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For those who live in more northerly locations your Fall tasks should be completed earlier and Spring Tasks later.

I am going through my ponds and removing the weedy plants like cattails and grasses that have been brought in by the birds.  It is nice to get the work done in the ponds before the water cools to the point of being uncomfortable.  The biological activity will be reduced as the water temperature declines. 

Particularly with drought tolerant plants it is important not to water them with the heat.  Irrigation under oaks often invites fungus problems.  Containers will require water but will do best if the irrigation is early or late in the day.  Xerophytic plants in the ground are best watered when the next cool period comes.  Then a deep watering is in order.  Typically we get a week of heat and then the temperatures dip down for a few days.  During this cooler period is the time to give the plants a deep soaking.  I have also been spending time cleaning deadwood out of trees and shrubs.  This is not only nice for the garden's visual and to minimize the fire hazard it is nice for the gardener to hang out in the shade and still be useful.  This is a good time to adjust your irrigation timer to match the season.

I have been doing a lot of deadheading, removing spent blossoms.  With the cool coastal conditions of June, June Gloom I have continued to plant a few last things.  A number of plants have started to get a little large for their space and I have been trimming them to keep them from swallowing their neighbors.  Both plants perform better in the end with this help.  I try to make my cuts just above a leaf node.  This leaves much less  deadwood and there are no cut leaves as there would be with hedge pruners.  

With as much heat as we have had this spring I have been saving my plants and waiting for the brief cool spells.  Then when the weather cooperates I am a planting demon.  It is much easier to allow the plants to make the transition into the soil if the first moments in the ground are not life threatening.  In the interim deadheading, weeding and basic garden pruning have been the main chores.  I have found myself working on errant sprinkler systems with great regularity this season.  Nothing like a little heat to get all of the systems turned on early.  Pressure reducers have failed, solenoids and even drip tubing has been damaged by the sunlight and split.  Pond maintenance is very attractive right now.  I have been building a couple more this season.  That will provide for another excuse for a future respite, and another great place to take lunch.  

The warm weather might make you think to turn on sprinkler systems.  For containers and new plantings this is important.  The roots of these plants don't have much soil to utilize.  For plants out in the ground, what you do now will significantly effect how much you have to water this summer.  By making the plants stretch for their water they will extend their roots deeper into the soil.  This will allow them to use more of the soil as a sponge all summer when it really gets hot.  Due to our recent rains there is still plenty of moisture.  If you dig a bit the soil is wet with in a small distance of the surface even in well drained soils.  If there is an adequate layer of mulch the lower part of the mulch will still be wet.  I watch for the plants to start showing signs of drought stress.  I know which plants in my garden will stress first and I use them as markers to determine when I will start watering.  Municipal water has chlorine and often a number of other chemicals added to it to keep pipes from corroding and teeth healthy.  These are not good for plants.  They almost all turn into salts as they evaporate.  Rainwater will help counteract this and dissolve many of the salts and carry them to a deeper horizon in the soil.  Rain also brings a lot of nitrogen out of the atmosphere into the soil.  The salts lock this nitrogen up so the plants can not get to it.  So cheer on another rain cloud or two our gardens could use another shower.

The nominal last frost date is March 15th here.  Looking ahead at the weather we are likely clear of frost through then.  At minimum we are unlikely to get a hard frost.  The soil is moist and easily worked.  In low areas this should still be avoided.  It is a good time to plant peas, spinach, onions and other cool season vegetables.  The grass has really responded to the rain and to the moon cycle and is growing like a mad thing.  Most of the fruit trees are right on cycle this year.  I am hoping for a bountiful harvest.  Our first batch of chickens hatched and our egg production has really picked up.  All signs that others, possibly more in tune with these kinds of things, think it is spring too.  The calendar will certainly come around soon.

Still pruning and I have lots more to go.  I have noted which trees bloom first and have taken care of those.  The recent rain has helped tremendously.  I spent some time rousting out bermuda grass stolons.  The soil is so easy to work a few days after the rain.  It is bad for the soil to compact it but once it is no longer soggy it is much easier to pull the weeds.  Some of the perennials like lavender and nepeta are pushing new shoots and can be trimmed back.  Many of the larger subtropical shrubs including some of the Salvias, mexican marigold, cuphea and ornamental grasses do well with a hard shearing.  As these are starting to grow as well it is a good time to get them trimmed back too.

Bare root plants are in the nurseries.  Many of them will be only available now and others much cheaper.  Cheaper and better rarely coincide but they do for this season of planting.  Watch for the quality of the roots, check to see that the stems have not dried and shriveled.  Soak the plants briefly before planting.  Dig a hole as deep and wide as the roots can be spread.  I generally leave a mound in the middle of the hole and spread the roots around it.  I mix organic material in the backfill and soak the plants.

Now that the equinox is past and the nights are a little cooler the plants have shifted their water requirements.  I have cut back on irrigation times significantly.  I am planting in all of the spaces that I have been preparing all summer.  It is a great time to be out in the yard.  Weeds are starting in irrigated areas.  If they can be caught now keeping up with their onslaught will be much easier.  I have been dividing daylilies and cleaning up beds.  A number of grasses have started to flop.  I give them a good stiff haircut while there is time for them to recover.

This is a great time to catch up with the weeds.  They won't start back up until the rains come this Fall.  It is time to divide iris, gladiolus and daylilies.  This should be done every 3rd or 4th year.  Your landscape will soon be filled with these to bursting.  It makes a great effect on non-gardeners when you show up with such garden bounty.  I have left the divisions sitting for weeks when I didn't know what to do with all of them and still found success in spite of my neglect.  There is always a great amount of fruit and produce from the vegetable patch.  It is sometimes difficult to keep it all on the counter until it can be processed.  I have been picking plums, the first of the apples, and loads of black berries

It is hot, too hot to plant, too hot to have much fun in the garden unless you do the work in the early morning or evening.  I consume great quantities of water before and during my gardening day.  I wear protective clothing, ie long sleeves and a broad brimmed hat.  I am monitoring irrigation systems.  Trying to keep dead flowers trimmed.  Generally I am lightly trimming plants when I work on them to keep the shock of the rough weather from damaging them.  It is often damaging to plants to try to water them during the heat of the day.  The roots will often cook.

