Waterwise Gardener

If you grow peaches, plums, apples, or other types of summer fruit trees that lose their leaves in winter, it’s time to learn about summer pruning.

These trees get their “big” prune in winter. Winter pruning stimulates trees to produce new fruiting wood. It’s when we remove broken and diseased branches and thin branches to ensure air and sunlight reach the center of the tree and shape the tree overall. Winter pruning – followed by dormant spraying – is a big job that is critical for the tree’s health and to ensure it fruits the following summer.

Summer pruning is easy by comparison. It is just as important, yet few people know about it.

Why: The goal of summer pruning is to keep trees at a manageable size. This light trim also helps maintain the tree’s structure.

As an added benefit, summer pruning reduces the number of leaves, which in turn limits the tree’s ability to manufacture food. Less food means less energy for growing long branches, so eventually, your tree will stay small enough that it may no longer need summer pruning. Winter pruning, though, is always essential for fruiting.

When: Summer prune just before or after fruit harvest. If you prune when fruits hang on the tree, it is easier to see which branches don’t fruit and which part of a branch does and doesn’t fruit. As an added plus, summer wood is soft and easier to cut than it will be by winter.

And besides, pruning in nice summer weather is far more enjoyable than in winter’s cold and rain.

Apricot and cherry trees are a little different from other stone fruits. Because they are more susceptible to disease, do their main pruning immediately after the summer harvest. In the drier weather, cuts heal quickly and are less prone to infection.

How: If you haven’t already, decide on a maximum size for each tree. I prune to keep my trees low enough to harvest, prune, and spray without having to stand on a ladder. Since I am short (about 5’3”), I prune fruit trees to 7 feet tall and wide. Even for taller people, it’s best to keep trees at no more than 8 feet tall and wide And besides, pruning in nice summer weather is far more enjoyable than in winter’s cold and rain. Apricot and cherry trees are a little different from other stone fruits. Because they are more susceptible to disease, do their main pruning immediately after the summer harvest. In the drier weather, cuts heal quickly and are less prone to infection.

Pruning tools:

• Serrated hand-pruning saw (NOT woodworking or construction
  saws)
• Sharpened long-handled loppers
• Sharpened hand-pruning shears
• Greenwaste can
• Household disinfectant spray
• Soft rags

Decide on your tree’s maximum height, then look at the tree. You’ll prune two kinds of branches.

• Non-fruiting sprouts (aka water sprouts) are fast growing branches that seem to come from nowhere and grow beyond the rest of the branches. They sprout in spring and grow quickly to 3, 4, or 5 feet long. These long, lanky branches have no flower or fruit buds. Their bark is usually soft and bright green or reddish, depending on the type of tree.

Cut these non-fruiting branches at their base, leaving behind the slight swelling where they connect to the tree (called the “branch collar”). DO NOT leave a stub; only leave the branch collar. You may need a pruning saw, pruning shears, or loppers for this job, depending on the diameter of the branch and how hard the wood is.

If the branch is big enough for a pruning saw, make an undercut first, then cut the branch from the above.

• Fruiting branches get shortened, aka headed back, to your pre-selected length. Before you make a cut, look closely at each branch, and notice its buds. Find the buds nearest the spot where you want to cut, then select the bud that points the direction you want the branch to grow. Cut just past that bud (leave it attached). Don’t leave a stub behind.

Remember, summer pruning is light pruning. If you prune while fruits are on the tree, be sure to thin them to one fruit every 4 to 6 inches along the stem. Don’t remove fruiting branches, shorten them. Don’t use pruning sealer. Cuts heal better without it if you leave the branch collar attached to the tree.

You can summer prune figs, pomegranates, grapes, and evergreen fruiting trees like citrus, loquat, and avocado. These all take a bit more skill.

Proper pruning makes for healthy plants and lots of fruits to enjoy all summer long.

Are you confused about what to do in your garden? Sign up for my Garden Wise Garden Guide. Each month, I’ll send you a list of tasks for that month, along with a shopping list, and how-to information. You also get a primer on growing and caring for one of my favorite waterwise plants. Find more information at waterwisegardener.com/gardenwise-monthly-garden-guide.

From Encinitas to Escondido to Mission Hills, this is garden tour season. This is when gardeners agree to open their gates and invite the public to enjoy the fruits (sometimes literally) of their labor. Touring gardens is one of my all-time favorite things to do. I love to meet the gardeners and celebrate their successes as much as I enjoy seeing the gardens themselves.

Garden tours allow you to peek behind the gates and discover practical or clever solutions to use in your garden and be inspired by new plants, new approaches, beautiful art, and ways of using space that hadn’t occurred to you.

Garden tours are also a fun way to spend a day with friends or that special family member who has a green thumb (even if your thumb is decidedly brown).

My favorite garden tours are walking tours, but driving tours are great too, especially if you carpool.

While being a garden tourist is great fun, it comes with responsibilities:

DO:

• Be respectful of the gardens. Tour gardens are private properties.
• Before you purchase tickets, confirm the gardens’ suit abilities for small children or people with physical limitations. Private gardens are not required to follow the same access rules as
  public places.
• Plan your day. Some tours include rest stops, lunch, and/or bathroom breaks. Others don’t. Do your homework and plan accordingly.
• Be mindful about where you park. Hundreds of people visiting a neighborhood for more than just a few hours can wreak havoc with parking and crowding. Be sensitive to the residents so they welcome tours in the future.
• Shoot lots of photos and do take home lots of inspiration!
  — Bring your phone with a portable charger (just in case).
  — Bring a camera if you prefer to shoot that way. Remember your extra batteries.
• Ask questions of the garden’s owner or designer. Gardeners love to talk about their gardens and their most recent fabulous plant finds.
• Complement the gardener or garden owner.
• Pay attention to the pace of visitors around you. If you like to move through slowly, make way for others passing you by. If you are on a tight schedule, be considerate as you pass through.
• Follow directions, arrows, and requests from the tour volunteers.
• Wear a hat, comfortable shoes, and sunscreen. Bring a water bottle.

Valuable Tips:

• Follow the tour map backwards. Everyone starts at the first garden listed, making it the most crowded. To avoid crowds, start with the last garden and make your way back to the first.
• Turn around as you walk through a garden. You see the space the way you face it. Look in the opposite direction for a totally different and valuable perspective.

DO NOT:

• Criticize the garden or the gardener.
• Bring your dog or other pet. Leave them home in your garden.
• Pinch a plant cutting or take seeds from a garden (or anywhere else for that matter). If a gardener offers you a cutting, arrange to come back after the tour so other visitors don’t see you and think it is open season on that plant.
• Step into a garden bed to take a photo. And don’t set up a tripod in a garden bed.
• Return to the garden after the tour without an invitation. When the tour is over, it’s over.

After the Tour:

• Visit the website of the host organization to thank them publicly.
• Review your photos. Scrap the blurry ones and label the good ones so you can find them later.
• If the organization uses social media, post your best images, and tag the organization.
• Garden owners appreciate being thanked as well. Thank them on the host organization’s website or social media.
• Print a card of your favorite photo from each garden. Inscribe each card and mail it to the owner as a thank you.
• Donate to the host organization. Most host organizations are nonprofits or other charitable organizations that support school gardens, scholarships, etc. Your contribution helps them do that work. It also helps them cover the costs of the day.
• Volunteer to help with next year’s tour.

