December is time to enjoy the holidays, but also a great time to garden in San Diego County. Keep planting cool-season annuals and vegetables, grow native wildflowers, and pull those pesky weeds that show up with the rain.
Here are some December gardening tips to help keep your yard healthy and happy.
Buy Bare-Root, But Check Chill Times
Bare-root roses, deciduous fruit trees, grapes, cane berries, asparagus and artichokes are starting to show up in nurseries this month. Before you purchase a bare-root stone fruit or apple tree, make sure you are buying are the right variety for you garden. Different varieties require a specific number of chill hours to flower and set fruit. (Chill hours are when temperatures drop below 45 degrees.) We have Anna and Golden Delicious apple trees that bear tons of fruit. We also have two others that barely produce in our yard.
Work Around the Rain
If rain is forecast, especially a heavy rain like our last couple storms, avoid the temptation to fertilize right before the rain. A lot of what you leave on the surface will be picked up by runoff and end up polluting rivers and the ocean. It’s also a good idea to wait a few days after a rain to work in your garden so you don’t compact the wet soil. Compacted soil makes it hard for plants’ roots to get established and adds to more runoff when it rains.
Poinsettia and Christmas Tree Care
Most of the 40 million poinsettias sold annually in the United States originated at the Paul Ecke Ranch in Encinitas. If you’ve brought one or more home this season, you can care for them by giving them indirect sunlight, an indoor temperature of 68 to 70 degrees, and water when the soil feels dry to the touch. It’s best to remove them from their holiday foil wrappers when watering so they can drain completely.
To keep your Christmas tree fresh, cut off an inch of the trunk when you purchase it. If you can’t get it indoors immediately, keep it in a shady location in a bucket of water. When you’re ready to bring the tree indoors, cut off another inch of trunk and put it in a stand full of water. Check the water level in the stand daily during the first week and frequently after that to keep it from drying out. If you are using a living tree, it’s best to keep it in the house for no more than 10 days to two weeks.
A lot of information for December Gardening Tips 2019 comes from the Master Gardener Association of San Diego County. They are a great resource for all of your gardening needs including planting, pests, vegetables, and water use. They even have a free hotline where you can get your home gardening and pest control problems answered.