It is a good time to go through the roses and thin out the blind shoots.  Removing them will improve air circulation and take much of the diseased material out of the roses.   Cutting the plants a little harder while deadheading will stimulate new growth that will be free of disease.  This early in the season the plants should be growing adequately to have the energy to grow new canes.  A good dose of mulch will help keep those summer weeds from germinating.  Some of my fruit trees are finally pushing their buds, now months late.   This year of warm fall and winter weather followed by a cool spring has confused the trees.  Early varieties are extremely early and late varieties very late.

It is a great time to find the gophers in the yard.  If they are there the new mounds will be very evident.

I think it is time to do some kind of rain dance, especially if you can make it work.  The weatherman has not been doing a very good job.  I am turning sprinkler systems back on.  Native plantings or plants that like a dry period are not yet bothered but lawns are looking a little tired after weathering the warmest January on record.  I am working through my winter pruning tasks.  Roses, fruit trees, perennials to trim back or divide.   Weeds are doing quite well, pulling them now is much easier than in a month or two when they will refuse to let go no matter what.  There is a lot to do in the landscape.  Gophers have multiplied and are looking for new territory in my yard and probably yours too.  

I am pruning in earnest trying to get it done between showers and any other way to get it done.  The weeds are easy to pull and there are plenty of them.  It is best to tramp in the beds as little as possible when they are very wet as it compacts the soil.  So much of the work in the garden is aimed at keeping the soil loose and uncompacted.  Narcissus and late iris are blooming.  I am using rose hips for holiday decorations.  The persimmons and pomegranates are a seasonal favorite of mine.

Now that we have had a bit of rain everything is growing.  I am loving the moist earth for its scents and the renewed ease of digging.  I am transplanting many of the plants that have overstepped their bounds or have been crowded by others.  I am dividing plants to fill in gaps in my gardens.  Many of the fruit trees have lost their leaves.  I start in on the winter pruning as soon as that happens in order to have time to get to all of the plants.  It always seems that some of them are starting to push their spring growth before I can get to them.  Grapes and figs are generally finished for the season.  Many of our bulbs have started to grow.  The soil is still warm here and this is a great time to plant even if the nights are a little chilly.

Fall is truly here.  My schedule is thick with planting jobs.  I am reducing times for irrigation systems, lawns are starting to get a little soggy and the mower leaves ruts.  Some plants are getting an early hard trim.  Coreopsis, Nepeta and others have all started to flush out new growth from the roots.  Iris are putting on their new leaves.  It is a great time to move or divide them if you need to.  Figs and pomegranates are giving loads of fruit.  The tomatoes are producing well but chaotic beyond belief.  They are well beyond the bounds of their support structures.  Many bulbs are in the nurseries.

Fall is almost here.  I am preparing space for new plantings with mulch and updating irrigations systems.  Many of the summer perennials are nearly spent but can be brought back for a last blaze of glory by a hard pruning.  The roses are coming back and will produce in some areas as well as they did in Spring.  If ornamental grasses are flopping they can be cut short and will still bounce back.

The garden is racing toward the chaos of summer.   I am trying to keep my tomatoes inside their cages.  The dead flowers are drying out faster than my pruners can go.  Now that we have some heat I am bumping up the frequency and duration of the irrigation.  There are always weeds.  The ones that are particular to summer seem to grow with wild abandon as soon as it gets too hot to pull them and enjoy the process.   I am getting in the last of my planting.  Soon it will be too hot to establish plants.   

My apologies for being away from the keyboard.  The plants were calling loudly.  There are many chores in the garden trying to keep spring from turning into the chaos of summer.  Deadheading is the chore of greatest import in this regard.  It keeps the plants fresh and from leaping into or over their neighbors.  My compost heap grows dramatically at this time of year.  I have done quite a lot of tree pruning lately as well.  Many of our trees had slowly begun to look more like large bushes.  Traveling along pathways was becoming an adventure beyond reason.  There will be plenty of chips for the beds soon.  Tomatoes, basil, peas, lettuce, cucumbers and squash are in.  Beans and corn are soon to follow.  The pigs are digging up what will become the corn and pumpkin bed.  I acquired a few wrought iron panels and used them to make a portable pig pen.  The pigs are doing a fine job of rooting out the weeds.  Two roto-tillers on the hoof fertilizing and aerating as they go.

I have been dealing with salt problems.  Much of our water comes from reservoirs, particularly in low rain years.  The PH of that water can be as high as 8.5 or more.  This wreaks havoc with so many of our garden plants that are happy in slightly acidic soil.  Copious amounts of organic material will help buffer the salt but many plants may also require additional help.  I apply pelletized  sulfer or gypsum to the soil to help.  Of course you could deionize your water or inject acid into it (both expensive).  It is important to water deeply to keep the salts from accumulating too close to the roots of the plants.

If you can't get enthusiastic about the garden at this time of year you are hopeless as a gardener.  I am planting everything that I can get too.  Irrigations systems need to be checked and turned on.  And then there are the weeds and deadheading, and plants growing beyond all expectation.  Plenty to do now to be sure.  Fortunately the weather has cooperated.  There is no place better to be than out of doors.