It’s seed starting time! Please join me for my Easy Seed Starting Online Course. In this self-paced online course, I teach you step-by-step how to start vegetable, flower, and herb seeds. Join live coaching sessions every other week too. Learn more at waterwisegardener.com/seed-starting-workshop.

While gardens in other regions sleep under a blanket of snow, ours waken in winter, thanks to the arrival of precious rainfall. This is our best planting time. Plan before you plant and consider garden textures that come from the amazing variety of foliage – leaves in different shapes, sizes, colors, and more.

Include plants whose leaves are:

• Small and fine like California sagebrush (Artemisia californica) or Salvia ‘Hot Lips.’
• Large and broad like bear’s breech (Acanthus molle) and shell ginger (Alpinia zerumbet).
• Sculpted, toothed, or scalloped at the edges like lavenders, Kalanchoe, Monstera, and Sycamore.
• Needle-like like pines and Grevillea.
• Fleshy and succulent like Aeoniums and Aloes.
• Upright to keep them out of the sunlight, like conebushes (Leucadendron) and Arabian lilac (Vitex trifolia ‘Purpurea’).
• Grassy or strappy like Lomandra, Dianella, Kangaroo paw (Anigozanthos), and Iris.
  
• Single like Acacia, bay, and Bougainvillea.
  
• Divided into multiple leaflets like walnut, gold medallion tree (Cassia leptophylla), Jacaranda, and tipu (Tipu Tipuana).
  
• Shiny like Camellia and jade (Crassula ovata).
  
• Dull like Mexican snowball (Echeveria elegans) and  Sansevieria.
  
• Fuzzy like Indian mallow, South African daisy, and air plants.
  
• Smooth like citrus and Camellia.
  
• Waxy like native chalk fingers (Dudleya) and Agave.
  
• Rough surfaced like Cleveland sage (Salvia clevelandii) and Lantana.
  
• Spiny like goden barrel cactus (Echinocactus grusonii) crown of thorns (Euphrobia milii).
  
• Ferny like California poppy and yarrow (Achillea millefolium.

Consider the texture of plants with different overall shapes and structures, too. Here are several:

• Umbrella shaped like live oak tree (Quercus agrifolia), dragon tree (Dracaena draco), and New Zealand Christmas Tree (Metrosideros excelsa).
• Vase shaped like most bromeliads, some Agave, some Yucca.
• Rounded like manzanitas (Arctostaphylos), flannel bush (Fremontia), and bush germander (Teucrium fruticans).
• Tall and narrow like Cordyline, shoestring acacia (Acacia stenophylla), and candelabra tree (Euphorbia ingens).
• Broad and wide like California bush poppy (Dendromecon harfordii) and toyon (Heteromeles arbutifolia).
• Low, mat growing like a groundcover like little pickles (Othonna capensis), prostrate rosemary, and South African daisy (Arctotis).
• Angular and geometric like Yucca, Mexican grass tree (Dasylirion quadrangulatum), and Agave.
• Rosette shaped like Aeonium, and stonecrops (Echeveria).

Leaf color contributes to winter interest as well. With most flowers sleeping, add plants with different leaf colors. Combine leaf colors or – my favorite – go with just one leaf color but vary the shape/size/textures. I am also partial to burgundy, purple, and/or red leaves contrasted against a background of silver and blue leaves.

These plants should help you think about leaf color:

• Bright green-like century plant Agave americana, cabbage tree (Cussonia paniculata).
• Deep green-leaved toyon (Heteromeles arbutifolia), manzanita (Arctostaphylos), oaks, and more.
• Chartreuse-leaved Lomandra ’Del Sol’ and ‘Sunset Gold’ breath-of-heaven (Coleonema).
• Blue-green-leaved ‘Canyon Prince’ wild rye (Leymus condensatus ‘Canyon Prince’).
• Silver is a common color for drought-tolerant plants including many Agaves and Aloe, South African daisy (Arctotis), dune sage (Salvia africana-lutea), and other sages.
• Burgundy, purple, and/or red-leaved plants such as smoke bush (Cotinus coggygria), some Cordyline, some New Zealand Flax (Phormium), the tree Leptospermum ‘Dark Shadows’, and my favorite, conebush, ‘Ebony’ (Leucadendron ‘Ebony).
• Purple leaves like Arabian lilac (Vitex trifolia ‘Purpurea’) whose leaves are green on top and dusky purple below. Newly emerged leaves stand vertical as if to show off their purple undersides.
• Variegated green and gold like Furcraea foetida ‘Mediopicta.
• Variegated green and pale yellow like ‘Meerlo’ lavender (incredibly fragrant foliage, too).
• Variegated green and white such as Lomandra ‘Platinum Beauty.’
• Variegated reds including Cordyline ‘Pink Passion’ or ‘Electric Pink.’
• Variegated mixed colors Aeonium ‘Sunburst’ leaves are green with pale yellow stripes, edged in red. Aeonium ‘Zwartkopf’ succulent blades are nearly black, but the base is green, so the rosette looks black with a green “eye.” ‘Jester’ conebush leaves are striped green, red, and yellow all at once.

Consider leaf texture and color, then take your cues from nature, and layer different plants vertically. Start with tall plants (mostly trees) for a canopy. Next, plant tall shrubs, then shorter shrubs. Tall perennials and grass-like plants mix with the shorter shrubs, as do bulbs. Annual plants are the shortest and are a viable choice for the front of the garden, along with groundcovers that grow broad and wide. Choose from this menu to make a gorgeous, drought-tolerant winter garden.

Gardening time is nearly here! Other parts of the country kick off gardening in spring. In San Diego, our busy times are fall, winter, and early spring while the weather is cool and there’s a chance of rain. Here are my favorite digging, weeding, and utility tools to make your gardening more successful and more enjoyable.

Digging Tools

My favorite tools for digging planting holes feature heavy-duty, forged steel blades that can be sharpened when they go dull. Sharpening blades is very important. Try digging sandstone, decomposed granite, clay, or any soil with a sharp tool compared to a dull tool.  You’ll be amazed at the difference. I prefer wood handles over plastic or metal. Look for a solid wood handle with straight grain. The handle should insert into a long metal shank and secured by rivets. 

These are the most important digging tools in my garden shed:

• Hand trowels

Pick up a hand trowel to see how comfortable it feels. Is it heavy even before you start to dig? It will feel much heavier once filled with wet soil.  Is the handle shaped to fit your hand? Don’t accept a handle that is too large – or too small. Long term, the trowel you’ll find yourself using is the one that feels most comfortable. 

My favorite hand trowel is a weathered, green steel trowel I brought home from England many years ago. Its metal head and long shank are all one piece, with a short wood handle that inserts neatly into the shank and is secured with a rivet.  The closest trowel on the US market is this nursery trowel from A.M. Leonard.

• Shovels

Which shovel is better: round head, pointed head, or flat edge? That depends on the task. Use round/pointed shovels to dig compacted soil, a flat-edge shovel for digging loose soils. Both round and flat shovels are good for scooping and moving mulch and other materials.

Small head shovels are ideal for planting one-gallon and five-gallon plants, mixing potting soils, digging out spent vegetable plants, etc. 

Fit the handle length to your frame so your back isn’t sore after a day in the garden. Since I am petite, I prefer short-handled shovels like the Corona Multi-Purpose Mini Shovel and Ace Little Pal 27 inch Steel Round Utility Shovel. These two inexpensive workhorses last for years.

If you have a larger stature, look for “floral shovels,” which have similarly small heads at the end of long handles. Check out Ace steel round floral shovel, AM Leonard Floral Shovel with a straight handle, and Gemplers Floral Shovel.

