GENERAL MAINTENANCE: December is a great time to clean and repair garden tools and equipment. Check out eHow's "How to Clean and Store Gardening Tools for the Winter" and lawnmower winterizing tips from Texas Cooperative Extension.

Clean up plant debris (fallen leaves, weeds, last season's annuals, warm-season veggies, etc). You'll be eliminating hiding places for pest and diseases. All but the diseased stuff and weeds that have gone to seed can be added to your compost pile!

Frosts are common this time of year, so be ready to provide protection (in the form of lights, blankets, plastic, etc.) for frost-tender landscape plants (citrus, bougainvillea, etc.). Click here for tips from the California Rare Fruit Growers. November is also a good month for winterizing your irrigation system. Check out these tips from Rain Bird.

LAWN MAINTENANCE: Rake any leaves remaining on the lawn and add them to your compost pile. Minimize foot traffic on wet lawns. Bermumdagrass lawns...or lawns suffering from evil, wretched bermudagrass invasions... are dormant (i.e. dead-looking). The solution for some? Overseeding with annual ryegrass.

Is it raining? If so, no need to water. Is your grass growing much? Probably not. Enjoy your mowing holiday...

UC GUIDE TO HEALTHY LAWNS: Want to know what type of lawn you have and how to maintain it? Want to put in a new lawn or renovate an old one? Need lawn pest info? The new UC Guide to Healthy Lawns is an excellent resource. So is the UC "Lawn Watering Guide for California".

SHADE TREES: Deciduous trees (i.e. naked in winter), can be pruned now through January. Get a good pruning book (Sunset, etc.) before you start hackin' away...better yet, attend a pruning clinic (look for those held by Cooperative Extension, nurseries, the Tree Foundation, etc.)



Sacramento Tree Foundation Pruning Events: Saturday, December 4, 2004
2 PM - "Join us for a young tree pruning class. Meet at North Highlands-Antelope Library" 4235 Antelope Road (Walerga Road) Antelope 95843. Contact Fran at 924-8733 x 123 for more information.

BACKYARD ORCHARD TREES, SHRUBS & VINES: The following links to the University of California Backyard Orchard care sheets will keep you on track and on your way to a tasty harvest: Almond, Apple , Apricot, Avocado, Berries (blackberry, blueberry, raspberry, and strawberry) , Cherry, Chestnut, Citrus (grapefruit, lemon, mandarin, and orange) , Fig, Filbert (Hazelnut), Grape (table), Kiwifruit, Loquat, Nectarine, Olive, Peach, Pear, Pecan, Persimmon, Pistachio, Plum & Prune, Pomegranate, Quince, Walnut. November was when you applied the first "dormant spray" to control overwintering insects and diseases. An easy-to-remember dormant spray schedule is "Thanksgiving, Christmas and Valentine's Day," but if you want to know exactly what to spray, when to spray, and why you're spraying, see University of California's California Backyard Orchard page, The Big Picture- Pests and Diseases (http://homeorchard.ucdavis.edu/general-pests.shtml).

IRRIGATION: If it's raining, make sure your automatic irrigation controller is set to "off". If, however, we have a winter dry spell, you may need to water (esp. under eaves).

Insulate your exposed irrigation pipes with foam collars (available at hardware stores).

ANNUALS: Containerized cool-season annuals can still be planted if you didn't install them in early fall.

PERENNIALS: It's ok to cut back scraggly-looking perennials by about a third, but avoid heavy pruning of spring/summer/fall bloomers until late winter or early spring, when new growth is just beginning to emerge. That extra foliage will help protect roots and lower leaves from potential frost damage.

ROSES: Dormant-prune all varieties (except spring-only blooming antiques) later this month through January. Not sure how? Sunset's Roses is an excellent guide, or find a rose pruning clinic (look for those held at McKinley, nurseries, by the Sac. Rose Society, etc.) near you!



For Upcoming Rose Society Pruning Demos and more...
http://www.sactorose.org/isac-events2004.htm

January 3, 2004
Rose Pruning Demonstration, 9:00 AM - 11:00 P.M. by Baldo Villegas at St. John's Church, near Manzanita & Locust, Carmichael, CA. Rain date is January 31, 2004 at the same time. Contact Baldo Villegas for more details

January 3, 2004
McKinley Rose Garden Prune-A-Ton
Hours: 9:00 - until done
Bring pruning tools and help prune 1300+ roses with fellow rosarians.

January 8, 2004
Sac RS General Meeting: Rose Pruning and Tool Sharpening Program by Sacramento Rose Society members.

January 10, 2004
Rose Pruning and Winter Care Seminar at Kroeger Hall & Kroeger Rose Garden, Citrus Heights City Hall.
Hours: 9:00am - 3:00pm.
Consulting Rosarian accreditation credits will be awarded for full day attendance.

WEEDS: See the UC Weed Gallery for proper identification and the UC IPM Pest Notes for how to manage them.

PESTS: Ants are heading back indoors and slugs and snails are becoming more active outdoors (Hey, ain'tcha glad slugs and snails don't wander inside too? You wouldn't want to hear, "Honey, we've got slugs in the pantry again!" Ew!)

Visit the IPM website for control measures. While you're on the site, check out the photos of beneficial insects as well.

Ants in your pant...ries?