St. Patrick's Day is upon us.   The good weather and garden have been keeping my attention.  My fruit trees are blooming, as are the daffodils and a rose or two are in bud or with a stray bloom.  I have begun planting the early spring vegetables, peas, radishes with the carrots to break the soil.  I am eating asparagus and strawberries.  The alpine strawberries are great morsels.  I am to make my first big nursery trip of the season for landscape projects.  I have finished off the last of the winter pruning chores, just getting the berries pruned before they budded out.  I have been taking cuttings of a wide array of perennials and will start with tender plants early next month.

 Warm season bulbs including dahlias, gloxinias, and gladiolas are in the nursery.  Bare root roses and fruit trees are still there too but are budding out quickly.  They will be potted up shortly and their price will go up substantially.  I am getting in the last of my dormant pruning.  There are still perennials and large shrubs including buddleias and salvias that need a pruner simulated winter.  I cut them back pretty hard.  It is a good time to plant onion sets and potatoes.  I have been pruning and training blackberries and raspberries.  I thin out second year wood and try to keep the ends of the canes off the ground.  They root quickly and the plants get out of control.

Roses and fruit trees are still on the radar and will be for at least the next week or two.  I try to keep from trampling the moist soil as much as possible.  The bugs, worms and such are opening up passageways through the soil that the roots will follow.  A bit of rain is a great excuse for making bird houses or benches and other shop projects.  It is also a great time to tune up the pruners and shears.  A little sharpening and lubrication go a long way in extending the life of the tool.  Not to mention aiding in their ease of use.  As I complete the dormant pruning of the more traditional plants I will start in on the large shrubby salvias, ornamental grasses, and perennials.  Many of these need a "dose of winter" that is greater than the nature will provide.

Warm season bulbs and bare root plants are at the nursery.  The soil will not be any easier to dig at any other time of the year.  Any drainage problems will be quite evident as you look around.  I am pruning roses daily.  I take care of 700+ at last count.  That accounts for a lot of stuck fingers and scraped hands.  Fruit trees need their dormant pruning too.  And so the brush pile grows to gargantuan proportions.  I try to get in my weeding too.  If I get them now before they go to seed it will save lots of labor later.  Who said there was nothing to do in the garden in the winter?  Fortunately the lawn doesn't need much so I get to spend that time doing these other things.

I have started my winter pruning.  The grapes and figs go first.  Then the peach trees and apricots.  I will start in on climbing roses soon.  Much of the rest will wait for the first of the new year.  Our coldest weather often comes in the week between Christmas and the New Year.  I am still dividing and moving plants freely.  The soil is still fairly warm.  I do not cut back frost damaged plants until the worst of the frost is past.  The remaining foliage provides some protection from later frosts.

Our first frost is upon us.  It was a late one this year.  Usually we get our first chill mid-month.  Tender plants in pots need to be protected.  The rain has brought up an abundant crop of weed seeds.  A thick dose of mulch or light cultivation now will go a long ways later.  The rain makes gopher digging much easier, fortunately it also makes it easy to see where they are working.  New holes mean lots of new dirt piles.  It is a good time to trap or bait.  The soil is still warm enough to plant.  This is probably the best time of year for dividing and transplanting perennials.  I am starting to go through my fruit trees and remove dead wood.  It is easy to see while there are still a few leaves on the branches.  I will start winter pruning in a couple of weeks.  

There are an increasing number of plants that are starting into their winter dormancy.  I have been cutting back Dahlias and Shasta Daisy's.  Care should be taken in pruning hedges.  A hard prune at this time may leave a scar all winter.

I am starting to move plants that are in the wrong place.  I still do this with some caution as we can still have a hot spell or two.  I am finding lots of seedlings of interesting plants from many yards.  I am potting them up and moving them about.  I am collecting seed from many of the summer blooming trees and shrubs to be started this next spring. Mulching is a regular task as always.  Now is a great time to get after the warm season grasses like Bermuda Grass and Kikuyu.  They don't do as well in the coming months and damage done now is more effective than in the spring or even when they are completely dormant in the winter.

It is a tough time for annual color.  While many spring/summer plants are still in the nursery snapdragons and pansy's are some of the most dependable.  Torenia is an unusual choice that can be added in dependably. 

The days are getting shorter and the nights cooler.  I have reduced irrigation timer settings both is the amount of time on each station and in the frequency that they are set to run.  The roses are coming into their "second spring" and many are looking fabulous.  Planting and designing are stimulating processes.  I enjoy the visualization process of trying to see what a landscape will look like in my mind's eye as I lay out the plants.   Many annual weeds are starting up in the irrigated areas.  If they can be taken care of now it will be much easier later in the season.

My planting season has started.  In order to get plants going with this heat I make sure that they get a wet hole to start in.  I make sure that they get regular water as it can be quite hot at times.  There will be some casualties due to excess heat, and transplant shock.  The vast majority of the plants make it and do great.  I make sure that I plant the crowns of drought tolerant plants an inch or two higher than the surrounding soil.  This is particularly important in heavy soils as it allows the plants to breath when they might otherwise be waterlogged.  Once the plants are in the ground I spread drip irrigation to all of the plants and then mulch.  The mulch covers the drip line as well as reducing evaporation and keeping the weeds down.

I am preparing gardens for planting, and putting the odd thing here and there near the coast.  I have been cultivating projects that need to be done in the garden that don't involve the plants.  Mulching, laying gravel and Decomposed Granite walkways, building fences, bridges and arbors.  I have enjoyed the water gardens in the heat of the afternoons.  This may be excuse enough to plant a water garden, for what better way to spend the heat of the afternoon, than caring for the plants in the pond.  I have been removing watershoots and suckers from the trees and removing the crossing branches.  I try to get the heavy work in the sunny part of the gardens done before the heat comes on.  There are likely to be a number of truly hot days in the next week or two. 

