Garden CALENDAR Calendar

november

Plant a cover crop in your garden area to come up next spring. You can plant winter wheat, cereal rye, winter rye, triticale, winter barley, or winter peas.

Plant a window garden of lettuce, chives, and parsley.

Place mulch around berries for winter protection. Cover strawberry plants with clean straw to insulate them through the winter.

Store garden fertilizers and supplies in a safe, dry place, out of the reach of children.

Start your compost pile for next fall. Do not use grass clippings or plant debris that may have pesticide residues, disease or insects in your compost pile.

Wrap the trunks of young, thick barked trees (maples, aspen, ash) with paper tree wrap to prevent sunscald. Remove it in spring (April). Wrap your new trees 2 to 3 years in a row until the outer bark has thickened.

Now is a good time to remove and discard paper wasp nests from the eaves of your home. At this time of year the nests may be empty. Paper wasps only occupy their nests for one season. Remove at dusk when wasp activity slows down.

Get signed up to become a local OSU Master Gardener volunteer. Training begins in January. For an application go to: http://extension.oregonstate.edu/deschutes/sites/default/files/Horticulture/mg_complete_application_2017.pdf

December

The winter months (November to February) is the best time to prune pine trees to prevent the Sequoia Pitch Moth from laying eggs in open pruning cuts. This moth is not in flight during this time. Moths are attracted to the scent of pitch. Moths cause damage to trees and lead to large pitch masses on the trunk and branches.

If you are trying to overwinter your zonal geraniums, you can cut them back by two thirds leaving about one third of the plant intact. Then bring indoors to a garage or cooler room with a window for light and minimally water through the winter months to keep the roots from drying out. Around February or March you can begin to increase the watering and then add some fertilizer to get the plant going. Eventually place outside once warmer weather arrives.

Want to brighten up your home with some color? Force bulbs indoors during the winter months. The most commonly forced bulbs include crocus, hyacinths, paper whites, amaryllis, tulips, daffodils, miniature iris, and scilla.

Browse seed catalogs, nurseries, and the internet for seeds. Consider planting new and heirloom vegetables in the garden this spring.

Make sure your landscape plants, especially your new ones, do not dry out or desiccate this winter. If we have lots of snow, then you can enjoy the view from inside your cozy home. However if we have a break in the weather with a dry spell (3-6 weeks), when the sun is out, no snow has fallen and the ground is warmed up; you will need to drag out the garden hose and give all of your plants a deep soak. This will prevent your plants from drying out through the winter months. If we have a long, dry, sunny winter, you will want to water every 6-8 weeks.

Clean, oil, and sharpen garden tools. You can clean your tools with a bleach solution, 1 tablespoon bleach per gallon of water. Rinse thoroughly with water and dry immediately to prevent corrosion. You can also use rubbing alcohol to disinfect tools.

If you are selecting a live Christmas tree for the holidays, be sure and follow these tips:

Live trees can be kept inside for 3-5 days without breaking dormancy.

A tree goes dormant once a year; if dormancy is broken the tree will likely not survive the freezing temperatures of winter, once placed outside.

It’s best to plant your live tree as soon as possible after the holidays are over but this may be difficult during the winter months. Instead dig a hole the same size of the container on the east or north side of your home, and then sink the tree in the container into the ground to protect and insulate the roots during the winter months. Then, in the spring, you can take the tree out of the container and permanently plant the tree in the landscape in the best location.

Make holiday decorations from conifer trees, shrubs, and ornamental berries from the landscape.

Browse our local garden publications specific to Central Oregon at: http://extension.oregonstate.edu/deschutes/horticulture/garden-publications

January/February

Gently spray your houseplants with tepid water to remove the dust from the leaves or take a damp cloth and wipe down larger leaves removing all dust.

Monitor houseplants for adequate water, fertilizer and humidity. These requirements are generally less during the winter months.

Check stored vegetables, fruits, or flower bulbs for rot or fungus and discards any showing signs of rot.

The national gardening craze has a lot of seed sources selling out earlier than ever. It is a good idea to order seeds early this year. Purchase/order annual and vegetable garden seeds with 65-80 days to maturity, these are best for Central Oregon. Remember to add 14 days to the maturity date on the packet to approximate how long it will take for that plant to mature here in Central Oregon. Plants either slow down or stop growing at night due to our low evening temperatures.

If we have heavy snowstorms, you can tie limbs of your columnar evergreens (i.e. upright juniper, arborvitae) to prevent breakage from ice or snow.

Order spring planted bulbs, corms, and roots such as alliums, dahlias, gladiolus, lilies and autumn crocus.

Avoid walking on the lawn if it is frozen solid to prevent damaging the turf.

Make a cold frame or hotbed to start early vegetables or flowers.

Design your vegetable garden with consideration for spacing, trellising and time of year for what crops. Grow cold crops early and late and sun loving plants during the hotter months.