- Author: Tom Schrader, UCCE Master Gardener
Winter is here. Put your garden to bed for winter and prepare your garden for the dropping temperatures and wet season. Here are tips from the University of California Cooperative Extension Master Gardeners.
General Tasks
Compost: Turn compost and keep it as moist as a wrung-out sponge. Cover compost during the rainy weather to prevent it from becoming waterlogged.
Drainage: Correct any problems in low or poorly drained areas in the landscape.
Frost: Watch for frost warnings and protect sensitive plants. Light frost 32-29 degrees F, medium frost 28-25 degrees F, heavy frost 24 degrees F and below for four-plus hours.
Irrigation: Reduce irrigation or turn it off completely if rainfall is adequate.
Maintenance: Inventory all sprays and pesticides; take outdated or unneeded chemicals to a hazardous waste center.
Mulch: Add mulch to garden beds where bulbs are planted, and to areas where weeds have been removed.
Soil: Prevent compaction and poor aeration of soil by avoiding working, walking on, or using heavy equipment on wet soil.
Tools: Clean and sharpen dull blades, lubricate garden tools and repair damaged grips. Cleaning can be done with soapy water and a wire brush or steel wool; air dry and apply a light coat of oil to prevent corrosion. Tools with wood handles can be sanded and rubbed down with linseed oil. File cutting tools, including shovel blades, to sharpen. Store tools in a dry, covered area. Have your lawn mower serviced to get a jump on spring tasks.
Weeds: Inspect lawn and manage rainy season weeds before they flower, using nonchemical methods such as cultivation, hand weeding, or mowing; use toxic chemicals as a last resort. Destroy all roots and underground parts.
Edibles
Clean-up: Control over wintering pests by removing fruit mummies and fallen leaves on the ground from fruit and nut
trees, especially if codling moth has been a problem. Dispose in green recycle bin. Composting this material could reintroduce pests/pathogens to your garden.
Feed Plants: Fertilize citrus trees in January/February just prior to bloom.
Plan: Plan your summer garden and order seeds early.
Plant: Bare root deciduous trees, shrubs and vines, for example cane berries, fruits and nuts, grapes, and perennial vegetables. For planting, care and maintenance tips see:
Berries and Vines - https://cagardenweb.ucanr.edu/Berries/
Fruit Trees - https://homeorchard.ucanr.edu/Fruits_&_Nuts/
Propagate: During the cool season, winter, and spring vegetables should be started indoors 6-8 weeks before planting out (in December and early January). Some can be direct sown. Warm season summer vegetables should be started indoors 8-10 weeks before setting out (late Jan-Feb). Optimum soil temperature for transplanting is 55-60°F.
Protect: Watch for frost warnings. If a frost is predicted, protect citrus, sub-tropical and tender plants. Pull the mulch away from trees and water well, keeping the root zone moist but not soggy. If not already done in November, cover trees sensitive to frost.
Prune: If not done in November, prune deciduous fruit and nut trees, such as apple, pear, and stone fruits. Prune grapes and cane berries now; it's too late once they have leafed out. Note: apricot and cherry trees are the exception;
prune these in July and August only.
Landscape
Clean-up: Do a general clean-up of the landscape on a dry day; avoid walking on wet soils.
Plan: Select blooming azaleas, camellias and rhododendrons while you can see their color. Order summer blooming bulbs to plant out in early spring.
Plant: Plant container ornamental trees, plants and shrubs except subtropical plants. These include frost tolerant
perennials; hardy spring blooming annuals; summer blooming bulbs; bare root deciduous trees, shrubs and vines (like roses); seedlings of cedar, fir, pine and spruce. Scatter wildflower seed if this was not done in November. Plant azaleas,
camellias and rhododendrons.
Propagate: Start frost tender perennials and warm season annuals.
Protect: If a frost is predicted, water your plants, keeping the root zone moist but not soggy. Cover frost-tender species
as appropriate (bougainvillea, hibiscus and succulents).
Prune: Prune winter flowering shrubs just after bloom; woody shrubs and evergreen trees; hardy deciduous trees;
dormant shade trees; summer blooming vines; hydrangeas and summer-blooming perennials. Roses should be pruned
by mid-February. Wait to prune spring flowering trees and shrubs until after they bloom.
Citrus trees are one of the most popular fruit trees grown in California. Not everyone can grow Lemons, limes, kumquats, pomelo, grapefruit, and oranges, just to name a few! The climate has to be just right, and the Central Valley of California is perfect for this crop.
We hope you will join us for an evening learning how to successfully grow citrus in your garden. We will discuss how to properly plant, water, and care for your tree, including when to fertilize, if and when you should prune, and also some of the common pests that cause problems for gardeners.
Where*: On Zoom. You will receive a link the morning of the class.
When: Tuesday, March 29, 2022 6:00-7:30 p.m.
Cost: Free
Register at: http://ucanr.edu/citrus/2022
Instructors: Master Gardener Tim Long and Master Gardener Coordinator Anne Schellman
- Author: Ed Perry
If you do not prune your trees enough, they will become too tall to harvest, even with a tall ladder. If you have an unpruned fruit tree in your garden, you know that most of the fruit grows in the top. Yearly pruning is necessary to keep the tree at a reasonable height, for instance, no more than 10 or 12 feet high. If your tree is already overgrown, you may want to reduce its height gradually, say over a two-year period.
The main objectives of pruning mature fruit trees are to reduce the number and increase the size of the potential crop, to develop new fruit wood, to remove interfering and broken branches, and to contain tree height and spread for convenient harvest. Most fruit trees, when not pruned, produce more fruit than they can size and mature properly. You can prevent such overproduction with yearly pruning.
