So what are you going to do? Spray your peach and nectarine trees for Peach Leaf Curl! It's easy and the first spray should be at Thanksgiving time. The next 2 sprays should be around Christmas and Valentines day.

Learn about spraying for Peach Leaf Curl here.

In the Sunday Sacramento Bee Home and Garden section the Garden Detective talks about pollarding your trees especially Fruitless Mulberry trees. Yes, it is a style of pruning but according to the article this method can be expensive to maintain and result in weak growth. Trees with weak growth may become hazardous and drop branches. I see many Fruitless Mulberry trees in Colusa County that have been pollarded. Please resist the appeal of pollarding your trees.

The other article was about winterizing your backyard water fixtures. Here are some tips from the article.

• Remove debris before it can decompose.
• Use netting. Cover the water with a screen then sweep the surface with a pool skimmer.
• Prune. Pinch off aquatic plants as they die back.
• Stop feeding the fish once the temperature is below 50 degrees.
• Use a bubbler or tank heater if you have fish.

To read the entire articles click here.

 

November garden tasks: 

• You can still sow seeds of wildflowers this month. Plant California poppy, calendula, clarkia, and sweet peas.
• In the veggie garden plant seeds for lettuce, mustard, spinach, radishes and peas.
• If you didn't get your new tree planted last month, it is not too late to take advantage of the fall root growth that will give your new tree a strong start in the spring.
• Look at your camellias and remove excess buds to get larger flowers.
• In the middle of the month fertilize the veggies and flowers that were planted in October.

Also, this is the time to plant the chilled bulbs, and the spring flowering tubers and corms. Clean up all the fallen/falling leaves and other plant debris and dispose of diseased materials.

Before a frost

• Identify cold spots in the landscape by monitoring with thermometers
• Identify plants at risk: citrus, succulents, tender perennials, tropical and subtropical plants.
• Have supplies ready: sheets, blankets or frost cloths, lights, wraps for trunks, thermometers, stakes or framework to hold covers off foliage. Frost cloths come in different weights that can provide 4 to 8 degrees of protection. Because the frost cloth allows some light and air to penetrate, it can stay on plants for a few days at a time. Frost cloth can lie directly on plant foliage.
• Prepare tender plants: avoid fertilizing and pruning after August to minimize tender new growth.
• Rake away mulch to allow soil to warm up during the day and radiate heat into the plant at night.
• MONITOR weather forecasts and note how low temperatures will be and for how long.

o   Local frost: clear, dry nights, usually warms during the day.

o   Hard freeze: temperature inversion or Arctic front, can last for days or weeks, are very damaging.

When a frost is forecast

• Move plants to a warmer spot next to the house or under a patio cover, especially on the south side.
• Check that plants are well watered because dry plants are more susceptible to damage, and moist soil retains heat better than dry soil.
• Cover plants before sunset to capture ground heat radiating upward at night. Remove sheets, blankets and other covers daily if it is sunny and above freezing to allow soil to absorb heat.
• Add heat by using outdoor lights: hand 100 watt drop lights or holiday string lights to interior of plant. Use the old C7 or C9 large bulbs, not new LED lights which do not give off heat. Old style holiday lights that give off heat can provide up to 3 degrees of protection. Use lights, extension cords, and multi-outlets or power strips that are rated for outdoor use and grounded (3-prong). Avoid connecting together more than three light springs in a line.
• Wrap trunks of tender trees if a hard freeze is expected, using towels, blankets, rags, or pipe insulation. Also wrap exposed pipes the same way.
• Harvest ripe citrus fruit. Generally both green and ripe fruit are damaged below 30 degrees, but there is some variation by species.

For more information, click here to visit the UC Master Gardeners of Sacramento County page on frost protection.

Thank you, UC Master Gardeners of Sacramento and San Joaquin Counties for the information.