January Gardening In The Low Desert 2001

Happy New Year to all, hope you received a lot of gardening gifts. Now is the time to think about our long glorious spring and get started with gardening ideas and plans. There is much to do in the garden this month, planting, pruning, fertilizing, watering and general maintenance. Most of the garden catalogs have arrived as well, so get started planning what you want to order. For a list of web sites for garden catalogs, see my article January 1999 Low Desert Gardening article.

It’s time to prune trees and roses and plant new ones. For information on pruning trees and roses, kinds of trees to plant for fall color, see my article January Gardening In The Low Desert 2000.

Soon the nurseries will be full of great new plants. Now is the time to plant bare root roses, they are much cheaper that the potted ones will be later on and in the cool weather they get a great start. Buy only grade #1 roses and before planting, soak in a bucket of water with 1tbsp. of vinegar per gallon of water to help reduce alkalinity. This can be used for houseplants as well. When planting the roses, the graft should be one to two inches above the soil, to which you have added phosphorous. Water well after planting, keeping the roses damp but not soggy and prune each cane to about half its original length. The frequent addition of three banana peels or 3 tbs. of Epson salts per plant for phosphorous will encourage healthy growth.

Now is the time to start seeds inside for warm weather veggies such as cucumber, eggplant, melon, pepper, squash, and tomatoes for transplanting out into the garden after all danger of frost is past. Continue planting cool season crops outside such as cabbage, lettuce, carrots, onions, brocolli, radishes, leeks and many herbs where they will get six to eight hours of sun daily. Acidify and fertilize soil and mulch for best results. Also plant perennial vegetables such as artichokes and asparagus. Having a ‘kitchen garden’ is fun and easy. Close to your house, use planters, pots, half barrels, old boxes, bowls, trash cans, even in a bag of potting soil or anything else that will hold enough soil with good drainage, and plant those things you use most often. Most veggies take kindly to this kind of treatment as well as herbs and flowers. Use a good potting soil - I use a bit of garden grade vermiculite to keep the moisture in - and sow your seeds directly into this. By putting these close to your house and maybe even the kitchen, tending and harvest is much easier. Keep in mind that most things need 6 - 8 hours of light each day so in winter a south or west exposure is best. Several different kinds of plants in one container are very attractive, just be sure they have the same requirements for light and water. Mixing flowers and vegetables can be especially rewarding. Putting the taller plants in the back and arranging the others attractively will give you a feast for the eyes as well as the mouth.

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