• Hori Hori Knife

I’m not sure how I gardened for so long without a hori hori! “Hori” means “dig” in Japanese, an apt name for this “soil knife” perfect for digging small holes, transplanting, removing dead plants, and removing stubborn, deep-rooted weeds. The best hori hori has a smooth wood handle, steel blade, and sturdy construction. The blades are typically 3-inches wide by 8-inches long, slightly cupped, and shovel-like with serrations along one long side. As with other hand tools, your hori hori should fit your hand comfortably. 

This traditional hori hori has a carbon steel blade while this one has a stainless steel blade.

Weeding Tools

After the rains start, weed seeds sprout and need to be dealt with right away. So, reach for a weeding tool rather than for a bottle of “stuff” to spray. My favorite weeding tools include:

• CobraHead Weeder and Cultivator Garden Tools come in two sizes – handheld and long-handled. Both have the same curved head made of tempered steel. Use them to slice through soil and cut weeds off at the base or to dig out their deep roots. I’ve used these for years.
• The Nejiri Gama hand-held sickle hoe is another Japanese tool. This one’s very sharp-edged anvil-like head slices through soil like butter. Several companies make this style weeding tool, which comes in both right and left-handed versions: Garden Tool Co, Nisaku Japan, and others.
• Hori Hori Knife – see above.

Utility Items

These simple, inexpensive items are indispensable in the garden.

• Buckets

I never have enough 5-gallon buckets. I use them to collect greenwaste or weeds, carry water, move soil, store fertilizer, and turn upside down to sit on while I work. Find buckets with tops at big box stores, feed stores, etc.

• Concrete mixing tubs

Use these tubs to contain the mess when mixing potting soil or potting up plants. Fill with a few inches of water, then sit in potted plants so the water can wick to the top. Pour off the water and let the pots drain into the tub. You’ll easily think of other uses as well. Find these tubs at your local hardware or big box store.  

For the Long Term

Don’t penny-pinch. Well-made tools work better and last decades longer than cheaper ones, especially if you regularly wipe them clean and dry, and sharpen when they grow dull.

If you tend to forget where you set down your hand tools, take the time to paint the handles or dip them into plasticizer: bright orange or yellow. They will be far easier to keep track of! 

There is no denying we are in a very serious drought that is only getting worse. While San Diego County is not under drought restrictions now, the state has asked everyone to cut back water use by 10 to 20%.

The easiest place to cut back water use is outdoors, but likely not in the way you think. Rather than turn off your garden’s irrigation, first rethink, repurpose, and readjust. You CAN have a beautiful garden on a very low-water diet.

The point of irrigating is to get water into the soil to supply plant roots.

HOW MUCH TO WATER?

Rather than running your sprinklers daily or on a schedule that matches your neighbors’, or letting the gardener take charge, figure out how long and often your plants truly need water. Here is how:

How long to water: turn on each irrigation zone and let it run for the usual time. Use a soil probe or stick your finger into the soil to feel how deep the water has penetrated. The goal is to get the water deep down to the roots. If it isn’t that deep, run the zone again and repeat until the deep soil is wet. Note how long it took – that’s how long to water. Don’t be surprised if each zone needs a different run time. Remember though, under the current level 2 actions, you should not water your landscape using sprinklers for more than 10 minutes per watering station per day.

How often to water: do the Canary Test. Now that you know how long to water each zone, test how often to water. Run a zone using its new run time and mark that day on your calendar. Wait to water that zone again until the first plant in that zone starts to look a little droopy – that’s the canary. It may take five or 10 days or two weeks. Set that zone to run a day or two short of the time it takes for the canary to droop. Repeat for every irrigation zone in your garden. For detailed instructions for the Canary Test, visit tinyurl.com/canarytestgiveaway. Currently, under the level 2 actions, you should not irrigate more than three days a week.

How often to water changes through the seasons – more often in the heat of summer; less often in the cool of winter; in between spring and fall. Test in each season, then adjust the irrigation schedule. Keep the run time constant year-round.

SWITCH TO EFFICIENT IRRIGATION

Change overhead spray and old-fashioned drip irrigation to in-line drip irrigation.

Overhead irrigation wastes up to half the water it sprays (you pay for all that wasted water). Plus, why irrigate leaves when plants take water up through their roots? Old-style drip – single emitters at the end of tiny tubes – falls apart, clogs, and breaks, all of which wastes water. Switch to in-line drip instead. In-line drip has emitters embedded in the wall of the irrigation tubing. What looks like a hole from the outside is the port of a very sophisticated emitter that releases water drop by drop. The water penetrates directly into the soil to reach plant roots. It saturates the entire root zone to support plants efficiently and effectively (see video.kpbs.org/video/growing-passion-waterwise-wonderful).

MULCH BARE SOIL

Once there is water in the soil, keep it there as long as possible. A layer of mulch over drip irrigation lines serves as a water insulating blanket. Mulch vegetable gardens with straw. Mulch succulent gardens with rock. Mulch nonsucculent-ornamental gardens and orchards with aged or composted wood mulch. Layer mulch at least 3-inches thick. Renew regularly.

Don’t mulch gardens irrigated with overhead spray. It takes much more water to first saturate the mulch and then saturate the soil. Switch to in-line drip, then mulch.

Do not use weedcloth, landscape cloth, weed fabric, etc. All are the same. All keep water from penetrating into the soil. All keep mulch from integrating into the soil. None prevents weeds.

REPLACE YOUR LAWN

Lawns use as much water as swimming pools. Replace your lawn with beautiful drought-tolerant plants – not with artificial turf, which brings a host of other problems and doesn’t help battle climate change. Solarize or sheet mulch to kill your lawn this summer (visit kpbs.org/news/arts-culture/2016/04/26/growing-passion-bye-bye-grass-how-remove-your-lawn).

CHANGE YOUR PLANT PALETTE

We are fortunate to have a huge palette of beautiful drought-tolerant plants that grow beautifully in our gardens with little if any irrigation once plants are established. Choose from California native plants, plants from Australia, South Africa, the Mediterranean basin, and coastal Chile. For some inspiration, check out my latest book, “Hot Color Dry Garden,” waterwisegardener.com/product/hot-color-in-the-dry-garden, and watch kpbs.org/news/arts-culture/2016/05/04/growing-passion-after-lawn-gone-waterwise-gardens.

GO GRAY

Reuse the water from your washing machine, bathtub, shower, and sinks to water fruit trees and ornamental shrubs and trees. Washing machine gray water systems called “laundry to landscape” are easiest to install, require no permits, and are inexpensive. You won’t generate enough graywater to meet your entire garden’s needs but it can make a big difference.

NOTE: DO NOT use graywater for vegetable gardens (visit video kpbs.org/video/growing-passion-waterwise-wonderful).

SAVE HEATING WATER Put a bucket under the bathtub spout, shower, and kitchen sink to catch the water wasted while it warms. Use the water for container plants and those in the ground. It may be a “drop in the bucket,” but it can make a huge difference.

Spring is a great time to inventory your garden tools. Weed out what’s broken or simply doesn’t do its intended job. Replace those tools with higher-quality versions. With tools, like with anything else, you get what you pay for. Good quality tools should last 10 years or longer, especially if maintained properly. Spend a little more and take a little time to get a lot more use and life out of your tools.

Here are my favorite cutting and watering tools to get you started.

