New Way's Tips of the Month!! Want to know what you should be keeping up with in your garden? Pick a month and find out what you should be doing to keep your plants healthy and looking beautiful. January February March April May June July August September October November December
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January Dormant spray roses Dormant spray sycamore trees Control crabgrass with preemergent herbicide Purchase and plant bare-root roses, trees, vines, berries, and vegetables Choose and plant camellias and azeleas Purchase and plant cool-season flowers to fill bare spots Prune naked coral trees Choose a system for fertilizing roses. (Epsom salts and superphosphate) Begin to feed citrus trees in coastal zones Treat citrus trees to correct chlorosis Feed cool-season flowers Fertilize cool-season lawns View another month
February Control pests on citrus trees Control pests on sycamore, ash and alder trees Control crabgrass with preemergent herbicide Aerate cool-season lawns Fill in beds and pots with cool-season bedding plants In coastal zones prune begonias, ginger, cannas, asparagus ferns, ivy, and pyracantha Deadhead cool-season flowers to keep them blooming Continue to feed citrus trees in coastal zones Feed deciduous fruit trees Fertilize roses Fertilize cool-season lawns View another month
March Plant drought-tolerant plants Don't plant tropicals Plant trees, shrubs, vines and ground covers Plant flower beds with warm-season flowers Plant citrus, avocado and macademia trees In interior valleys prune begonias, ginger, cannas, asparagus ferns, ivy and pyracantha Dethatch warm-season lawns just after they begin to grow Deadhead annual and perennial flowers Prune camellias Start to prune tropical hibiscus Pinch back petunias when you plant them Begin to fertilize citrus trees in interior zones. Continue to fertilize citrus trees in coastal zones Fertilize ornamental trees, bushes, lawns and ground covers Fertilize cool-season flowers if growth or flowering slows Fertilize roses Control slugs and snails Spray cycads for scale When frost-damaged plants resume growth, cut off damaged portions Make an herb garden View another month
April Continue to plant drought-tolerant plants Choose and plant azeleas while the largest number of plants are in bloom If you live in the desert or in a hot inland valley finish all spring planting this month Plant tropicals in inland valleys Trim hedges and screens, including pittosperum, myoporum and photinia Thin out fruit on deciduous fruit trees Prune roses by picking, deadheading and disbudding Feed citrus trees Fertilize roses Control crabgrass with a final treatment of preemergent herbicide Spray with BT against caterpillars if necessary View another month
May Plant tropicals Replace cool-season bedding flowers with flowers to bloom in summer Plant warm-season lawns Continue to plant summer vegetables Continue to pick and deadhead roses. Disbud them if desired Prune camellias if you have not already done so Prune winter- and spring-flowering vines, shrubs, trees and ground covers after they finish blooming Feed citrus trees Feed azeleas after bloom Feed flower beds Fertilize lawns Taper off watering those California native plants that do not accept summer water Pull out cool-season annuals that have finished blooming View another month
June Continue to plant drought-tolerant plants Plant tropical and subtropical plants Plant bougainvilleas Use bedding plants for quick color Plant and transplant palms Continue to pick and deadhead roses Pinch back chrysanthemums to make them bushy Thin out deciduous fruit trees after June drop Give marguerites a "butch" haircut Mow cool-season lawns longer Mow warm-season grasses short Prune climbing roses that bloom once a year in spring, but wait until flowers fade Feed citrus trees Give camellias their second feeding for the year Fertilize roses Fertilize tropicals Fertilize marguerites after pruning Fertilize cool-season lawns lightly Fertilize warm season lawns, according to type Water all plants except some well-established drought-tolerant plants and some native plants Water cool-season lawns more often and shallowly Water warm-season lawns deeply and infrequently Control rose pests and diseases Control thrips and whiteflies View another month