It is a good time to divide bulbs.  Early varieties of Narcissus are just starting to come up.  Iris can be moved or divided, watsonia and amaryllis are good to go.  I am still trying to beat the heat.  Nutgrass is a major torment.  It is spreading rapidly at this time of year.  Every nodule that you get out now will mean that 10 or more don't grow in the next few weeks.  Many varieties of bamboo are putting up new shoots.  If you want long straight nodes it is a good time to give them plenty of water.  My Miscanthus are flopping.  I cut back the culms of ornamental grasses that flop over other plants or into walkways.  I will prune off the rest in the winter.  Hydrangeas blooms have gone by.  I cut off the flowers and a node or two of leaves.  Harder pruning often weakens the plants.  Many trees are suckering heavily.  I like to prune off the suckers while they are young.  The more cambium that gets exposed due to larger cuts the more suckers that will come on in the future.

While it is this hot it is important not to water the plants during the heat of the day.  Many native plants in containers will rot with mid-day watering.  I try to get this task done early or in the evening once things have cooled down a bit.  Many of the annual weeds (particularly grasses) are germinating in the irrigated areas.  I have cut back a number of the spring blooming perennials that are starting to fade.  Some of them including coreopsis and lemon balm will give me another show later this season.  My great-grandmother used to recommend that camellias get their leaves washed down at the end of each hot day.  I tried it and found that her advice was excellent.  I have been addressing the hardscape on as many projects as I can take care of in preparation for planting this Fall season.  I have taken a bit of time with my fruit trees, removing dead wood.  It is easier to see now and culling it reduces the chance of spreading the disease that killed it.  I have been trying to keep up with the fruit drop.  Much of the early season drop is due to insect damage.  By allowing the fruit to rot on the ground the worms are able to complete their lifecycle in the ground and reinfect the trees the next year.  I have been working on the giant whiteflys on many properties.  I have had some success with washing off the leaves regularly with a strong jet of spray.  And even greater success with the release of lacewings right after washing them down.

The summer weeds are doing well (better than I am I think).  I have kept them at bay from my favored beds but little more.  I have been making applesauce by the bucketful.  The kids grumble about the processing but not about the what is on the dinner table.  I have made berry preserves and am ready to make plum jam.  The summer fruit is in full swing.  I have done some serious rose thinning to promote new growth and remove slow growing branches.  These thickets in the middle of the plant are the most prone to disease because they are so dense, the leaves stay on so long, and there is no air movement or direct sunlight.  They are the first place to get black spot and rust.  It is important to keep picking in the vegetable garden.  If the plants think that they have set seed they will often stop producing new vegetables.  Squash and tomatoes are great examples of plants that need to be picked regularly.

The fruit trees are in full swing.  Several branches are overburdened by their fruit.  To keep them from breaking off I am pruning off a portion of the fruit and branch and giving that to the pig.  I get many happy grunts in return.  I am picking the vegetables regularly to keep them from losing momentum.  It is a great time of year to get caught up on the weeds.  I am drafting plans for this Fall planting season.  It seems a shame to use up planting time then if it can be done now.  I am thinning deadwood out of trees.  This serves the dual purpose of finding work in the shade and removing a fire hazard.

My roses have slowed down a bit due to the heat.  I have been thinning out blind shoots and twiggy growth.  I have been watching for sections of the canes that have not grown yet this year and am trimming them off.  I have been watering heavily to compensate for the heat.  Many of my plants can use a serious deadheading and trimming.  I have been catching up with the wayward spring chores that got away from me.  There are a lot of those.  My fruit trees are starting to ripen all at once, isn't that the way of it?  It will keep my canning technique up to speed.  My berries are ready several weeks earlier than usual.

The bugs keep getting into the sprayers in the drip system looking for a drink.  They expand with their drink and can't get out but block the opening when the water comes on.  I check the sprinkler systems frequently at this time of year.

Summer is here.  We have heat now.  I have radically increased the watering to plants in containers.  They use their allotment very rapidly.  I am finally getting the upper hand with the weeds.  New ones do not germinate as rapidly now that spring is past.  I try to get the upper hand between now and the first rains in the Fall.  I will plant very few plants during the next few months because they are so hard to establish with the summer heat.  Many will rot with the water required to keep them from drying out.  I don't net my trees because I can usually get enough without but if you need to now is the time before the fruit ripens.  I am doing some summer pruning of my fruit trees to lighten excessively heavy branches and improve general shape and clean up suckers.  I have been spreading mulch to keep the soil moist and the weeds down.  I am finding myself often wading out into the water gardens to compensate for the extra heat.  It is one of the nicest ways to spend the hottest portion of the day.

The first tomato is ripe.  I have not yet put out the cages but it is time.  I am eating Bababerries and Heritage Raspberries.  The Royal Apricot gave its first fruit.  The garden is once again a food factory.  I have been cutting back the whips leaping out from the berry patch.  Roses at the coast are suffering from rust and mildew.  I have trimmed out blind shoots and am pruning them hard to encourage new growth without the fungus.  Inland locations are relatively unscathed.  Apples are putting out long branches, on the trees that I have shaped into arches or espaliers I am trimming back the long branches to encourage bushiness.  Weeding is a near constant chore.  Moss is accumulating in the ponds now that they have gone over the mystical 67 degrees.  I am pulling out the debris.  I have cut off runners of my lotus before it roots into the bottom of the pond.  The runners were 10' long.

The first flush of spring seems to be dead on the vine, until I can cut it off.  There are more flowers spent than coming fresh on many plants.  The roses have a 4-6 week cycle of blooms.  Many of the roses are through their first wave of bloom completely.  Lambs Ears is a wonderful plant for a soft gray border but it blooms now.  I think that the plant looks better when there are no bloom stalks.  I have filled a lot of containers with the debris due to that opinion. Catmint (Nepeta) is leaping into its neighbors.  Because of all of the bees I try to get to this one when the day is still cool.  Azaleas and Camellias need their annual thinning and tip pruning.  To keep them compact I nip the ends of the branches several times in the spring.  I then clear out the dead or tired branches out of the center of the plant.  I have been adjusting the sprinkler systems to the warmer weather.  The tomatoes need cages.  There is still time to get in some more planting for all of those things that didn't get attended to yet.  A long weekend helps me catch up around the house.

