Winter preparations
By Ron Reichl Special to the Acorn

As we bring in the new year it is time to prepare our gardens for the cold, wind and rain that occur over the next few months. Our tropical and coastal plants can look ahead to a rough next few months while our deciduous flowering trees and shrubs go into a much-needed dormancy, only to flourish in the spring.

The important thing is that we recognize the needs of our different plants and take care of them. Here are some important tasks to take care of during January:

Bedding plants- It is time to pull up the summer annuals and replace them with cool season varieties. A trip to the local nursery or home center will reveal many wonderful, colorful varieties. Old standbys such as snapdragons and stocks can give you height for backdrops in pinks, reds and whites with occasional purples and yellows. Primroses and pansies are good lowgrowing annuals with large individual flowers in all colors, single and multi in the same flower. Lobelia and alyssum make great border plants in many shades of blues, purples and white. One of my favorite plants, impatiens, can still be used in the winter but plant it in a warmer protected area such as a courtyard or near the house where it is a bit warmer.

Shrubs- This is a good time to trim shrubs, especially for shape and size. Overgrown or misshaped plants that you want to keep but that need help can be pruned sharply at this time of the year. Now would be a good time to elevate the plants and remove suckers if necessary. Don't prune the winter blooming plants though. Camellias and azaleas are ready to flower, so wait until blooming is completed. Check with your local nursery or a garden book if you are not sure which plants are winter bloomers.

Trees- Dormant pruning is important to almost all trees in Southern California. Because temperatures are colder in winter, sap movement in plants slows down. Pruning at this time will limit sap flow from wounds, which could encourage disease within the cut before it can heal over. Dormant pruning includes shaping (pruning for aesthetics, elevating low branches and size reduction) and thinning (removing suckers, cross branching, dead branches). Cane fruits and stone fruits can benefit greatly from this type of pruning.

Lawns- Depending on the type of lawn you have, old and tired lawns can be prepared now for renovation, bringing new life and color to your lawn. If you have a fescue lawn that needs a facelift try this: Dethatch using a rented dethatching machine, or if you need the exercise, use a steel rake to remove dead grass while scratching the surface of the soil.

Then mow the grass to approximately 1¼ to 1½ inches high, throw on new seed and apply a good clean soil amendment to cover the seed. Next, evenly apply a granular fertilizer. I recommend a 21-6-8 or its equal. Water to keep the seed moist until germination (seven to 10 days). Do not let the seed dry out between waterings. It will require short durations of watering but multiple applications throughout the day. Within six weeks your rundown lawn will look like brand new sod.

Around the yard

Now is a good time to check all your drains to make sure they are unobstructed and the drain lines clear.

Become familiar with the "Off" or "Rain" mode on your sprinkler controller so when rains begin you can shut the system off while still retaining the program. This will save you a bunch of money in the long run, and it will conserve water.

Prepare to cover your favorite frost-sensitive plants with cloth or plastic should the temperature drop to freezing. Typically, hard frost damage to plants does not occur unless the temperature is at 32 degrees or below for an extended period of time. Still, it is a good idea to watch the weather reports if you want to save your favorites during cold weather.

Last year many local areas experienced freezing temperatures three nights in a row, causing major damage to even wellestablished plants.

Take a rake and clean up the last of the fall leaves. Be sure to remove leaves that have built up around flowers and the trunks of shrubs to prevent harboring overwintering insects

Now is a good time to fertilize everything in your landscape. By applying granular fertilizers now you allow rain water to soak fertilizers deep into the soil where the plant roots need it. Many times the artificial irrigation of sprinklers is not enough to get fertilizers deep into the soil.

Ron Reichl is the owner of Metro Landscape in Simi Valley. He is a landscape contractor and certified nurseryman and pesticide applicator and a graduate of and former horticulture instructor at Michigan State University. He can be reached at (805) 857-0616.