My To-Do List . . .

For my to-do list, I am going to go out and thin my Valencia oranges. Citrus trees sometimes get in the habit of giving their all one year and resting the next. This year I have a heavy crop, so I will thin them out and hope for a crop next year, too. This is not the time to fertilize or prune citrus--that would give them a growth spurt that would get zapped when we have a freeze--so resist the urge to shape your trees.

Once the leaves have dropped off of deciduous trees, trees that shed their leaves in the winter, you can prune them. This includes fruit trees (except apricot trees which are pruned in the summer). This pruning can be done any time between leaf drop and budding in the spring, although you don't want to wait too long!

Roses here in the Valley don't usually drop their leaves, but need to have them stripped, or pulled off, in winter, so they can rest for a bit. You can also prune roses at that time, or wait a little while. For the past several years I have been attending college, so I have been stripping the leaves off of my roses and pruning them during winter break (or Christmas vacation). Often we have such mild winters that the roses will start leafing out before the pruning gets done in December! Just watch your plants, and if you see they are leafing out before you get to them, go ahead and prune them right away. After the roses are pruned, give them a generous dose of organic fertilizer--that will give them a boost in the spring and you will have gorgeous blooms!

-------------------------------------------

Planting by the Stars--

Monday: Cancer–# planting root crops, above ground crops, and transplants
Tuesday-Thursday: Leo–not good for planting or transplanting; good to weed, make seed beds
Friday-Sunday: Virgo–not good for planting or transplanting, good to weed