Buried by the avalanche of spring chores.  The roses need deadheading, as do most of the other perennials.  The weeds are growing by gargantuan leaps and bounds.  I have been saving some of the spent blooms for potpourris. The fire department insists that nothing should burn here.   The dog has been trying to get that gopher in the front bed.  Frankly the gopher does less damage.  I have lost a specimen alstroemeria patch to the dog and none to the gopher and the dog still has not caught the gopher.  I have been dividing and propagating many of the potted plants trying to beat the heat and fill in for those that have found new homes.  Time to check the irrigation system, rodents eat at the drip systems and kids knock off the drippers.  I have plans to put in a second crop of corn this year to extend the season.  The first planting had three varieties, early, middle and long to spread the ripening.  The peas and lettuce are about done.  

Hedges are growing like mad.  Photinia and Privets keep their leaves long enough that usually cut them by hand.  I cut off the longer stems of the new growth just under the old leaves.  Hedge trimmers scar the leaves and as they last more than one season this really detracts from the plant.  With a loose exterior I can trim them less often.  This compensates for taking longer to prune them in the first place.  The iris are queens of the garden right now.  The roses are in their massive first bloom.  I am finding loads of seedlings of interesting things that are or were growing in adjoining beds so I weed carefully.  These are going into containers for other parts of the garden or other people's gardens.  I think it great to give a gift of a plant to a visitor, and I grow a fair number to sell as well.  The soil is about warm enough to start planting the tomatoes.  It seems like a blessing now but I am sure it will become a chore later.  I am starting to deadhead the perennials and roses.   There are just a few spent blooms now, pretty soon it will be overwhelming.   Finding loads of new interesting plants at the nurseries to try out in my garden.   One of the greatest difficulties is remembering later what the tag that I so carelessly threw away or buried said.  I try to jot down in a notebook what was planted.  Chaos often overtakes my good intentions.

The seed bin at the nursery is nearly empty.  I was beat to the punch.  There was no corn to be purchased, nor squash.  Still,  I bought some basil starts and radish seeds.  The nurseryman recommended that Opal Basil be planted with the tomatoes.  It is supposed to make the tomatoes taste better.  It sounds like you can almost have your pasta sauce prepared before the tomatoes are even picked.  Radish seeds planted with the carrots breaks up the soil crust and allows the carrots to break through.  The nutgrass is horrific this season.  I am pulling them with all of the thoroughness that I can muster.  There is a small corm an inch or two below the surface that splits off new nutgrass starts.  Barring using chemicals a thorough sifting of the soil and repeatedly weeding the same bed before it can really come back is the only way.  I have found that I can be more persistent than even the most relentless weed.  Then I surface mulch the soil to keep it loose and moist.  The nutgrass will often grow up into the mulch making it that much easier to extract.  

The vegetable garden is started at long last.  I had the pleasure of finding several carrots from last year hidden in the weeds.  That was a great reward for my sweat.  There were several interrupted attempts that just didn't get off the ground.  The tomatoes are now in the ground.  I got 14 varieties of heritage and modern tomatoes.  I have not been able to find one of my favorites "Radiator Charlie's Mortgage Lifter".  With a name like that how can you go wrong?  It is a pink tomato that has weighed in at as much as 2 lbs.  It takes a big bun to keep all of that under cover.  I am starting in on my second mowing of the weeds.  I like to knock it down a couple of times.  It is easier than one big mowing.  I finally got the last of my warm season bulbs in the ground, a little late but better than not at all.  There have even been a few roses to prune. I am paying particular attention to deadheading these days.  It keeps the plants looking fresh and greatly extends the blooming season.  I have spent a couple of days wandering my favorite nurseries.  They have their best selection at this time.  Later in the season many varieties often become difficult to find. 

The black callas are blooming.  They look so exotic. I can get lost in that deep velvety purple.  The fruit trees are in full bloom.  The Japanese maples are showing their new foliage.  Perennials are peaking above the soil line.  I am counting heads of the survivors.  Most have returned.  It is a fun time to be in the garden.

I am staking clumps of bulbs so that I can remember what kind is were when the tops dry out in May, as many can do with some dividing.

Hedges are growing finally.  I have spent several days shearing hedges and producing copious quantities of debris.  It is best to wait until the leaves have dried and the wind is not blowing enough to spread the clippings or sway the hedge.  It is important to make sure that the ladder is on firm footing if you need to use one.  The soil is soft due to the continued rains.  I am concentrating on removing the weeds with the big taproots while the soil is soft.  Many plants that grow from softwood cuttings are most successfully propagated now.  I spent much of my time regrading pathways and installing drains to keep the landscape working.  I am cutting back plants that were damaged by frost.  There will be truckloads of debris before I am done.

I have found seedlings of lavenders, violets and statice in abundance this week.  I transplanted a number of them and potted some up for later.  I have sheared lavenders to prime them for a spring showcase.  Oak seedlings have been easily uprooted with the rain softened soil.  With their substantial taproots they are often difficult to remove.  And they are often prolific in places that are inappropriate.   I have done one last dormant spraying of the peaches to prevent leaf curl on trees that have not yet bloomed.  Many of the bulbs planted in November and December are putting on a great  show.  There is still time to divide coreopsis, veronicas, and a number of other herbaceous perennials.  We are entering the best season to divide ornamental grasses.  Earlier divisions often rot.  I will hold off the vegetable garden planting until the soil has warmed and dried a little and the threat of frost is past.  Our last frost threat is generally past by mid March.

