Gardening Tasks – What to do in your Southern California Garden in January
We are very lucky, although we’ve already survived (or mostly survived for some plants) a freeze up in the northerly edges of Southern California, there are still plenty of things that we should be doing in our gardens.
I have taken a few phone calls, and visited a few clients to talk about frost remedies and I’d like to share one of my secrets. If you forgot to use frost cloth on your plants (citrus, tender perennials, succulents) all is not lost. I am sure that some of your plants are still fine. The key here is NOT TO PRUNE yet. If you take off the dead leaves, there will be little to no protection for plants should we have another cold snap. I have also found that when I make a cocktail of Authentic Haven’s Brand Manure Tea (I like steer manure for this application) and SuperThrive and apply it to my frost damaged plants, they really appreciate it. This doesn’t work immediately and no it doesn’t save the frozen dead leaves, but over time you will see new growth popping through and only the most damaged plants won’t come back.
I’d say this is top of the list for Gardening Tasks this month if you’ve had frost damage! Brew up a bucket of Annie’s Manure Tea and then add some SuperThrive to your watering can as you water your damaged babies. I also don’t think that it would hurt to go out and buy yourself a frost blanket or two. These are much much better than using plastic bags or sheets. The cold can actually be conducted through those materials and if they are touching the plant – they’ll actually get colder than they would otherwise. We may not have another frost this year but you’ll be prepared for next year if not this year.
Okay – off the freeze soap box and on to the rest of your Gardening Tasks for January – just click on the link and you’ll have your list ready to go.
If you are interested in making changes to your yard, maybe turning it into a garden paradise, this is a great time to start planning. Give me a call at 661-917-3521 or take a look at my website and contact me there.