CUTTING TOOLS:

• Bypass hand pruners are the number one tool for your garden toolbelt. Use pruners to remove smaller branches on trees and shrubs, to deadhead flowering perennials, and to cut back ornamental grasses and dried-out bulb leaves. Harvest your fruits, vegetables, and herbs. Don’t bother with cheap hand pruners. Felco and Corona brand pruners are in most professionals’ toolbelts. Each offers several assorted styles and sizes – the larger the pruner, the larger diameter it can cut. Before you buy, handle the pruner to find the best fit, feel, and function.
• Bypass loppers are like bypass pruners on stilts. The cutting head sits atop 15- to 30-inches-long handles, depending on the lopper. Their length helps you reach overhead or deep into the center of a shrub or tree. It also gives you leverage for cutting thick branches. Like with hand pruners, some are heavy and some are light. Although the blades, not the weight, have the greatest bearing on functionality. While Corona and Felco both make excellent loppers, my favorite is a purple-handled Dramm lopper that I’ve had forever.
• Sharp blades are essential for pruners and loppers. Dull tools shred branches and damage plants. The Corona 5-inch carbide file fits the pocket and my garden apron, keeping it close at hand. A few quick swipes of the file on the right surface and in the right direction keeps these tools sharp and ready.
• Use a hand saw to cut away branches that are too thick for pruners and loppers. Don’t use a hack saw or a carpenter’s saw. Only pruning saws are designed for cutting branches. These saws are typically curved to increase cutting power and many fold to make them easy to carry.

When you work with pruning and cutting tools, they must be cleaned once you finish with one plant and before you move on to the next. Dirty pruners and saws can transmit viruses, bacteria, etc., from one plant to another. If a plant is infected, you can infect others by failing to clean your tools. To clean, spray the cutting blades with bathroom disinfectant. Allow it to sit for about a minute before wiping the blades with a clean rag. Next, lubricate any moving parts with household lubricant or mineral oil. Work it into the mechanisms, then wipe away the excess with a clean rag.

Here’s a nice tutorial on cleaning pruning and cutting tools: youtube.com/watch?v=vROuLbOuYq0

WATERING TOOLS:

• Dramm Colorstorm hoses come in a rainbow of colors, but more importantly, these tough, durable, no-kink hoses outlast all others. I prefer the 3/4 inches in diameter professional hoses, but the 5/8 inches in diameter hoses are just as good. Hoses come in lengths from 25- to 100-feet-long. Keep in mind that the longer the hose, the heavier the hose.
• Dramm One-Touch Rain Wand is THE BEST hose-end watering wand on the market. Forget spray guns with five or six spray settings. They are designed to wash cars and hose down sidewalks, not water plants. They blast plants out of the ground and blast them into smithereens. Dramm’s One-Touch Rain Wand is easy to hold, easy to use, and makes a gentle, full-shower rain that waters beautifully without destroying. Use your thumb to switch the water on and off. It’s effective and efficient.
• Sometimes, a plant needs a little extra water, like when you install a new plant into a bed of established plants. Rather than overwater established plants, attach a Gilmour stationary sprinkler to the end of your hose and let the water run for a deep soak. These small, inexpensive metal sprinklers do an excellent job of providing a temporary drink. Choose the best spray pattern for your garden.

Are your citrus tree leaves covered in black stuff? Do the stems and leaves have white fluffy spots? Are there hard oval bumps on the stems and branches? Or tiny black or white specks on the leaves? Or a white cloud that emerges from the leaves when you touch them?

What are they?

All of these are common with citrus. The black stuff is black sooty mold. White fluffy spots are mealybugs. Hard bumps are scale insects, while tiny black or white specks are aphids. The white cloud is whitefly.

Where do they come from?

Aphids, scale, and mealybugs are “farmed” by ants. These bugs suck sugary sap from the plants and exude sugary droplets – called “honeydew” – from their rear ends. Ants collect the honeydew to feed their young. Ants move the bugs from plant to plant to ensure an ongoing supply of honeydew.

Black sooty mold forms in the honeydew that inevitably drips onto leaves. Whiteflies are ubiquitous and from time to time, when conditions are just right, their populations explode.

What to do about them?

None of these pests will kill your citrus but they can weaken the trees and leave them vulnerable to other pests.

Controlling ants is key to controlling aphids, scale, mealybugs, and black sooty mold. Before you get out the big guns, however, start with the least toxic and mildest approach.

Look for a trail of ants heading up and down the trunk. Once you find them, apply sticky stuff like Tanglefoot® around the trunk of the tree. When ants get caught in the Tanglefoot®, it interrupts their “highway.” Don’t just slather it onto the trunk. Instead, make a band of duct tape or a similar material around the trunk, then smear Tanglefoot® onto the duct tape. Wear disposable gloves as this is messy! Replace the band every month or two so it doesn’t lose its effectiveness. Also, if left on too long, duct tape can constrict the growth of the tree.

At the same time, set out boric acid-based ant traps like the Terro® brand or the KM Ant Pro® bait station. Ants are attracted to these boric acid-based baits, which they take back to the nest. Boric acid destroys the nest.

This one-two punch should go a long way towards controlling ants. Once the ants are gone, natural mealybug and scale predators usually keep their populations under control. If they are still present after a month or so, spray the leaves and branches with insecticidal soap (NEVER DISHSOAP) or light horticultural oil (NOT NEEM). Always follow label instructions.

Next, use a sharp blast of water to clean the leaves of black sooty mold, and to kill aphids and whiteflies.

Normally, whiteflies are kept under control by natural predators, but from time to time, their populations explode. When that happens, spray leaves – especially the undersides – once a week for a month or two. I use a small hose attachment called a Bug Blaster ™, which creates a high-pressure blast in 360 degrees. The pressure of the water and the fall to the ground kill the soft-bodied aphids and the whiteflies, especially their eggs which are attached to the undersides of leaves.

Enjoy your citrus and their bloom, which should smell like heaven about now!

Animal, vegetable, or mineral?” is a question that kicks off every game of “20 questions.” In the garden however, animal, vegetable, and mineral mean something totally different. These are the main building blocks of soil – along with air, water, and microbes.

Soil’s mineral components come from different kinds of rock. The particles that make up soil are clay, sand, and silt. The spaces between particles fill with water when it rains and when we irrigate. Air replaces the water as it is depleted or drained.

Clay particles are very small and shaped regular, packing together tightly. Sand particles are large and shaped irregular, leaving lots of empty spaces between particles. Silt particles are in-between sizes.

The larger spaces between sand particles allow water to move through quickly, while the tiny spaces make it difficult for water to penetrate clay soils. Once there, clay holds moisture for a very long time.

Oxygen (from the air) is critical for healthy plant roots. Water from the soil moves into the roots and up through the plant, where it is used in photosynthesis — the plant process of making energy from water, sunlight, and carbon dioxide.

Mineral, water, and air comprise 95 percent of soil. Five percent of soil is “organic matter” that comes from decomposed animals and plants (the “vegetables”). As animals and plants die and decompose, they release nitrogen, phosphorus, and other critical elements into the soil.

The last component of soil makes up less than half percent by volume but is critical. The “soil food web” is the living component of soil. It is made up of beneficial bacteria and other microscopic organisms such as fungi and protozoa. Earthworms, sowbugs, millipedes, and other tiny critters are also part of the soil food web. They comprise an entire universe of creation, consumption, and decomposition happening underground. Soil food web organisms digest organic matter and release nutrients into the soil,

where roots recycle them back into plants.