My fruit trees are starting to bloom.  There is snow on the mountains.  It looks like we are living on a different continent, maybe in Switzerland.  I have spent so much time pruning, dividing and doing other seasonal chores that much of the normal task list has been neglected.  The weeds are prolific.   And I am finding precious surprises as I pull them.  The large subtropical shrubs that were convinced by the weather to go dormant are starting to sprout.  I have begun cutting back Salvia's, Tagetes, Cuphea, Clerdendrum, Lavenders and a host of other plants to make room for the new shoots coming up.  Lavenders look scraggly with their old dead blooms and often get leggy without a good haircut.  I make sure that there are plenty of new shoots below my cuts.  Usually those cuts are made in the soft gray of the new stems.  The reward comes 6 weeks later with a flush of new growth.  Many of the herbaceous perennials get sheared to the ground, Asters and their cousins, veronicas, catmint and many others show their need by sprouting fresh growth at ground level.  I have been topping lemon trees.  They are about to enter their strongest growth cycle with the warmth of the spring.  They send elongated whips skyward unless they are headed back.  Old fruit should be culled as it harbors mites, thrips, and scale, that disfigure the fruit.

I have been transplanting seedlings.  The rain has brought up scads of seedlings of the plants that I have planted all around town.  The young seedlings are easily moved with just a small lump of soil attached.  Many of the plants are quite prolific so there are plenty of plants to share with my other clients and at my house.  The wisteria are starting to bloom.  The calla lily's look grand.   The lenten rose is glorious.  It has been interesting to see the flowering quince break into full bloom with the heat.  Stop producing buds with the cold and surge back into action after last weekend's heat.  I have been marking bulbs so they won't get damaged by digging for new plants and so I can divide the larger clumps.  I am cutting back the tops of the perennials damaged by cold as the danger of a hard frost is past.

Much but not all of the winter pruning has been completed.  I chipped my monster debris pile.  I have been to the nursery for bare root roses and fruit trees and ordered a few more from the mail-order houses.  The more tropical bulbs are in the nurseries.  I got Tigridias, Dahlias, potato and onion sets.  I have purchased Acidantheras, Homerias, Bletellas and Gloxinias in the past. I planted a few snapdragons, stock and pansys to color up a few beds.  The rain has been giving me time to catch up on a few wood working projects for the garden.  I am working on a bamboo bridge and needed some ornate posts for the rails.  I am plotting a some of my landscapes into the computer from field notes taken during the last couple of months.   It gets tough to remember what kind of rose or fruit tree that really was a couple of years down the line once the tags are gone if good notes are not taken.  I refer back to my list here frequently when I am taking cuttings of roses.  I planted a Belgian fence with apples.  I took the remaining wood and tried grafting some of them onto one of my apple trees. 

Some of my fruit trees are blooming already, two to three weeks early.  With a third of a season's rain coming in less than a week the soil is very saturated.  Digging now will overcompact the soil.  Depending upon how rapidly your soil drains it will be best to hold off digging and planting bare root roses and trees for at least a few days if not a week.  I still have plenty of pruning to do and light weeding as well.  I have made it a point to chip the woody refuse more promptly this year.  It is helping keep the paths and beds from being so muddy.  Diseased material goes into the trash.   I don't generally work the compost heap enough to get it so hot as to sanitize most diseases or weed seed.  It is a great time to look at the ground to see where the water went during the storm.  This may give you clues as to how your site drainage could be improved.  In my mind's eye these improvements always happen before the next downpour.  In reality the project often waits until something gets wet that should not have.  Mulch on the soil will slow the water down and will keep the mineral portion of the soil from washing around.

Narcissus, cyclamin, gooseberries, and cymbidiums are looking famous.  The Christmas rose and Poinsettia are a bit behind their namesakes but now starting to bloom a bit behind their nursery forced relatives.

The garden is starting to look like it is resting.  I am not.   The cold has damaged a lot of plants.  The coldest days are probably still in front of us.  I will not cut off the damaged material of tender plants until late January.  What little is left will protect the crown.  Perennial herbs are different.  I am cutting off the spent bloom stalks by the bushel basket.  I am leaving the old fashioned roses flowers on to put on a show of hips.  It makes for a festive season with all of those red hips.  The roses start to go dormant a bit if they go to seed.  I will start in on my winter pruning of fruit trees in the early part of next month.  If you are going to spray dormant oil now is the time.  I do not.  I want the beneficials to survive.  They do an adequate job for me.   My persimmons are at their peak.  I pulp and freeze some, I make bread and cookies,  there can never be too many persimmon cookies at my house.

This is the best time of year for making divisions of perennials.   You can lift them and gently shake them apart.  One clump of Coreopsis 'nana'  can make as many as 50 new plants all complete with a set of roots.  I spread wildflower seed just before an impending shower.  Poppies and Lupine are the most successful for me.  For those that spray fruit trees, now is a good time to get in the first dose of light oil or volk oil.  I avoid doing this except where I have had problems.  As a suffocant it kills all kinds of insects indescriminantly, not just the bad guys.  I am allowing many of my roses to keep their hips.  These are beautiful and most of the roses will not get a chance to flower again before I start pruning them.  The narcissus and daffodils are in bloom.   The early cold weather brought out the fall color in a big way this year.  The snow capped peaks were a special treat.   Some unusual places recorded snow, Filmore being the most surprising to me.   Citrus growing areas rarely see the white stuff on the ground.

