January      

The year begins with our coldest month. It's the height of the dormant season and time for bareroot planting and dormant pruning and spraying. It's also a wet month with about 20% of our average annual rainfall.

If you happen to be travelling on US 101 through California's Central Coast, you may want to take some time to see the Monarch butterflies in their winter home. The story of their migration is fascinating. Take the Grand Avenue off ramp in Arroyo Grande. Go west to US 1 in Grover Beach. Turn right and go a block or two north toward Pismo Beach. The Monarchs spend the winter in the eucalyptus grove west of the highway.

  Bareroot Planting Time

It's time for bareroot planting of fruit trees, roses, grapes, and of deciduous trees and shrubs. Select grade #1 roses, and select fruit trees with a trunk caliper (diameter) between 1/2" and 5/8". Remember that many fruit trees need a pollenator and most will do better with one. The two trees must blossom at the same time, and they should be no more than 100 feet apart.

  Dormant Pruning

Prune roses now, and prune deciduous trees, fruit trees, grapes, and summer flowering deciduous shrubs while they are dormant. Fruit trees, like roses, are usually pruned to open up the centers. Peaches, nectarines, apricots and plums require the heaviest pruning. Peaches and nectarines fruit on last year's new wood. You may need to remove half of the new branches and shorten the others by a half. Apples, pears and cherries need only light thinning. The fruiting spurs on these trees produce for more than 10 years.

  Dormant Sprays

Apply a dormant spray after pruning. Choose a sunny day when the temperature is over 45 degrees and no rain is expected the next day. Use supreme oil (and diazinon) on fruit trees, lime sulfur on roses. This spray will kill fungus spores and overwintering insects and their eggs.

  Freeze Warning!

December and January have more nights with freezing temperatures than all the other months. February has only slightly fewer. Protect citrus and other tender plants from frost. If the ground is dry, water the day before a frost is expected. This will provide maximum protection against freezing.

  Winter Fertilizers

Fertilize winter rye as well as perennial ryegrass, bluegrass, and fescues with ammonium nitrate. Most winter season fertilizers contain fast acting ammonium nitrate.

  On Show In Winter

Camellia japonica plants are in full bloom this month and next. Keep fallen flowers raked up. They can perpetuate petal blight. Prune camellias now while they are dormant. Remove entire branches to thin the plant, or cut branches back to make the plant fuller.

Flowers in bloom will brighten any winter landscape. Plants that begin to bloom now include aloe, euryops, felicia, gazanias, osteospermum, lampranthus, leptospermum, Viburnum tinus 'Spring Boquet', alyogyne (Blue Hibiscus), coleonema (Breath of Heaven), Raphiolepis, Hebe 'Veronica Lake', Callistemon, Lantana, Hardenbergia and Limoniun perezii.

Many plants have colorful "berries" during the winter. These include plants in the rose family, among them Pyracantha, Cotoneaster, and Heteromeles (toyon). Other plants with "berries" are Ilex (holly) and Nandina domestica (photo). Select these plants now while you can see the color of the berries.

Citrus fruit really are berries, and they add as much color as any of the ornamentals. Some popular varieties are Meyer and Eureka lemons, Valencia and Navel oranges and Clementine and Dancy tangerines. The photograph at the right shows a Nagami Kumquat (Fortunella margarita). These are among the hardiest of cirtus.

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  to Garden California

© 1997 by Jim Clatfelter

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