Winter Gardening: Here’s What You Should Be Doing in January!
By April Lowe
It’s Winter! Not that you can tell by the warm weather we’ve been having but the nighttime temps are slowly dropping. I smell wood smoke in the air from my neighbors fireplaces regularly. Speaking of neighbors, have you ever envied a lush wildflower display in the Spring only to find that you are too late to plant? Well this is your time right now!
January is the perfect time to scatter California Poppy Seeds, Nasturtiums, Red Flax, Bachelor Buttons and lots of other Spring to early Summer seeds for an extra shot of color in your yards or beds when nothing else is blooming. It’s also a great time to start your backyard orchard! And, it just so happens that SCCG is hosting Tyler Trimble from Backyard Fruit for our January workshop!
Another best practice would be to prep your area by watering and lightly cultivating the soil for one or two weeks and pulling any newly geminated weeds before setting seed. This will help you be able to identify what is a weed and what is a wildflower when they start to come up. Once you’ve done your prep, just sprinkle the seeds into the lightly cultivated soil and wait for Mother Nature to do the rest. Keep an eye on the forecast for any rain and sprinkle your seeds the night before. If no rain, lightly water in after sowing and keep damp until germination.
So get your seeds, get your space ready, and get planting!! For more tips on winter gardening visit the San Diego County Master Gardener Association - just click below! Happy Gardening!
April Lowe, Master Gardener
