What To Do In Your Southern California Garden In January

Being a Landscape Designer in the Santa Clarita Valley, I can tell you there is no rest for the wicked, even in January.  There are plenty of Gardening Chores to do, and the weather (although a bit nippy for some) is perfect for a little strenuous activity.

Here is a link your January Chores... enjoy working on them as you remember our poor east coast friends, shoveling snow!


If you would like help beautifying your life, think about creating a garden with me. You can call me at 661-917-3521, or visit my website.

What To Do In Your Southern California Garden in January

This year’s first week of January has been a far cry from our last year’s snow! We’ve had unseasonably warm weather over the past week, but that doesn’t mean that you should change your gardening game plan. Here is a list of items that you should take care of in your garden this month.

photo courtesy - Marlon of Chan Teas (check out their selection!)

1. Enjoy a little down time relaxing with some gardening catalogs, a cup of coffee or tea, order a few packets of seeds, and find some new gardening tools. Then you can spend a little time cleaning or tidying up your gardening tools. January is Get Organized Month, so your garden shed or toolbox would be a good place to start. If you live in the Los Angeles area my friend Christie Gelsemino of Vision to be Organized can help you get started.



2. This month is a great time to select Camellias they are blooming, so you can really see what the plant will look like bursting with blooms. They are one of our best winter flowers; so if you have a shady spot, grab a Camellias or two. Now be sure to give them some room – they are pretty large shrubs!

3. Plant that living Christmas tree that you selected this year. If you didn’t cut one down it is time to get your tree out of the house and into the ground. Wanting to keep your tree on the small size? You might consider planting it in a container. There are plenty of nice pots at our local nurseries



4. Bare root roses and fruit trees are out in the nurseries now. You can save plenty of money on full sized plants if you select early and get bare root plants. You can also check for bare root vines, shrubs, and ornamental trees. If you visit a few nurseries, you should be able to find everything that you want, and more.

5. Winter and spring blooming bulbs can still be planted, and while you are at it you can add some cool season annuals if you have room for some winter color



6. You can plant citrus trees now too (sometimes you can even find bare root) but be sure to make accommodations for the inevitable winter chills we are going to get. Try some little Christmas lights draped around your citrus and other tender plants. Keep your eyes open for signs of frost – yes it has been HOT these past few days, but you know that is going to change!



7. Your peach trees can be sprayed for peach leaf curl, peach leaf blight and canker.

8. It is time to cut back on your indoor plant fertilization, take a look at my blog post on How To Care For Holiday Plants if you have received plants that you don’t know how to care for.

9. Cacti and succulents that are outgrowing their pots can be repotted, if they have finished blooming..



10. Flowering fruit trees can be pruned while they are in bloom – peaches and nectarines can benefit from this early pruning method because you fool the tree into thinking the wood is older than it is and it can produce more fruit. Be careful though, you don’t want to prune if they plants aren’t well established and mature. They won’t survive the cold as well and if the branches aren’t strong you can end up with too much fruit that will put stress (from the weight) on the tree branches



11. You can plant another row or two of winter veggies – especially the greens. They taste better small, and you’ll have more to select from as they days grow warmer.

12. If you want you can start some of the hardier blooming spring annuals soon – this will save you a little money on seedlings in the spring.

13. Applying dormant spray to trees, shrubs, and vines is a chore you can do this month. I recommend that you apply the dormant spray to roses when you prune them… Superbowl Sunday, so this year that’s just the other side of the month. It’s a little too early to prune the roses right now, though the mow/blow/go landscape janitors would disagree with me. I stand my ground.

14. If your evergreen vines and winter flowering



If you are interested in sprucing up your garden with some beautiful hand selected antiques and such, you really should listen to the Complimentary teleclass that I’m having on Thursday January 19, 2012. I’ll be chatting with my friend and colleague, Tami Smight, at 6:30 pm PST. Designer tips and tricks will be revealed! To learn more and sign up for the call – please click here!

What To Do In Your Southern California Garden In January

Happy New Year! Welcome to 2011. Some of you are probably not in the mood to garden this morning having spent a little too much time getting in the mood last night, however you still need your monthly list of what you can work on so here it is on this bright and shiny January morning.



Like other parts of the country you can spend some time perusing gardening catalogs with a cup of coffee or tea, order some seeds, find a new gardening tool or two and spend a little time cleaning up or tidying up your gardening tools. January is Get Organized Month, so your garden shed or toolbox would be a good place to start. If you live in the Los Angles area, you can call my fellow Harmonious Home Team Member Kim Rocke or my friend Christie Gelsemino and they can help you get started.

If you bought a living Christmas Tree this year, it’s time to move it outdoors. If you plan to bring it in every year, keep an eye out for pretty pots on sale now so that you can move it up as it grows in size. Those holiday pots may be on sale.



Now is a great time to shop for and plant both bare root roses and bare root fruit trees. You can also check for bare root trees, vines and shrubs and get them into the ground. The selection this month is growing as the local nurseries move the holiday decorations into the ½ price bin.





You can also plant Citrus trees and please be sure to plan ahead to protect them from frost damage. It’s been cold so far this year, and January has legendarily been a very chilly month. Your subtropical fruit trees would also benefit from a little extra attention. When I plant a new subtropical I like to leave some room around it and put four stakes around it. I like to get stakes that are taller than the tree and I place them so that when I drape my frost cloth over them, non of the cloth will actually touch the tree – I run out in the early evening and tent my babies and remove the frost cloth in the morning as it warms up.



You can still plant cool season annuals, and winter, spring and summer blooming bulbs.

Little Christmas lights draped in and around tender plants also help raise the temperature around them a bit, and let your yard continue to look festive!



Selecting Camellias during their bloom is a great idea – you can see what your plant has to offer. They make a stunning winter display that you can enjoy.

We in SoCal can sow seeds for the hardy blooming annuals, which can save you a little money on seedlings in the spring.



Peach trees can be sprayed for peach leaf curl, peach leaf blight and canker.

You can also apply dormant sprays to trees, shrubs, and vines. I recommend that you apply the dormant spray to your roses at pruning time… Superbowl Sunday. It’s a little too early to prune the roses right now, though the mow/blow/go landscape janitors would disagree with me. I stand my ground.
You can prune evergreen shrubs, and winter flowering vines and shrubs after they have flowered.



Another sowing of winter vegetable seeds or planting of seedlings wouldn’t hurt either; you will have more veggies until it’s time to plant the spring crops.

You can prune your flowering fruit trees while they are in bloom – peaches & nectarines benefit from this but you must wait until you are sure that the blooms have matured enough so that there is sure to be winter survival.



If your succulents and cacti have finished blooming and are too small for their pots, you can still repot them.

Cut back on your indoor plant fertilization, and read my Scene In SCV blog post on How To Care For Holiday Plants if you have received plants that you don’t know how to care for.

I hope this helps you to a great New Year of Gardening, enjoy yourself and have a great 2011!

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