Organic matter also absorbs and holds water, which helps plants survive drought. In fact, if you can increase the organic matter in an acre of soil by just one percent, that soil can hold 25,000 more gallons of water. That is a pretty good reason to mulch!

Most soil food web organisms live in the top few inches, where they feed on organic matter. They are not all mixed up together, however. Each component has its sweet spot, with the perfect complement of food, temperature, moisture, and so on. Mixing those very distinct layers by tilling or turning the soil destroys the soil food web. Tilling compacts the soil too, so if you learned to garden with a rototiller or a spading fork, it is time to retire them.

Best Soil for Your Garden or Best Plants for Garden’s Soil

Drought-tolerant plants – whether trees, shrubs, succulents, etc. – tend to come from regions where soils are much like our local soils. That is one of the reasons these plants grow so well in local gardens. Grow them in native soil; do not amend planting holes. Use organic (plant-based) mulch for non-succulent plants. Use rock mulch for succulent plants.

Vegetables – Most vegetables require soils that are high in organic matter, so grow them in raised beds filled with custom soil mixes, typically 60 percent mineral and 40 percent organic matter. Layer on lots of compost and add worm castings before you plant. Add vegetable fertilizer and mulch the beds with a thick layer of straw (not hay). The straw eventually breaks down into organic matter, too.

Plants native to high rainfall, acid soil, and soils high in organic matter struggle when planted in local soils. If you absolutely cannot live without hydrangea, gardenia, azalea, etc., grow these plants in pots. You can simulate their native growing conditions with acidic potting soil that is high in organic matter, acidic fertilizer, and extra water – all more doable in a container.

The coronavirus quarantine has sent many of us into our gardens for sanctuary, escape, enjoyment, and new beginnings as well as to grow food and feed your family. If you are a longtime gardener, this is a great time to prepare your garden for climate change. If you are brand new to gardening, get things started with climate change in mind.

What can we expect from climate change? You have probably heard climate scientists talk about warmer temperatures, but there is much more to climate change.

Rainfall overall may not change but the rainfall pattern will. Rainstorms will not be as frequent, so we will have longer dry periods in between. When the rains do arrive, they will be far more intense. We have already received hints of that. Do you remember the rains we had back in mid-April? My home weather station recorded more than 9 inches of rain in a week and 4.5 inches of rain on one day. That one day’s rainfall was more rain than in all of 2018!

How can you prepare your garden for heat, intense rainfall, and longer dry periods?

• Plant water-wise plants. They require little irrigation and have a better chance of surviving the long, hot, dry periods between winter rains. Our native plants, succulents, plants from other Mediterranean climate regions of the world, and plants from dry regions of Baja California, Mexico, are the best choices.
• Upgrade your garden’s irrigation to in-line drip. In those long, dry periods, ornamental plants will likely need watering. In-line drip irrigation (not point-source irrigation, which involves individual emitters at each plant) is the most efficient and effective irrigation and is very low maintenance. This kind of drip irrigation wets the entire root zone, so there is no need to add emitters over time. Run in-line drip irrigation for an hour or more each time, but not very often. Water-wise plants need the soil to dry out in between watering.
• Install a rainwater collection system. Every square foot of your roof collects 0.6 gallons of water per inch of rainfall. That translates to 1,200 gallons of water for a 2,000 square-foot roof during a 1-inch rainfall. Collect that water in a cistern or tote. Then use it to water your garden in dry periods.
• Create dips and swales to capture rainfall on your property. In the old days, the goal was to direct water off your property as soon as possible. Now, the goal is to keep as much water on site as possible. Create swales, dry streambeds, dips, and depressions in your landscape. In these places, water can collect, sit, and sink into the soil slowly over time, making it available to plant roots between rainstorms.
• Spread a 3- or 4-inch-thick layer of mulch. As wood-based mulches break down, they support the important soil microbes that move water and nutrients to the plants’ roots. Improved soil texture is a mulch byproduct, as is the soil’s ability to soak up and hold water like a sponge. A layer of wood-based mulch or rock mulch insulates the soil to hold in moisture between rainstorms or between watering. In a rainstorm, mulch also helps slow erosion by buffering the impact of raindrops hitting the soil. Just remember to leave some bare dirt somewhere in your garden (at least 5-by-5 inches) for bumblebees and other ground-dwelling native bees. They seldom sting and are very important pollinators.
• Plant trees. Climate change is largely the result of increased carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Trees capture and store that carbon dioxide; their shade cools our homes while the water that trees release cools the atmosphere. Trees help stem soil erosion, filter particulates and pollutants from the air, and create the oxygen we breathe. The best time to plant a tree was yesterday. The second-best time is today. Let’s plant trees!

The holidays are past, and all the decorations put away. What will you do with your poinsettias? Plant them, of course!

Poinsettias’ botanical name is Euphorbia pulcherrima. They are native to tropical forests of Mexico and Central America where they grow ten or twelve feet tall and wide. What look like poinsettia flowers are actually bright colored bracts. The true flowers are tiny, yellow, and sit in the very center of the bracts. The bracts, though, are what make poinsettias so beautiful, and are also what breeders tinker with to create different colors and patterns.

While the wild plants have been tamed somewhat, potted poinsettias are not intended to be houseplants long term. So, keeping potted poinsettias going through the holidays can be a challenge. Your poinsettias will do best in a spot with bright light, where temperatures stay around 65 degrees day and night.

Drainage is critical, in fact, most poinsettias succumb to overwatering – they literally drown. So, remove the fancy foil wrapper as soon as you bring the plant into your house. If you put a plate or bowl beneath the pot to catch excess water, prop the pot up on gravel or on pot feet so the poinsettia does not sit in water. When you water, take the pot to the sink and let the water run into it slowly, until it saturates the soil and starts to drip out the bottom. Wait for the surface to dry out before watering again.

Once the holidays are over, do not throw your poinsettias away; plant them in your garden instead. If you live along the coast, plant just after the New Year. Inland, keep poinsettias indoors in their pots after the last frost in spring, then plant.

Your poinsettias will bloom again, in the ground, if they are planted in a spot that gets total nighttime darkness from September to December. How much light they get during the day is not nearly as important as the darkness they get overnight. If there is a security light nearby or a streetlight, a bright window, or just twinkly lights, the plants will grow but the showy bracts will stay green, rather than turn red or pink or even gold.

Plant your poinsettias in soil that drains well, so the roots do not stay wet – just like in pot. Do not be surprised if they drop all their leaves right after you plant them. Be patient while they recover from transplant shock.

Once the days warm up past 60 degrees, your poinsettias will sprout new growth. At that point, give them some all-purpose organic fertilizer and continue to fertilize through the growing season, following the directions on the label.

If you like big, rangy poinsettias, do not bother pruning. But if you prefer a more compact, bushier plant, prune according to the holidays. Prune the branches back by as much as half on Memorial Day. Do the same thing on the Fourth of July and again on Labor Day. Shape the plant as you prune. New flower buds start to form after Labor Day, so do not prune them again or you will cut off the buds.

By the way, poinsettias were long thought to be toxic, but that has proven to be an urban myth. Like other members of the Euphorbia family, they do have a white milky sap that can irritate skin and damage eyes. That said, as you enjoy your potted poinsettia on the dining room table, it is best to wash your hands if a branch breaks off and the white sap drips onto your skin.

And if you already threw your poinsettias away, at least you have an idea for this year’s holiday season!

Our region’s precious trees are still under attack, threatened by various “bad guys.” Here’s an update from last year’s report.

