spreading on the ground, these varieties are grafted on the trunks of seedlings at various heights. This causes the branches to spread outward and downward - a waterfall of lovely delicate foliage. Occasionally you will find varieties with variegated foliage, or a variety called "Sango-Kaku" or "Coral Bark".

The Japanese Maples are adapted to gardens with water - adjacent pools that will reflect the beauty of their form and color. They can be used equally well in containers, for wind protected decks in shade or filtered sunlight. If you want to achieve a richly colorful effect with the Japanese maples in your garden, set out clumps of the large flowered English primrose - their flower spectrum goes delightfully with the spring foliage of the maples.

Clumps of bronze or yellow tulips planted in fall will make a pretty picture with the spring color of the maples, also. Be sure to dig gently - maples have shallow roots.

Basic Pruning Technique

Pruning time is here again, and people are asking the inevitable questions: what, when, why and how should I prune? Let's review the basics: Generally, trees are pruned when they are in their most dormant state. December and January are ideal times for pruning most deciduous fruit and shade trees. The exceptions to this rule of thumb are ornamental trees and shrubs grown especially for their spring flowers. Flowering plum, peach and cherry trees, magnolia, as well as forsythia, lilac and a few others are pruned just after blooming in the spring in order to avoid removing flower buds. The best results for pruning evergreen plants are achieved in late winter or late summer just before the seasonal flush of new growth. Evergreen plants susceptible to frost damage such as citrus, oleander or bottlebrush should be pruned after danger of frost in early spring.

It is important to use the proper tools when pruning. Hand shears are used for branches up to 1/4 inch in diameter. Loppers are used for branches up to the size of a quarter. Use pruning saws for any limbs larger than this. Keeping in mind the basic objectives of pruning will make the job easier. The first objective is to maintain plant health. Always begin by removing dead, diseased, or injured wood.

The next objective is to control plant growth. Start by removing all crossing branches and wayward limbs. Pruning also is used to increase flower and fruit production and quality. There are specific techniques for achieving these last two desired results.

"Thinning" is a technique whereby whole branches are removed from heavily wooded areas of trees and shrubs. It's important to make a smooth cut to the parent plant limb. Stubs will only die back, inviting disease and insect problems.

"Heading back" is a method of shortening existing branches to a more desirable length. Growth is redirected by pruning to a bud that will grow in the direction you wish. Pruning to an outside bud will keep the center of the plant open and free from crossing branches.