Monthly Calendar of Activities
in your garden and landscape
January
Lawn: Fertilize with a winter-type fertilizer.
Roses: Prune. Ask for advice!
Trees: Prune deciduous ornamental or fruit trees.
Shrubs: Lightly prune deciduous shrubs.
Flowers: Plant primroses and cyclamen for quick winter
color.
Vegetables: Plant seeds of peppers and eggplants
indoors.
Pests and diseases: Dormant oil sprays will help prevent
infestations by overwintering insects.
Shop now for: Economical bare-root fruit and nut trees
and berries.
February
Lawn: Overseed bare areas late in the month.
Roses: Get your pruning done by Valentine's Day!
Trees: Apply your last dormant spray for peach leaf curl before buds show any color—usually mid to late February.
Shrubs: Evergreens can be pruned late in the month.
Annuals: Plant spring annuals: pansies, snapdragons, sweet
peas, & more.
Perennials: Apply organic preemergent to prevent summer weeds.
Vegetables: Plant peas. Plant tomato seeds indoors.
Weather notes: Frost danger usually ends late this month.
Watering systems: Check sprinkler heads and flush out drip
systems.
Pests and diseases: Snails and slugs are coming out.
March
Lawn: Fertilize with any good lawn fertilizer. Renovate your lawn—dethatch, aerate, and overseed.
Roses: Start fertilizing. Aphids should show up this month—ask
your nursery professional for control strategies.
Trees: Shop for citrus trees this month. Fertilize other
trees.
Shrubs: Fertilize with an all-purpose fertilizer. Begin
monthly feedings for acid-loving plants (camellias, azaleas, Japanese maples,
etc.). Prune deciduous flowering shrubs (e.g., Forsythia) and vines (Wisteria)
after they finish blooming.
Annuals: Do first plantings of spring and summer blooming
flowers—marigolds, petunias, and more.
Perennials: Feed your borders with a multipurpose fertilizer.
Vegetables: Plant beans, potatoes.
Weather notes: Shelter young plants from strong North winds.
Watering systems: Begin irrigating at about half the summer
frequency, depending on rainfall.
Pests and diseases: Aphids, snails, slugs, and earwigs;
mildew.
April
Lawn: Increase watering to one inch of water, 2 times a
week, depending on weather.
Roses: The first big flush of bloom will be this month.
Feed steadily and keep evenly moist. Watch for early signs of mildew.
Trees: Start thinning fruit on stone fruits. Begin deep
soakings. Fertilize citrus trees and apply iron.
Shrubs: Don't prune severely if hot weather threatens.
Start fertilizing subtropical plants.
Annuals: Plant the real heat lovers at the end of the month.
Continue planting summer flowers and summer flowering bulbs.
Perennials: Lots to choose from in bloom in containers
at nurseries.
Vegetables: Plant out tomatoes, peppers, eggplants mid
to late month if the soil is warm enough. Plant seeds of beans and corn. Plant seeds of squashes and
melons late in the month.
Watering systems: Begin deep soakings of trees and shrubs.
Pests and diseases: Aphids, snails, slugs, and earwigs;
leafcutter bees; mildew. Learn to recognize beneficial insects as they move
in to eat your aphids.
Shop now for: Roses in bloom and flowers of all kinds.
May
Lawn: Fertilize with a regular lawn fertilizer. Watch for
brown areas developing—signs of drought, fusarium blight, sod webworm,
or lawn grubs? Bring in samples for diagnosis!
Roses: Continue monthly fertilizing. Watch for raspberry
horntail borer. Deadhead after the first big flush of bloom to encourage
repeat blooming. Prune once-a-year bloomers after they bloom (e.g., Lady
Banks rose).
Trees: Thin fruit on stone fruits. Continue deep soakings.
Shrubs: Avoid severe pruning in hot weather.
Annuals: Plant the real heat lovers now: cosmos, vinca, portulaca.
Continue planting summer flowers to prolong bloom into the late summer.
Perennials: Deadhead as flowers fade.
Vegetables: It's not too late to plant tomatoes, peppers,
eggplants, squash, melons, cucumbers, pumpkins. Do successive plantings
of corn, beans.
Weather notes: We should hit 100o sometime this
month.
Watering systems: Double check the coverage of sprinkler
heads. Measure the output on your lawns: 1" of water 2 times per week;
3 times a week during heat waves. Set timers to full summer schedule now.
Pests and diseases: See lawns. Also, thrips, cutworm,
lace bugs, grasshoppers and katydids. Earwigs are at their peak.
Shop now for: Subtropicals, Citrus, crape myrtles.
June
Lawn: Brown patches start to become visible. Check your watering! Fungus and insect pests may also be causes.
Roses: Continue regular feeding; keep evenly moist. Wash off the foliage every few days to reduce dust and mildew.
Trees: Fertilize citrus and apply iron. Protect stone fruits
from birds.
Shrubs: Fertilize subtropical plants. Apply F.S.T. or sulfur
to plants that show yellowing leaves.
Annuals: Spot in bright summer heat-lovers—vinca,
Impatiens, etc.
Perennials: Groom and stake as needed.
Vegetables: Continue successive plantings of corn and beans.
Still time to plant tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, melons, squash, pumpkins, sunflowers. Remove berry canes that have
fruited.
Weather notes: 100o plus heat spells are often
followed by periods with cooler delta breezes—do your planting and
yardwork then.
Watering systems: Check frequently for plugging and overlap.
Pests and diseases: Thrips.
Shop now for: crapemyrtles, subtropicals.
Go on to July!
© 2024 Don Shor, Redwood Barn Nursery, Inc., 1607 Fifth Street, Davis, Ca 95616
www.redwoodbarn.com
Feel free to copy and distribute this article with attribution to this author.
Click here for Don's other Davis Enterprise articles