Shot Hole Borer Beetle
Oaks, willows, palo verde, and California sycamore are just a few of the trees susceptible to infestation by shot hole borers, which continue to spread across the region, according to Beatriz Nobua –Behrmann Urban Forestry Advisor for UC Cooperative Extension. According to Nobua –Behrmann, each beetle bores a tiny hole into a tree’s bark and inserts a bit of fungus. The beetle actually eats the fungus, not the tree, but while a tree might tolerate a small number of beetles, but as the population grows, all those holes eventually kill the tree. By the time you notice that a tree is dying, it could be home to thousands of beetles. Once it dies, each of those beetles (and their offspring) spread out to find new trees to infest.

The best shot hole borer defense is a good offense. Check your trees for tiny holes in the bark, stained bark, gum on the bark, and so on. Mild infestations, Nobua-Behrmann says, can be treated with sprays or tree injections.

One caution: Since shot hole borers can find their way into your garden in firewood and in freshly chipped wood mulch. Nobua-Behrmann recommends that all firewood be kiln dried or properly solarized (heated by the sun’s rays) before you bring it onto your property. Only accept any woodchips (aka “arborist chips”) that are smaller than one inch across. For information about the trees most susceptible to shot hole borers, how to recognize an infestation, and what to do if you find shot hole borers in your trees, visit ucanr.edu/sites/pshb.

South American Palm Weevil
Have you ever seen a Canary Island palm (Phoenix canariensis) whose fronds flop backwards? Collapsed fronds are a sure sign of the deadly South American palm weevil. Other signs are yellowing fronds, holes, tunnels, and frass at the base of fronds. Once infected, a palm becomes a weevil breeding ground. The black, inch and a half long weevils can fly up to 15 miles in a day. They can also travel from palm to palm on poorly cleaned pruning shears, saws, and other tools.

As soon as you see the oddly floppy fronds, It is important to cut down infested palms as soon as you see the oddly floppy fronds, and don’t hire the guy around the corner to do the work unless he or she is a certified arborist and disinfects their tools as they work.

Please don’t move live palms out of infested areas — weevils can move with them. If you suspect that South American palm weevils are in your area, you can trap them using a pheromone-baited bucket trap. Directions are at cisr.ucr.edu/pdf/palm-weevil-bucket-trap.pdf.

To learn more, attend the September 4^th meeting on palm weevil management put on by University of California Cooperative Extension in Escondido. Contact Sonia Rios sirios2@ucanr.educreate new email for information.

To learn more about this pest and to report collapsing palms, visit cisr.ucr.edu/palmarum.html.

Citrus Green Disease (HLB)
Experts say it is just a matter of time until deadly citrus greening disease (HLB) reaches San Diego County. It is already infecting orange, lemon and other citrus trees in LA, Orange, and Riverside Counties. The USDA describes it as “one of the most serious citrus diseases in the world.”

Citrus greening is caused by a bacterium that is carried from tree to tree by the tiny Asian citrus psyllid (ACP).

HLB bacteria interferes with the tree’s ability to move nutrients. Leaves on infected plants develop irregular yellow splotches or mottling (yellowing from nutrient deficiencies are have more distinctly even patterns). Fruits stay small, grow lopsided, and taste bitter. Some fruits remain partially green even when ripe. There is no cure.

ACP is in our region, but so far, none of the local psyllids are infected with the deadly HLB bacteria, thanks to an aggressive program by the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) for releasing tiny parasitic wasps that kill Asian citrus psyllids.

In addition, there is an HLB quarantine that prohibits the movement of citrus fruits, leaves, and trees out of regions of Orange and LA counties. Please, do your part to keep citrus greening from coming into San Diego County by following the quarantine guidelines posted at cdfa.ca.gov/plant/hlb/regulation.html.

If you see or suspect that a tree has HLB, report it at californiacitrusthreat.org.

If you’ve visited or lived in the East, Midwest, Pacific Northwest, or any other temperate climate region of the world, you may have noticed how green those regions look. Big trees and shrubs, covered in large, green leaves, thrive on warm summer rains. When winter’s cold arrives, the trees and shrubs drop their leaves and go into dormancy — a kind of suspended animation — while the plants wait for spring’s warmth to return.

Our region is not green. It is bright and sunny, with scrub-covered hills that are olive green from fall through spring, then brown through summer. They respond to our unique Mediterranean climate pattern. Rain falls during mild cool temperatures of autumn, winter, and early spring. There’s no rain during summer’s dry heat, which is nice for people, but challenging for plants.

Big green trees and shrubs are rare in deserts, too. Some rain falls in winter, but the biggest rainfall occurs during muggy summer monsoons. Deserts get extremely hot, with little rainfall overall, and — other than during monsoon season — the dry air literally pulls moisture from plant leaves.

Plants native to these dry regions have evolved similar survival strategies for extreme heat and limited water. Many native plants go dormant in the heat. Their leaves drop, and branches stay bare until the cool temperatures of fall when new leaves sprout, and plants resume their growth.

Small leaves and narrow leaves are drought strategies, too. Plants lose moisture by evaporation from the surface of their leaves. Larger leaves, with more surface area, lose the most water. Smaller and narrower leaves have less surface area, so they lose less water to the atmosphere.

While we love the feeling of fuzzy leaves, that isn’t why they are covered with fuzz. For plants, that layer of fine hairs is a vapor barrier that slows down water evaporation from leaf surfaces. The hairs shade the leaf from blistering sunlight, too, and their silver color helps deflects sunlight. All are strategies for surviving heat and drought.

Leaves that don’t contain much water, don’t have much water to lose. Some dry-climate plants evolve leaves that are leathery or high in oils, rather than fleshy and water-filled.

Succulence is an obvious drought strategy. In the rainy season, succulent plants absorb water and store it in their stems, roots, and leaves. In the dry season, they use up that moisture to survive.

Next time you see a barrel cactus, notice how beneath the spines, the plant itself is baffled like an accordion. The baffles expand as the plants fill up with water during the rainy season. As the water gets used, the baffles shrink back down.

Even spines have a drought purpose. True, they protect plants from predators, but for some cacti, spines harvest dew from the cooler evening and early morning air, then direct it right into the plant or to the roots.

All plant leaves are covered in a thin layer of wax to keep them hydrated for a longer period. For some hot climate plants, the protective wax layer is so thick that it comes off when you rub the leaf.

These adaptations make for gardens that look entirely different from big, broad-leaved temperate gardens, yet are no less attractive. So, next time you are looking for plants that will thrive in your garden with little or no irrigation, look for these features:

• Silver leaves
• Succulence
• Fuzzy leaves
• Waxy leaves
• Leathery leaves
• Oily leaves
• Small leaves
• Narrow leaves
• Spines

These characteristics are rules of thumb since, for example, silver leaved plants are native to many different climates. So, do your homework. Research plants to find those best suited to our waterwise gardens. Then, then come up with a plan before you go shopping. That’s the best part, of course!

Climate change is a big issue that overwhelms most of us. We are all part of the problem, but what can we do to be part of the solution? There’s no question that as individuals and as a society, we need to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) gas emissions primarily by reducing the amount of fossil fuels we burn. To do that, we need to drive less and switch to fuel-efficient vehicles, use solar power in place of electricity made by burning fossil fuels, make buildings more energy efficient, stop deforestation, use less water, and so on.

There’s one additional thing we CAN do — we can plant trees.