Pruning of trees and shrubs should be limited to removing deadwood.  Cutting more will stimulate fresh growth that can be damaged by frost.   It is a great time for starting plants from cuttings.  The plants are in a root growth mode and the transpiration rate is very low.  I am thinning out old canes on my rose bushes.  This is a great season to get new canes to break out.  I am trying to stay ahead of the bermuda grass.  If I get it now the remnants that escape me often rot before they can grow back.  I am checking and cleaning gutters and drains.  The pond is going to sleep for the winter.   I am putting out birdseed to keep the local finches and sparrow happy and well fed.   Feeders are kept away from deciduous fruit trees.  The birds will knock off lots of flowers if they are in the habit of being in the fruit trees.  I am cleaning out the lower branches of my bamboo's.  I like the way they look when you can see a forest of canes.  I don't rake the leaves.  The extra debris turns to mulch.

Many of the perennials that provided color throughout the summer have passed their prime.  I am cutting back the spent bloom stalks.  The basis for my timing is when numerous small shoots start growing from the base of the stalks.  Oregano's, Salvias, and most of the plants in the daisy family all do this.  If you are going to overseed a warm season grass with annual rye this is a great time to get started.  I try to seed so that the new seedlings emerge after all of the ghosts, princesses and gremlins are done trampling the lawn on Halloween. This is prime planting time.  I am pinching the last of my basil for one more batch of pesto.  The spent blooms on the lavenders are looking ratty.   I cut them back and keep the plants looking fresh.  The cool weather intensifies the colors of the flowers on many plants.  It is a great season for getting a few prime photos in the garden.  I am cleaning up the bearded iris beds and removing the leaves torched by the summer heat.  Narcissus and tulips, and a host of south african bulbs are in the nursery including freesias, sparaxis and ixias are at the nursery.

Fall is here.  I am planting new plants and dividing and moving perennials.  It is time to plant the Winter crop of peas and get those seeds or lettuce starts in the ground.  This is the season that the plants put the most energy to root growth.  While there will be some more hot spells it is relatively easy to get plants established now.  I have been reducing the amount of time that I am watering lawns and beds.  The leaves are just not growing much and the days are shorter.  As happens every year I am working hard to keep a little color and spark in the annual flower beds at this time of year, pansys and snapdragons are dependable.  The rose beds are blooming like mad.  It is a second spring for them.  I go through and cut out the blind shoots and witches brooms.  This year has been particularly fraught with yellow jacket wasps.  They often nest in old wood or in a gopher hole.  While they have an important role in consuming insect pests they are difficult to contend with around a BBQ or picnic.   They often hunt or hover just above a lawn looking for something to eat and call all of their buddies when they find something.

Got the smell of rain.  Now maybe we can get some drops.  More nitrogen falls out of the sky in the form of rain than we ever put down in the way of fertilizer.  It is great to wash the dust and all of the bodies that live in it off the leaves periodically even if we don't get wet soon.   I am trying to keep up with the garden cleanliness and picking up fallen fruit.   This interrupts the insect cycle of many of the pests.  The chickens love the results.  Starting to plant a few things near the coast.  It is still a bit too warm for me and the plants in the inland valleys.  105 degrees cooks me to the point of being well done.  I ingest lots of fluids all night getting ready for the next day.  It is impossible to absorb water as fast as it is lost on a hot day.  I need to get a head start.

This is a great time to catch up on the gardening chores.  The leaves are not yet piling up.  It is still just a little early to be planting though the weather sure makes this tempting especially near the coast.  I am beating back the weeds and doing a bit of pruning here and there.   I am opening up the roses by taking out the blind shoots and removing deseased leaves and slow growing canes, making them ready for that "second spring".   I am laying down a thick mat of mulch knowing how all of the weed seeds germinate with the first rain.  The sprinkler system can be reset with shorter times for those upcoming shorter days.  It is a good time to pull the goo out of the water features and reduce the amount of decaying material that eats up oxygen.  The bamboo has sent out runners with designs on territories far and wide.  Time to chop them back, cut them down and if you are lucky and persistent starve them out.  Many of the summer blooming salvias will put on a second bloom if the dead flowers are cut off and older canes removed.  Last chance to move Amaryllus and iris if they are to bloom next year.  Canning plums, 4 cups of fruit diced, 3.5 cups of sugar, cook until they start to thicken and make bigger bubbles, proof for about 5 minutes, makes about 2-2.5 pints.

It is time to get the ol' potager ready for the fall crop of peas, carrots, lettuce, brussels sprouts and spinach.  I am lifting my potatos and replanting the small tubers.  The corn beds are about done and I am readying them for planting.  I have shifted a number of plants in containers to larger pots.  They were getting thirsty more rapidly than I wished to drag the hose about.  It is quite a chore keeping after the fallen fruit but by picking it up the cycle of many of the fruit damaging insects is broken.  I have divided a number of my bearded iris patches.  The plants look dreary now but often are able to recover in time to bloom next spring.  I have a huge pile of brush to chip, generated from last weekends adventures.  The chips will go to the walkways to keep down the weeds, the excess will be stacked to rot a bit before being put into the beds.  I am working on a number of hardscape projects, it is just too hot to plant anywhere but on the imediate coast and not the best time there either.

Now is a great time to check out how you did with your fruit tree pruning.  Overladen branches will be bending heavily or will have broken.  Ornamental trees will often drop branches at this time of year because the heat causes the leaves to suck up so much water that a weakend branch will increase its weight and break off.  It is a good time to find some shade and a bit of light tree work is good for the tree and good for me.  With my roses I am pulling out the small blind shoots, removing old canes and giving my roses a semi-hard pruning.   This stimulates some cane breaks in the Fall.  A new cane makes a rose youthful once again.  Canes generally are productive for about 3 years.  I periodically flood irigate the roses to keep all of the roots active and happy.  In addition to edging a lawn that has a warm season grass with a stringline trimmer or metal bladed edger I periodically dig a little deeper using a shovel.  This helps keep vigorous grasses like bermuda grass and kikuyu stay within the bounds of the lawn.   It is about time to be thinking about planting the fall crops of carrots and lettuce.

