"Must Do" Gardening Tasks in Winter
By Bob Chapman
Cloudy skies and rainy weather can make even the most faithful gardener want to hibernate indoors. But our gardens do need some attention in winter.
Some things, if put off, can cause trouble down the road. Listed here are some things that must be done in wintertime and suggestions to consider.
• Prune and spray your bush and climbing roses before the end of January. In our mild climates, roses will start growing soon. After pruning, remove all the old leaves still remaining. These remnants of the past year can hold insect eggs and the spores of many diseases of roses.
• Purchase and plant bare-root roses, fruit trees or vegetables. Get a jump on roses by buying the new releases before the stock is all sold out. Fruit trees sold bare-root are cheaper than those planted in containers. Wintertime may be the only time a gardener can purchase strawberries, raspberries or blackberries. Rhubarb, asparagus or artichokes are available in late December and January. In many areas it gets too warm for later planting. If the soil is wet, heavy and soggy wait for a few days and let it dry out before sticking a shovel in. Place roots or bare-root plants in a shady spot in moist sand or peat moss to "hold" them until the soil is right for digging.
• Prune deciduous fruit and nut trees while they are dormant and leafless. Follow the guidelines in the inexpensive Sunset Books "Pruning" for best results. One reminder: peach and nectarine trees need to have one-half to two-thirds of the wood produced last year removed. Many consider this as almost killing the tree but peaches produce their crop on the prior year's wood. The removal leaves ample wood for producing a big crop and it prevents the breakage of long limbs due to the weight of the crop.
• Spray all newly pruned roses, fruit and nut trees to kill all overwintering spores, insects and any eggs. Use Micro-cop with Sta-Stuk, a copper-based fungicide and a carrier that makes the product cling to the surface of limbs. Some advocate the use of a copper/sulfur combination (Bordeaux Mixture) in use since the early 1900's to control fungal diseases of grapes. It is not as effective and large quantities must be used. Spraying with an oil-based spray will kill any insects and eggs hiding on stems or in leaf axils.
• Keep weeds under control. In spite of, or because of the frequent rains of winter, the weeds keep growing. Many only grow during the wet or winter seasons. Pull or hoe them out before they mature and flower. Because if you don't, they will sow copious amounts of seeds that will lie dormant until next winter and REALLY infest your gardens.
• Rake the leaves off the lawn. A thick layer of leaves can shut off the light to the grasses, weakening them. Compost the leaves and add this wonderful stuff to the soil whenever working it.
• Add color to a drab-looking landscape. In mild-winter climates there are lots of annual plants that can be transplanted, giving a bright splash of color, even on a gray, overcast day. Consider using calendulas, pansies, violas, snapdragons, stock, Iceland poppy and English primroses. A word of caution to those that have heavy soils: wait until no soil clings to the shovel after pushing it into the soil. Then you'll know that the soil can be worked without danger of compacting it.
• In Southern California spread a fertilizer/crabgrass preventer over the lawn in February. In Northern California apply the combination in March. In addition to preventing crabgrass from germinating the product also prevents other weeds from growing in the lawn.
• Mistletoe growing in deciduous trees can be easily seen in winter. Mistletoe is a parasite, living off the moisture and nutrients in the tree, robbing the tree. It also is unsightly. You can "knock back", but completely eradicate the mistletoe by spraying it with Florel. It may re-grow in 3-4 years, but spraying it again with Florel will keep it in check. It sure beats climbing into the tree, cutting off the mistletoe and painting the stump with Roundup Concentrate (which will kill the mistletoe).