Down to Earth Landscaping, Inc

People often ask if there’s anything to do in the garden and landscape during the winter months.  Actually, there’s so much to do, we easily fall behind because of the rains that prevent the work from getting done.

Here’s some of the tasks to focus on:

1. Soil health

Plants go dormant during the winter, meaning they don’t grow at the foliage level. But within the soil, the roots are drinking up all that rain water and strengthen so it’s important to aerate the soil, making sure the water can be absorbed.  Amending with a little dark compost will help feed the roots and spreading a few inches of mulch around the soil will keep down weeds and preserve moisture.  Be sure to remove fallen leaves and any dirt or mulch off the base of shrubs and trees.  Soggy leaves around the wood causes mold to grow, compromising the plant’s health.

2. Tree pruning

This is your chance to prune everything that is deciduous.  A tree is much happier being heavily pruned when it’s dormant.  It will not react with weird aggressive growth or sticky saps that some trees leak out when pruned at the wrong time of the year. Again, feed the soil with compost and gently aerate.

3. Lawn maintenance

(this is a photo of a dethatching rake, available at most hardware stores)

Aerate and dethatch lawns so they can form new growth and spread once spring comes.  Thatch (dead grass) prevents new growth in lawns by forming a thick barrier.

4. Repair everything

From the irrigation system, to the rotted retaining wall, this is the time to build, repair and do all the hardscape and erosion control projects as long as the weather permits.  It’s not a great time to stain or paint because of rain and cold, but that can happen in the spring.  Now is a great time to build a fence and wall, hang a gate and do any general repair you’ve been putting off.

5. Clear the gutters

This is important to do about twice annually to assure a good flow of water through your gutters and away from your house and foundation.  While you’re up there, you may also hang or remove Christmas lights.

6. Plant bare root

Many fruit trees and roses will be sold “bare root” in January in a dormant state.  It will require a bit of skill to properly plant but it’s the healthiest way to plant these particular items and they are often sold cheaper this way.

November is the time we generally stop planting, turn off irrigation systems, amend with compost, spread mulch and begin the more serious pruning we’re not able to do during the growing season.  A good layer of mulch and compost help keep the ground moist and the roots warm.  You can save money by ordering compost and mulch by the yard and have it delivered.

Here are some questions I get asked most this time of year:

“Is this tree dying or just losing it’s leaves?”

If a plant, shrub or tree is “deciduous,” it will drop most or all of its leaves by the end of winter and grow new ones in the spring.  If it holds onto its leaves year after year, it’s called “evergreen.”  People fear that when the leaves begin to brown and dry, the plant is dying.  If that is happening now, it probably means it is deciduous.   This type of plant and tree provides the most beautiful color in the fall, structure to admire in the winter and fruit to eat in the summer.

Many people don’t like the messy factor with fallen leaves, but consider that evergreen plants don’t give much back with regards to color and fruit.

“Can I still plant now?

Ideally no, not until the spring.  It’s too cold at night and there’s barely enough heat and light for a new plant to root into the ground.  They may freeze or just get mushy and die.

“Can the irrigation system be shut off now?”

Probably.  If the system has been on regularly up til now, the ground is plenty wet and can be shut off.  Keep an eye out for plants that are sheltered from rain water, they may need additional watering.

People tend to overwater this time of year.  Unless it’s a newly planted landscape or you’re in a particularly hot area, here in the coastal regions of the East Bay and SF, the plants are going dormant.  Overwatering now causes problems such as mold, ants, weeds and swampy conditions that breed flies and mosquitoes, not to mention it’s a waste of water use.

“Why can the system be shut off and the plants won’t die?”

Remember learning about photosynthesis in jr high school?  It is helpful in understanding the transition in the garden this time of year.  Because there is less light now, plants hibernate or go dormant to minimize energy consumption until the spring when more light is available.  They probably won’t root or grow until the spring.  Also, this lack of light reduces the heat on the ground so the soil doesn’t dry out as fast as other times of the year (especially if there’s a layer of mulch or compost).

Whether you have a drip system on plants, sprinklers on a lawn or are hand-watering, a good question to answer is what time of the day to water and why?

It’s usually best to water in the early morning (between 4-6am) for a few reasons.  The first is watering at night can cause a powdery mildew to grow on the wet foliage and flowers that would be avoided if watering takes place in the early morning.

Secondly, the wind tends to be the least in the early morning, so with regards to sprinklerspray, more water gets on the ground rather than dissipates into the air.

And thirdly, foliage-munching snails and slugs tend to be nocturnal and need moisture to move around so if the environment is kept dry at night, that means less pest activity on the plants.

On the other hand, here’s a couple of reasons why the watering would need to take place at another time other than the early morning: if your irrigation valves wake people up when they go off and on and if they reduce the shower pressure.  If this is the case, you would want to schedule the watering at a convenient time for your household.

Trees are filling up with fruit right now.  Two things important to think about is how to get the best tasting and sized fruit and how to get up there and pick them before the squirrels get to them or they fall to the ground.

If your fruit are not fully mature like in this photo, you would ideally prune half the fruit off a limb to promote the half remaining.  It’s the same idea with rose pruning.  If you know every fruit on your tree is always perfect, there’s no need to do this, only if you have had some disappointing years.

The second thing to do is pick the fruit as they become ripe or before and let them ripen off the tree.  I like using a combination of a ladder and this fruit picker, available at most garden centers.  It’s grips fairly well, the trick is to figure out how to just pick the fruit and not tear the thin limb it’s hanging from.