Persimmons, many figs, quinces and pomegranates bear fruit on current season's growth. When you prune these trees, remove old and weak branches, leaving some younger branches to produce new growth and fruit the coming year. Overcrowding and lack of sunlight will cause branches to die, so you need to thin out some branches to allow light infiltration into the tree so that the fruit wood stays healthy.
Nut trees such as almonds and walnuts do not need as much pruning for height control as fruit trees. You harvest nuts by knocking them down with a long pole, rather than by hand picking, so the trees can be much taller.
Fruit Tree Resources
Fruit Trees: Training and Pruning UC ANR Publication
The California Backyard Orchard For more details about training and pruning deciduous fruit trees.
Citrus and Avocado Trees Require Little Pruning For information on pruning citrus and avocado trees.
Ed Perry is the emeritus Environmental Horticultural Advisor for University of California Cooperative Extension (UCCE) in Stanislaus County where he worked for over 30 years.
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![Size control in temperate fruit trees. (A) Standard variety with no size control; (B) and (C) standard variety on semidwarfing rootstock or semidwarf variety; (D) standard variety on dwarfing rootstock. (from The CA Master Gardener Handbook) Size control in temperate fruit trees. (A) Standard variety with no size control; (B) and (C) standard variety on semidwarfing rootstock or semidwarf variety; (D) standard variety on dwarfing rootstock. (from The CA Master Gardener Handbook)](/blogs/blogcore/blogfiles/77262.jpg)
- Author: Elaine Lander
With the recent time change along with a change in temperatures, landscaping practices for pests need some adjusting too. We're sharing a few recommended tasks to help prevent insect pests, diseases, and environmental disorders in landscapes. Looking for additional tips? You can subscribe to our Seasonal Landscape IPM Checklist for monthly landscaping reminders delivered straight to your email inbox.
Frost Protection
Irrigation
Adjusting water schedules is an important part of integrated pest management. Different plants have different watering needs and too much or too little water can damage or kill plants. Reduce irrigation frequency or turn off automated systems if rainfall is adequate or irrigate deeply if the weather is dry. Learn more about irrigating fruit and shade trees and shrubs on our website.
Prune
Deciduous trees and shrubs such as apple, crape myrtle, pear, and peach need to be pruned to maintain their structure and health. Proper pruning can also help manage and prevent certain pests. Our website has plant-specific pruning information for a number of fruit, nut, and landscape trees. Be sure to remove dead, diseased, and borer-infested wood.
Sanitation
Now is the time to clean up old fruit and nuts under trees to avoid harboring pests. Removing fallen leaves from beneath fruit trees and roses will also help reduce insect and disease problems. This practice of sanitation is a key component of integrated pest management to prevent and reduce pests. See our website for additional sanitation tips in your landscapes and gardens.
We're looking for your feedback! Please consider taking a quick, anonymous survey to help us serve you better: https://bit.ly/2ZJJVEI
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- Author: Ed Perry
We recently wrote the blog post “Wait! Don't Prune Apricot and Cherry Trees Just Yet,” to caution gardeners against pruning these trees in winter. Now we'd like to discuss when and how to prune avocado and citrus trees.
Avocados
Most avocado trees need little or no pruning. Whenever possible, allow them to develop naturally. Avocado leaves produce and store food for the tree. If this food supply is reduced by pruning, fruit production will also be reduced. Usually, removing dead or weak branches is the only pruning you need to do. Avoid pruning in late summer and early fall, as this stimulates new shoot growth that is susceptible to frost injury. In general, remove as few green branches and leaves as possible.
If you need to remove lower branches, prune them out completely, or cut them back to an upright growing shoot. Prune only after your tree has developed enough upper foliage to prevent sunburn damage on the lower limbs or trunk.
Sometimes a young tree grows tall without branching, grows sideways, or grows a top that is unbalanced. Correct these conditions by cutting the unruly limb or trunk back to a strong lower branch, or by staking the tree. Keep in mind that avocado trees grow naturally in an irregular way and will develop a better structure if they are not pruned at all. If you want to control the height, it's best to do so while the tree is young.
To prevent tall, upright growth, pinch back the terminal bud of the upright shoots on the young tree. Repeat this after each growth flush during the first few years. Your tree will spread out to the sides and develop a more compact form. If you reduce the size of an older tree by heading back large branches in the top of the tree, be sure to thin out the new growth which follows. Otherwise, the tree will soon grow back to its original height.
Citrus
If necessary, light pruning can be done in citrus trees any time of year. However, the best time to prune citrus is in early spring, after danger of frost has passed and before the start of spring growth.
Nearly the same rules for avocado trees apply to pruning citrus trees. The foliage of a citrus tree is an important food (carbohydrate) storage area. Pruning removes foliage and stored foods and causes the tree to produce a flush of vegetative growth instead of fruit. For the most part, prune out only dead or broken limbs.
Citrus trees normally produce vigorous shoots from the base of the tree called suckers, which you should remove as they grow. Vigorous shoots that grow from branches are called watersprouts. Remove watersprouts if they are not well placed but leave them whenever possible. Young trees need no pruning for the first two or three years after planting, except to remove suckers. As the tree grows older, prune lightly only to remove branches which are too closely spaced or entangled. Do not remove low-hanging branches, as they bear fruit within easy reach and shade the trunk and soil. The ideal citrus tree has a skirt of foliage that extends almost to the ground. Left alone, citrus trees normally develop an even, round-headed shape as they mature.
Lemons usually need a bit more pruning than other types of citrus. Cut back some of the more vigorous shoots on young trees. Lightly thin the branches of mature lemon trees each year to improve the size and quality of the fruit.
Ed Perry is the emeritus Environmental Horticultural Advisor for University of California Cooperative Extension (UCCE) in Stanislaus County.