December Mary-Mary

December garden work slows down to give us more time for the holiday festivities, so one tends to forget the garden, especially on those cold and rainy days. We have been pruning like mad, it seems the garden flourished in the rain we had and the green recycles are now full. Now is the time to get some added stimulation from gardening magazines, horticulture books (from the library), and catalogues. My favorite magazines are “Fine Gardening”, “Garden Gate”, and “Sunset”, all available at the library, bookstores and by subscription. One can always go to Barnes and Noble, grab a coffee and a magazine to see which you might like to subscribe. This is a great time to work in the shed, cleaning tools and sharpening the pruners, putting like pots together so it is easier to find things when you need them.

There is still some time left to do some winter perennial and annual planting such as salvias, carnations, coral bells, oriental poppies, azaleas, primroses, pansies, violas, Sweet William, flowering kale and cabbage, calendulas, cyclamen, camellia, and marguerites. Protect tender plants such as bougainvillea, citrus, fuchsia and succulents by covering them when frost is expected, making sure the covers do not touch the plants. Remove the coverings when the temp rises. Also keep the ground moist, use ground covers and consider a product called Cloud Cover, if long lasting frost is expected. Continue with routine maintenance chores such as weeding, raking, and deadheading. Consider buying some paper white narcissus and plant them now for holiday gift giving. Our narcissus planter, a gift from friends some years back needed dividing so I ended up with 3 gifts, plus my original container still filled with bulbs. Watch for snails and slugs, they are sneaky little devils. Remember to use Sluggo. Bring branches indoors of forsythia and flowering quince for forcing. You'll have brilliant displays of color during the holiday season. Also remember when pruning vines, you can make wreaths from them and then embellish them with different items, such as Christmas ornaments, pine cones, dried hydrangea heads, ornamental berries and artificial fruits.

Time to prune all herbaceous plants and perennials as they can be whacked back rather severely at this time of year. Roses can be pruned back the end of this month through Jan, watch for pruning demos around the nurseries and also at the Memorial Rose Garden, in the San Mateo Garden Center. Prune out the old wood in vines and camellias. This is a good time to take hard wood cuttings of anything you might like to start or give away.

Plant any bulbs you forgot to do in November, it is not too late. You can also plant bare root roses. Fertilize those cymbidiums that should be making their flower spikes by now, remember they are heavy feeders, so use the hi bloom (lo Nitrogen) July through Dec and the high growth (high Nitrogen) Jan through June. One of the most common mistakes people make with cymbidiums is to put them in too much shade; they need 4-6 hours of sunlight. So if yours are a beautiful green and does not have many flowers try moving them to more sun where their leaves will be a more yellow green but should flower to make you proud. Fertilize the lawn this month also.

Stake any young trees or tall, floppy plants which you haven’t pruned as yet. Improve your soil by adding compost and humus now when your soil is moist, pulling weeds as you go. Protect your container plants by bringing them close to the house, under the eaves or under trees. Water needs are low this month, but be sure to pay attention, especially those plants under protection.

You may contact me at macro6096@hotmail.com, being sure to put in the subject line, Gardening question, etc.

Mary, John and >^..^< >^..^< >^..^< in San Mateo, CA

Mary, Mary, How Does Your Garden Grow? by Mary Crowell