There is a new crop of Summer weeds, doveweed, bindweed, mustard, wild lettuce, and a plant that I only know by its latin name polygonum aviculare,  are going like mad.  They all can regenerate from their taproot if the roots are not removed.  Dig deep.  I am pruning some of the lower and inside branches off the trees as they are being shaded out by the new growth and looking like they will die soon anyways.  I am also tip pruning some of the longer tree branches so they will thicken and bush out a bit.  It is common for branches to break due to excess weight of the new growth particularly on a hot day.   It is never a bad time to put down another layer of mulch if you have some on hand.   I have cut back the calla lilys hard as they are at the end of their season.   The bamboo shoots are coming on strong.  I chose clumping varieties and harvest some for timber so the advent of new shoots calls for celebration.  I am watering them heavily so they will really grow well.  The only exception to this is the 'budda's belly' bamboo which will have better belly's if it is drought stressed.   Water makes the internodes grow too long on this variety.

Corn is on its way.  I only grow enough for our family.  Therefore the block is smaller than would allow for wind pollination so I hand pollinate.  When the silks come out I break off a bit of the tassels where the anthers are and brush it on the silks.  The ears will be much more full of kernels.   I am deadheading like a maniac, there are a huge number of flowers that don't drop off naturally so they must be cut to keep the plant looking its best.  It is often easiest to figure out what wood is dead in the fruit trees at this time of year.  It is coming up on the best time to divide Bearded Iris.  It seems that the bermuda grass is growing almost as fast as I can run and faster than I can pull it.  A gardening friend once bought a house and his primary deciding issue was whether there was bermuda grass on the property.  The berries are early and the tomatoes late.

Apricots are just about done.  The larder is full of jam and apricot butter, going to dry a few of the last ones.  Many fell on the ground and are attracting fruit flies.  I am taking these to the chickens to minimize the fruit fly problem.   The chickens love the fruit and to them bugs are icing on the cake.  Garden cleanliness eliminates many of the disease problems without needing chemicals.   Fireblight is a continuing issue but with regular attention and pruning of the dead material I am winning the battle.  I am recapturing the beds lost to the weeds and enjoying peaches and berries.  I am pulling out the blind shoots on the roses and trying to keep the air moving through them, this limits fungus diseases.  I am cutting out the older slow growing canes where new ones have shot out.  This further encourages strong growth to that new growth.  Watering in the warm evenings encourages many of the fungi so I push my watering of susceptable plants to the early morning hours.

Got apricots and peaches aplenty.   Been eating berry icecream.  I must recommend the Heritage everbearing raspberry.  I am finding lots of seedlings of interesting plants and potting them up.   I have had to increase the amount of water for lawns and roses.  First I increase the time that I water then when that no longer works I increase the frequency.   The roses are going into their second bloom, most of the deadheading has been done.   This seems to be a big year for Fireblight.  Watch for tip dieback on things in the rose family, particularly susceptable are the pyracantha, pears, and asian pears.   I am guessing that the glassy winged sharpshooter is the vector of this as well.   It has been a big year for grapes in our area.  Opening up the remainder of the corn bed for the next succession.  Feeding the bolted lettuce and spent peas to the chickens and making room for melons.

Buried by the avalanche of spring chores.  The roses need deadheading, as do most of the other perennials.  The weeds are growing by gargantuan leaps and bounds.  I have been saving some of the spent blooms for potpourris. The fire department insists that nothing should burn here.   The dog has been trying to get that gopher in the tomato patch.  Frankly the gopher does less damage.  I have lost 9 tomatoes to the dog and none to the gopher and the dog still has not caught the gopher.  I have been dividing and propagating many of the potted plants trying to beat the heat and fill in for those that have found new homes.  Time to check the irrigation system, rodents eat at the drip systems and kids knock off the drippers.  I have plans to put in a second crop of corn this year to extend the season.  The first planting had three varieties, early, middle and long to spread the ripening.  The peas and lettuce are about done.  The heat of Memorial Day weekend set them back and bolted the rest.  More food for the chickens.

Now that we had one last real rainstorm, what a doozie for this time of year, it is time for planting.  The weeds are coming on strong.  But they are easy to pull while the soil is moist.  I am finding loads of seedlings of interesting things that are or were growing in adjoining beds so I weed carefully.  These are going into containers for other parts of the garden or other people's gardens.  I think it great to give a gift of a plant to a visitor, and I grow a fair number to sell as well.  The soil is about warm enough to start planting the tomatoes.  It seems like a blessing now but I am sure it will become a chore later.  I am starting to deadhead the perennials and roses.   There are just a few spent blooms now, pretty soon it will be overwhelming.   Finding loads of new interesting plants at the nurseries to try out in my garden.   One of the greatest difficulties is remembering later what the tag that I so carelessly threw away or buried said.  I try to jot down in a notebook what was planted.  Chaos often overtakes my good intentions.

Rototilled the big weeds down.  There were more than I was willing to pull.   Getting ready for corn.  The corn grows bigger than the weeds that will sprout back.  I will interplant beans and wintersquash.  I am waiting a week to till again that will turn those weeds upside down one more time.  The corn will be planted in as many successions as I have time for to extend the season.  I plant an early season with a late and then do it again in a few weeks.  I need to fence out our dogs from the vegetable patch by the chickens.  Our new pup, Clover, makes laps around the chickens and knocks down new and old plants alike.  It is time to turn on the sprinkler system and check for leaks in the drip systems.  I am watering roses and other water lovers, natives, bulbs, and Aussie plants will have to wait awhile for their first drink.  I am doing the last of the spring dividing of plants and starting another round of lavenders in containers.  Many of last years roses need to be put into larger containers.  The rule of thumb is no more than one year in a container.   With many plants even that is too long.  I am still taking up seedlings and planting them into containers for friends and clients.