Early Winter Garden Tasks

by Linda Carloni

January can be such a rainy month (if we’re fortunate), as well as dark and chilly. But when you can find a dry day, there are many garden tasks to be done outdoors.

Peach leaf curl – Dormant spraying

Peach leaf curl

Peach Leaf Curl

Last spring and summer, peach leaf curl was a major issue; for a while, it was the most common problem reaching the Alameda County Master Gardeners’ help desk. The frequent late rains and cool temperatures while the leaves were beginning to unfurl provided a hospitable environment for peach leaf curl. But if you had peach leaf curl this past spring, the disease can be prevented for 2024 by thoroughly spraying peach and nectarine trees with a copper-based fungicide. Many resources indicate the first spray should be around the end of November, but if you missed that window, find a period of several days when no rain is forecast and spray now. Two sprayings may be needed if the winter is a rainy one. Always follow the instructions on the fungicide package.

If you have other pest problems in your fruit trees you may be able to manage them without sprays or other chemicals. Using prevention techniques, cultural practices, and encouraging beneficial insects is always preferred to avoid harming the environment and causing additional problems. Chemicals should be a last resort. Here’s a great resource for other pest problems on fruit trees.

Deciduous fruit trees – dormant pruning

Fruit trees are pruned to promote structural strength, to make them easy to care for, and to encourage the production of high quality fruit. Many trees that lose their leaves are pruned after the leaves have dropped and before the spring bud break, when it is far easier to see the structure of the tree and determine what are fruiting buds. One of the basic principles of pruning is to remove the 4D’s – branches that are dead or dying, diseased, damaged or deranged (crossing or otherwise placed badly.) For fruit trees, it is also important to build or retain a strong structure that will bear the weight of the fruit, to ensure that sunlight gets into the interior of the tree, to keep the right amount of vigorous fruiting wood and to keep the size down so it can be picked more easily. Fruit trees are also frequently pruned once in summer after harvest. Note: apricot trees should never be pruned in winter, only in summer.

It’s Bare Root Season!

Many local nurseries stock bare root fruit trees in early winter, and sometimes also have bare root blackberries, raspberries and strawberries. Bare root plants tend to be less expensive, and can root directly into the soil in which they are planted, so they don’t need to acclimate from nursery soil to your yard’s soil. The season is short and demand can be high, so it’s good to call your favorite local nurseries to see what’s available.

Weeds!

While the days are so short and cool, many plants are dormant or growing very slowly, but my weeds are certainly not. If you too have weedy pots, beds or yard, it’s not too early to start managing them.

  • Removal can usually be done in a home garden by hand, avoiding herbicides that can harm bees, other pollinators and beneficial insects that can help manage other pests. Starting early is helpful. It’s important to remove all the roots, which is easier when the soil is moist and the roots are small. If you are managing buttercup oxalis, remove as many little bulbils on the roots as you can. (See photos in the weeds resource link.) If the bulbs remain this oxalis tends to return dismayingly fast. Also, getting the weeds before they flower will keep them from spewing their seeds for the next round of weeds.
  • Prevention is in order after you remove what you have or if you are still weed free. Applying mulch is an effective way to minimize future weeds. Organic mulches like wood chips and straw have the added benefit of conserving the moisture in the soil and eventually decaying slowly into the soil to add nutrients. Rocks and gravel can also be used as an inorganic mulch. What’s critical is to block the sun from getting to the soil and allowing the weeds to germinate and grow. The larger the particle size, the deeper the mulch needs to be to block the sunlight.

Details and resources on managing weeds.

Soil Amendment

Winter is an excellent time to build up your soil for your spring and summer crops. January can be a good time to add manure, so it has lots of time to break down before you plant in the spring. Be sure to cover it with straw, leaves or a similar organic mulch to protect the soil. Turn it into the top layer of soil in the spring.

We hope you have a productive January and a bountiful new year!