Have you ever heard forests described as the “lungs of the earth?” Trees — and plants, including marine plants, — create the oxygen we breathe from sunlight, water, and CO2. Through the process of photosynthesis, water and CO2 become the tree, which includes —the wood, the leaves, and the roots. The process is referred to as “sequestering” CO2. As long as the CO2 remains bound up in the tree, it stays out of the atmosphere. Once the tree is cut down, it decays, and in the process, releases CO2 back into the atmosphere. So the more actively trees growing on earth, the more CO2 is removed from the atmosphere.

In fact, a single tree can absorb up to 48 pounds of CO2 per year, and sequester a ton of CO2 by the time the tree reaches its 40^th birthday.

What trees should you plant? The best trees for sequestering CO2 are big trees with big, green leaves. In rainier climates, that describes most of the trees. In San Diego County, trees native and those best adapted to our area tend to have smallish or narrow leaves. Still, planting any kind of tree helps.

Deciduous trees (those that lose their leaves in winter) planted on the south and west sides of your home shade your house to cool it in summer so you use less air conditioning. In winter, after the leaves fall, sunlight penetrating through the branches warms the house, thus reduces your need to run the heater. Not using your heater or air conditioner saves money, conserves energy, and reduces the CO2 emissions from creating that energy.

Shade over concrete surfaces keeps the concrete cool, while planting a tree or large shrub to shade an air conditioner helps the unit run up to 10 percent more efficiently, which reduces its energy use.

In urban communities, properties might be too small for big trees, but several smaller trees can add up to the carbon sequestration job that a big tree would do. Choose a tree that is drought tolerant too. Consider planting Mexican redbud (Cercis mexicana), crape myrtle (Lagerstroemeria), pineapple guava (Acca sellowiana), fig trees, bay laurel (Laurus nobilis), or citrus trees (not so drought tolerant, but they fruit).

Find places in your neighborhood for bigger trees like our native live oak (Quercus agrifolia), Chinese pistache (Pistacia sinensis), tipu (Tipuana tipu), jacaranda (Jacaranda mimosifolia), or kurrajong (Brachychiton populneus). In addition to sequestering carbon, these trees reduce the heat-island effect to cool the entire community. In a park, trees create welcoming shady spaces, and can do so on a hot summer day, too.

If you live in a rural area with lots of room, please feel free to plant lots of trees. In rural areas, trees offer the same advantages as in urban areas, plus they serve as windbreaks, slow runoff, and erosion to protect the soil, serve as habitat for wild animals and insects, and offer many other ecosystem services. If space is not a problem, plant native live oak along with other natives such as sycamore (Platanus racemosa), Engelmann oak (Quercus engelmannii), and valley oak (Quercus lobata). Add large native shrubs such as toyon (Heteromeles arbutifolia), lemonade berry (Rhus integrifolia), and ‘Ray Hartman’ California lilac (Ceanothus ‘Ray Hartman’).

So this year, please, plant and care for at least two trees. Make it one of your New Year’s resolutions – two trees to cool the planet!

Finally it’s fall! Cool days and cool nights are a huge relief, for both people and plants. It also means it is time to change the way you are watering your garden.

In the hot, dry summer air, plants are under huge water stress. They lose water from their leaves faster than their roots can replace it with water from the soil. That’s why plant leaves can look droopy, especially towards the end of a hot afternoon.

Once the weather cools, and especially when the air is moist, plants don’t have nearly as much water stress. At the same time, the days are shorter and the sun sits lower in the sky. With the limited sunlight for photosynthesis, plant metabolism slows down. And with that, the plants’ water needs decrease.

If you water by hand, notice that it takes longer for soil to dry out now. There’s no reason to water wet soil, so wait longer between watering. I have a large collection of potted plants and in the summer, I water every plant twice a week and sometimes more often. In the winter, the potting soil stays damp longer, so I water just once a week.

If an old-fashioned manual irrigation clock controls your irrigation system it’s time to adjust your clock. Each zone should run less often, but for the same number of minutes as it ran during the summer. If your garden soil is clay, you might be able to water just once every few weeks through fall and not at all in winter, especially when (or if) it rains. If your garden soil is sand, sand drains very quickly so the irrigation needs to run more often, maybe once every week or two – unless it rains.

If your garden’s irrigation is managed by a “smart” controller, the controller is programmed to adjust the irrigation schedule seasonally, based on where your garden is located, the type of soil in your garden, types of plants, and a few other factors. Most systems have mini-weather stations that monitor heat, humidity, and rainfall to determine how often and how long to run each irrigation zone. Like with any other technology, you should check the controller’s log periodically to see how well it is doing its job. Now is a good time to do that check. Notice how often each zone runs and for how long. If the history doesn’t show your system running less often now, look for a button labeled “percent” or “%” and adjust the schedule there.

If it rains, smart controllers shut the system down until the soil dries out. Have you ever cleaned your smart controller’s rain sensor? Dead leaves, dirt and other debris can collect in the sensor and interfere with its operations. Look for your controller’s rain sensors as part of a self-contained unit typically mounted near the irrigation controller and on a high point, like your home’s eaves or roof.

If you are establishing new plants or a whole new garden, the newly installed plants need a little extra water this year, and maybe next year too. Establishing new plants in an existing garden can be a bit tricky since you want the new plants to get enough water, without overwatering everything else. I like to water each new plant with a small hose-end sprinkler set to make a fan only large enough to cover the soil beneath the plant’s canopy. I set the timer on my smartphone for 30 minutes or so.
Once the soil is saturated, I move the sprinkler on to the next new plant.

Establishing an entirely new garden is more straightforward, especially if you have an irrigation controller. Some smart controllers have a setting for establishing new gardens. If yours doesn’t, set the controller to run often enough to keep all the soil damp but not wet. Then, don’t just walk away. You’ll need to monitor the garden and make adjustments to the controller as needed.

And if we are very lucky this winter, Mother Nature will do all the watering for us.

It is always a bit sad to pick the last of the summer’s tomatoes, squash, pumpkins and eggplants. These are my favorite vegetables, in part because of their flavors and in part because they are just so beautiful when they ripen red, orange, yellow, and purple. But then, I remind myself about all the wonderful vegetables that are planted now to eat through fall, winter, and early spring.

As a rule of thumb, any plant whose fruits we eat (botanically, anything with seeds is a fruit, so tomatoes, squash, eggplant, pumpkins, and peppers are fruits) need the long, hot months of summer to ripen, so we plant those in early spring for summer picking.

From fall through early spring, we grow and eat leaves (lettuces, spinach, kale, cabbage), stems (leeks, celery, kohlrabi) roots (carrots, beets, radishes), and so on. We eat the developing flower stalks of broccoli and cauliflower.

It’s time, then, to start those fall veggies. Root vegetables like radishes, carrots, turnips, and beets are best planted from seed, directly into your garden bed or container. Whether you grow in the ground or in raised beds (which is the preferred backyard method in our area), dig in plenty of compost first and dampen the soil.

Carrot seeds and other tiny seeds are hard to spread evenly over a garden bed. So try this; mix the seeds with dry construction sand (not playground sand) or dried coffee grounds in a pint-sized yogurt or cottage cheese container, Mix about one-part seeds to four-parts sand or coffee grounds. Then, scatter the seed mixture over the prepared bed.

Sprinkle a very thin layer of soil over the seeds, with seeds this small, if they are planted much deeper, they might not germinate. Press the soil surface gently with a flat board or the heel of your hand – that ensures that seeds and soil fuse together.

