December is a wet month in Humboldt County. "Good
weather for ducks" is the quip heard as seasoned gardeners go
about preparations for Christmas. Storms are part of normal
December weather with snow in the hills.
PLANTING
Buy some white-blooming plants this month and you can create
your own white Christmas on your front porch. Choose blooming
azaleas and camellias in gallon size, and candytuft, cyclamen,
pansies, and primroses in four inch pots. Combine them in large
containers and add bows, holly, or some pine or even redwood
branches.
This is the favorite month to plant TULIP and HYACINTH
bulbs, for they need cool soil and growing conditions to produce
good flowers on long stems. Planting depths recommended for other
regions are not deep enough here to provide coolness. Allow 8
inches of soil above these bulbs in all but shady locations. If
buds show color as they emerge from the soil, start pouring on
extra water and the stems will lengthen.
The nurseries will be discounting all of their left over
spring bulbs this month. Plant them as soon as possible.
There are a few ANNUALS available at the nurseries such as
primroses, pansies, and snapdragons. Unless you buy the larger
plants they will just sit there and sulk until spring.
Later this month, nurseries will begin selling bare root roses, fruit trees, cane berries, strawberries, grapes, and
perennial vegetables such as asparagus (UC 157 is a particularly
good variety for our mild winter area of Humboldt County),
horseradish, and rhubarb. They are gradually receiving their
stock and will be in full swing in January. Have them place a
hold on the varieties you want to ensure availability.
ENGLISH HOLLY is the plant of the holiday season. While red-
berried varieties are justly popular, the equally cheerful
yellow-berried form deserves wider use. Those with silver or
yellow variegated leaves should be located in the garden with
careful thought so they will not create a spotty effect.
While you are watching over your phlox by night you may
notice that the PINES and other conifers look a little scraggly.
They will be pruned in the spring, but if they need shaping you
can do it later this month and use the cut branches for
Christmas decorations. These also make good protection for tender
young plants.
Pick up some red, white, or yellow ONION SETS while you are
at the nursery and plant a few every other week until April,
wherever you have a small spot, even in the flower beds. Crowd
each planting together, and place the sets just under the
surface. Use most as green onions and allow the outer ones to
mature to full size.
This is your last chance to plant GARLIC if you want full
size bulbs.
Your clump of CHIVES is breaking dormancy now. Separate it
and pot up some small divisions to give away.
You can still purchase and plant CABBAGE and other brassica
plants, but these will grow very slowly, since the soil now has
become cool. Wait to plant SWISS CHARD until later in the season,
since doing so now may cause the plant to become useless when it
bolts and goes to seed.
There are several different types of LETTUCE and SPINACH
plants available. Plant them in a sunny spot since the secret to
growing good greens is rapid growth. Blood meal makes a great
fertilizer, worked into the soil just below the surface. Insert
1/2 inch PVC plastic water pipes into the soil to form hoops over
the row so you can cover the crop with plastic during the wet and
cold periods. If your gardening area only comes in wet and cold,
consider building a cold frame to keep you supplied with winter
greens and to start your spring seedlings.
Sow lettuce seeds indoors and set the plants out later in
the season, or harvest the leaves right out of the container. Use
the outer leaves only and the plant will continue to supply you
with many more. (This is a great learning experience for a child.
You could even add some radishes in another pot. It is a short
experience and the fast growth keeps their attention focused on
the plants. And the reward is something that they themselves will
have added to a sandwich or their lunch)!
One of my salad favorites is the Super Gourmet Salad Blend
from Territorial Seed Company (available at Pierson's). This
packet of seed contains several types and colors of leaf
lettuce and will keep you in salad greens for a whole year. The
separate tastes make it an excellent salad base that you can't
get at the supermarkets.
If you're not into gardening this time of year but would
still like some home-grown greens, buy some alfalfa seeds at the
Co-op and put a tablespoon of them in a jar with a lid that will
allow water to drain out. Rinse them at least twice a day, and
put them in bright light for a day or so to green them up.
Harvest them when they are less than two inches long. I start a
jar about every three days for a regular supply. They could be
kept refrigerated for a short while but would still need to be
rinsed daily.
CHRISTMAS TREES
If you wish to buy a living Christmas tree that can go into
the garden after the holidays, shop early and pick one out at
your nursery. The nurseries may carry Colorado blue spruce, dwarf
Alberta spruce, Monterey or Aleppo pine, and the giant sequoia.
It is better to use these just outside the living-room window
rather than inside where they may be endangered by warm, dry air.
Some care is necessary to prevent a living tree from dying
indoors. Keep them outside as long as possible. Water thoroughly.
Hose it down, or better yet, spray the needles with an anti-
transpirant. Set the tree in a container deep enough to permit
watering of the root ball (but no standing water). Check the soil
moisture daily. After the holidays, move it to a sheltered porch
or carport and protect the root ball from freezing. Allow a week
or so for the tree to adjust to the temperature change, and then
plant as soon as possible.
To prolong the freshness of a cut tree, saw an inch off the
bottom of the trunk, then store the tree in a bucket of water in
a shady area outdoors until you're ready to bring it indoors.
Before setting the tree in a stand, saw another inch off the
bottom of the trunk. Use a stand that holds water, and keep the
reservoir full (check daily). Keep the tree away from heaters,
and avoid hot-burning tree lights.
MAINTENANCE
Keep cleaning up. Remove dead foliage and stems from dormant
perennials. Pull up and compost garden refuse and rake up fallen
leaves.
Fertilize all actively growing plants, including the winter
annuals, with a high-nitrogen mixture. Cold temperatures, rain,
and wet soil inhibit the uptake of nutrients, yet growing plants
still need feeding.
DORMANT SPRAYING can be done during letups in the weather
that allow the tree trunks and branches to dry off and stay dry
for a couple of days. This spraying of the bark and branch
surfaces will smother eggs and pupae, aphids, mites, and scale,
and prevent many problems later in the season as these pests come
out of their dormancy. See the nursery personnel for proper
sprays and equipment for your needs. Spray the ground underneath
the tree also.
Leave some broad hints for your soul mate or better yet, go
to the store yourself and buy that special garden tool that
you've looked at every time you went to town. Hey, it's
Christmas, and who it deserves it better than you?
Next month! What do I do with that poinsettia? In the
meantime, keep it in bright light but out of the sun and well
away from heat sources. This gaudy tropical plant clashes with
everything in sight, so stick it in a basket and add some long
rosemary cuttings or conifer and eucalyptus branches, pine cones,
holly, cotoneaster berries from along the highway....you get the
idea.
PERFECT PARTNERS
You've probably wondered what to do with that small area in
the yard that never gets the sun. Grasses are sun lovers and are
just not suited to shaded areas. The local nurseries have flats
of two tough ground covers that give an excellent foliage
contrast in shady areas. These are Ajuga reptans (Carpet Bugle)
and Pachysandra terminalis (Japanese Spurge). Both are available
variegated and the Ajuga is grown in several different varieties
and sizes. They will thrive in full or in dappled shade.
The Ajuga has blue flower spikes in spring and summer and
the Pachysandra has a white summer bloom. Plant them where there
will be no standing water. They would like to be watered twice a
month and fertilized once in the spring and again in the summer.
Mow or trim off old flower spikes. They are not invasive and make
a great transition between a walk and a shrub border. Try not to
walk on them, but if you have to, they will repair themselves
quickly.
