January can be a busy time in San Diego gardens. It’s bare-root planting time. Plus you can still plant winter annuals and cool-season vegetables and start planting summer bulbs. Here are some January gardening tips for a beautiful yard year-round.
Shop and Care for Succulents
Aloes, echeveria and kalanchoe are just some of the succulents that add great winter color to San Diego gardens. Look for them at local nurseries. Senecios and aeoniums will be actively growing now too, and this is a good time to take cuttings. Keep watering of succulents minimal unless more rain doesn’t show up and Santa Ana winds do.
Make sure to empty bases of potted succulents after rains so they don’t sit in water. If we get hail, cover succulents with plastic drop cloths or shower curtains to keep the leaves from getting pitted.
Plant Bare Root Plants and Trees in San Diego Gardens
This is the time for planting bare-root plants and trees. Look for stone fruits like plums, nectarines and peaches and for apples and pears. You will also find bare-root roses, deciduous shade trees, strawberries, grapes, cane berries, asparagus and artichoke.
Check labels and talk to nursery professionals to make sure you are choosing varieties that grow and fruit well in your specific microclimate. Dorset Golden and Anna apples do well in my yard, but we’ve tried others that barely produced.
Plant bare-root plants right away once you purchase them so they don’t dry out. If you can’t put them in a permanent location quickly, then cover their roots with soil or plant them in pots until you can get them in the ground.
Prune and Spray Roses and Dormant Trees
Prune roses by cutting out all dead wood along with branches that are crossing or twiggy. In general, you should leave five to seven good canes. But pruning varies with different types of rose.
If you want to learn how to properly prune hybrid teas, floribundas, shrub roses, climbing roses and others, the San Diego Rose Society and Rose Garden Corps are having a pruning demonstration at the Balboa Park Rose Garden on Saturday, January 8, 2022 from 9-11 am.
It’s also time to prune deciduous fruit trees. Make sure to find out how to prune each type of tree before you start by checking a reference book or taking a class. Otherwise, you might prune off this year’s fruiting wood. The San Diego Botanic Garden has a virtual fruit tree class which covers pruning and other things you need to know about growing fruit trees.
Spray dormant deciduous trees and vines and roses with horticultural oil before buds open.
San Diego Garden Tips Source
A lot of information for San Diego Gardening Tips 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.