Vegetables that are not root vegetables can be planted from seed or as seedlings. Independent nurseries (those that are locally owned) offer a surprising selection of varieties. Some farmer’s market vendors sell seedlings as well.

I like to start my own seedlings in sterilized plastic six packs or four packs saved from past seedling purchases. I also use pint yogurt or cottage cheese containers that I sterilize too. To sterilize, clean the containers first, then soak for about 20 minutes in a solution of one part bleach to nine parts water.

I never start seeds in egg cartons. There’s not room for enough soil and it is very hard to keep cardboard egg cartons from drying out too quickly.

If you are planting seeds into containers, use brand new seed starting mix rather than in potting soil and don’t recycle old seed starting mix. Fill the containers with seed starting mix, then dampen it. Label the containers, then plant the seeds.

After you plant seeds, put the containers outside in spot that gets part day sun and is protected from critters. It is best if they are in a place where you can keep an eye on them too. To water, fill a basin of water with an inch or two of water, then set the containers into the basin. Let them sit until the water wicks to the top, then remove them to drain.

When the seedlings are about six weeks old, they should be large enough to be planted in the garden.

To plant seeds directly in the ground or into a raised bed, read the seed packet for the ideal planting depth and width.

As your vegetables grow, fertilize with organic vegetable food. Mulch them with straw and have fun growing your own cool weather feast.

We’ve had our first taste of El Niño rains; four inches in three days! That’s almost half the rainfall we normally see in a year. Fortunately, we prepared ahead of time. The plumber came out a few weeks ago to clear in-ground drains. The tree trimmer lightened the canopies on our largest trees. The rain gutters got cleaned out, too. All were time and money well spent.

Many people ask me how to protect their plants from rains but that’s not really an issue. As I mentioned in a recent radio interview about El Niño, when it rains, plants do a happy dance. Water doesn’t hurt leaves or stems or branches. The risks instead, come from what happens to the water once it hits the ground. Standing water can drown plant roots; plants can be washed away in a mudslide or by fast moving water, or undermined by erosion.

How do you prepare for El Nino rains? Here’s my to-do list:

• Clean out rain gutters so water doesn’t cascade over the sides and smash the plants below.
• Redirect downspouts to disperse water into bio-swales. From there, it will slowly percolate into the soil. If you have poor draining clay soils, install rain barrels to save the water, then use it once the garden dries out.
• Check drains to be sure they work properly. Clear clogs to avoid flooding.
• Turn over pots, buckets and any other open containers that might collect and hold water long enough for mosquitoes to breed in.
• If you collect rainwater in open buckets, put a lid on the buckets between downpours.
• Protect bare slopes from erosion. Install straw wattles horizontally across hillsides. Wattles are essentially mesh tubes filled with straw and staked in place to serve as speed bumps as water runs downhill. By the end of the season, the straw will break down and can be emptied onto the soil. Compost “socks” are similar to wattles but are filled with compost.
• Manage the water in your rain barrels. Don’t collect water from the first rain. That “first flush” carries chemicals, dust that settles from the air, dirt, bird poop, debris, etc. Let that water go and capture the next rainfall.
• Renew your garden’s mulch. Organic mulch — that’s mulch made from leaves, bark, wood, etc. — traps water as it falls. That protects soil from erosion and absorbs water like a sponge. Once water percolates into the soil, mulch helps keep it there by slowing evaporation. And, as mulch breaks down, it builds healthy soil to support the plants in your garden.
• Turn off your irrigation. If we get a long, hot dry spell or Santa Ana winds, you’ll need to water. That’s unlikely to happen more than a time or two between now and the end of March.
• Use the time between storms to plant. Plant any of our native plants and plants from dry climates of South Africa, Australia, Chile and the Mediterranean coast. Make your plans, do your research, then head to the nursery. Don’t plant right away, however. Let the soil dry for three or four days after a rain. Digging and standing on wet soil compacts it, the opposite of what we want to do.
• When you do plant, plant directly into unamended soil. Research tells us that plants in “native” soils do better than those in amended soils. It’s OK to toss in a few handfuls of worm castings, but skip the fertilizer and don’t bother with soil amendments.

Remember this year’s rains are to be welcomed, not feared. While they won’t solve the drought, every drop certainly helps. Sadly, the El Niño rains won’t end California’s drought. But if you capture some of that rainfall, you can use it later in the year, after the rains end and the soils dry out. Shop for rain barrels and learn about rainwater harvesting at your local garden center or irrigation store.

You might wonder if the drought means the end of fruit trees in our backyards. The answer is “no.” There are many kinds of fruit trees that produce with little, if any, irrigation once trees are established. My top five list includes fig trees.

Figs originated in the hot, dry Middle East. They grow easily here, and there are many varieties to choose from, thanks to their being in cultivation for over eons and by different cultures across the world.

In my garden, I grow the mild flavored, apple sized ‘Long Yellow,’ which has yellow skin and pale flesh. ‘Brown Turkey’ is medium sized fruit with brown skin and very sweet burgundy/brown flesh. ‘Panachee’ (also called ‘Tiger Stripe’) makes small figs, green and yellow striped outside with strawberry colored flesh that tastes sweet and bright.

There are many more fig varieties on the market too.

Once you select a variety, plant your fig tree in the hottest area of your garden, where it will get at least six hours of full, direct sun each day. Figs prefer well-draining soil, so plant into a raised mound if your soil is clay.

Dig the hole so the tree sits at the same height in the ground as it did in its pot; then one and a half or two times as wide as the pot.

Don’t bother amending the planting hole, but do add a few handfuls of worm castings to help jumpstart beneficial soil microbes.

Next, set a gopher basket into the planting hole to protect roots at the base of the tree. If gophers eat the peripheral roots, the tree will likely survive, but if they get the main roots the tree will die. Purchase Gopher baskets in nurseries or make your own from chicken wire (just be sure to wear leather gloves!).

Fill the hole and the container each with water and allow it to drain. Then, remove the tree from the container and rough up the rootball. Gently set the tree into the hole, then backfill tamping soil down and wetting it every few inches.

Finally, make a shallow basin around the trunk of the tree for deep soaking right after planting and every few weeks through the first few months.

At the same time, install in-line drip irrigation (rather than bubblers or individual drip emitters) around the tree trunk. Starting at about eight inches away from the trunk, make concentric loops of irrigation lines, spaced about 12 inches apart. Set the last loop a foot beyond the tree’s canopy.

Figs require no special spraying or pruning. Their soft, white wood is easy to prune and even to shape as espalier. Prune right after harvest, in the short window before next year’s fruits begin to form.

While figs can be fertilized, fertilizers promote vigorous growth that counters the goals of drought tolerance. Instead, spread a three-inch thick layer of mulch over the soil under and around each tree. Leave the soil right around the trunk bare so mulch doesn’t touch the tree.

The cooler months of fall and winter are best planting months. If there is no rain, deep water often enough to keep roots damp (not wet) through the first year or two.

After that, some gardeners can stop watering altogether, depending on the garden’s microclimate. That said, monitor plants, especially in the hot months. If leaves droop a little during the day, that may not be a problem but if they droop first thing in the morning, that plant is water stressed. Deep water it right away.

Figs have two ripening seasons, depending on the variety. Most ripen at the end of summer but a few also have an early crop, called a breba crop, in early summer. Either way, figs ripen only on the tree so don’t to pick them early.

I love eating figs fresh off the tree, but of course they are wonderful as jam, roasted, tarts, and baked in chicken dishes.