July Continue to plant tropicals in coastal zones Continue to plant summer annuals Choose and plant hibiscus Transplant palms Continue to pick and deadhead roses, but stop disbudding them Prune impatiens progressively Prune petunias by cutting them back 4 inches Fertilize roses Fertilize tropicals according to need during the summer months Fetilize impatiens Fertilize azeleas that bloomed through June Check camellias and azeleas for chlorosis Give camellias their third and final feeding for the year Fertilize cool-season lawns lightly along the coast; do not fertilize them inland With the exception of certain California natives, water all garden plants according to their individual needs. Don't neglect to water young drought-tolerant plants Water citrus and avocado trees Increase water for roses to as much as 1 1/2 inches three times a week in fast draining soil Water impatiens daily Keep transplanted palms well watered Continue to control rose pests and diseases Kill unwanted kikuyu or bermuda grass with glyphosate Replace plants that are dying or doing badly in full shade with better choices for dark places Replace plants in west-facing shade with better choices if they are being burned by sun or wilting in the afternoon View another month
August Continue to plant tropicals in coastal zones Transplant palms Cut back petunias in mid-August to keep them flowering Give roses a light midsummer pruning; remove suckers Clean up daylilies and agapanthus by removing stems that have bloomed Clean out native brush Feed tropicals If cool-season lawns show signs of nitrogen deficiency (yellow leaves, stunted growth) fertilize lightly; otherwise not at all Fertilize roses Don't water summer-deciduous native plants Water drought-tolerant plants, including Mexican fan palms and Aleppo pines Water roses with up to 1 1/2 inches of water three times a week Keep transplanted palms well watered Water warm-season lawns deeply once a week in most zones Water cool-season lawns more shallowly and frequently Control rose pests and diseases Control fireblight by removing disfigured branches and twigs Control crabgrass after it goes red with a selective crabgrass killer, if desired Control white grubs on cool-season lawns If you live next to native chaparral consider ways to minimize risk of fires View another month
September Finish planting tropicals in coastal zones Start planting cool-season flowers to bloom during winter and spring Start planting winter vegetables Plant cool-season lawns in coastal zones Cut back petunias in late September Continue to mow lawns at summer heights Stop pruning hibiscus Prune oleanders by taking out whole stalks Don't prune New Zealand tea trees in fall Resume picking and deadheading roses, but don't disbud them Dethatch Bermuda if it needs it and if you failed to do the job in spring, or if you are correcting a serious problem with several treatments Water roses with up to 1 1/2 inches of water three times a week Fertilize tropicals for the last time this year, only if they need it Fertilize azeleas at month's end for the second and last time of the year; correct chlorosis if necessary Continue to feed warm-season lawns; don't feed cool-season lawns until after midmonth Fertilize roses Check drought-tolerant plants for signs of stress; give them deep irrigation, if necessary, to tide them over to the winter rains Don't let fall-planted tropicals dry out Water roses with up to 1 1/2 inches water twice a week Control rose pests and diseases Untie the fronds of palms transplanted in July View another month
October Plant all types of permanent landscape plants other than bareroot plants, tropicals, and native plants Plant trees, shrubs and vines Choose and plant for permanent fall and winter color Plant cool-season flowers for winter and spring bloom Plant wildflowers Overseed Bermuda grass Divide, trim and mulch plants that tend to grow in a clump and that need to be divided, including Kahili ginger, clivia, iris, daylily, moraea, bird of paradise, lily turf, gazaneas, and perennials like Shasta daisies Cut back zonal and ivy geraniums Cut back or mow coyote bush that has become tall and woody Continue to shape and clean out the dead interiors of native plants Continue to mow warm-season lawns Feed roses early this month Feed cool-season lawns with a complete fertilizer Continue to feed warm-season lawns to keep them green longer Water deciduous fruit trees more sparingly in fall Water roses with up to 1 1/2 inches of water twice a week, unless rains do the job for you Continue to control diseases on roses Aerate lawns that are compacted from foot traffic or heavy machinery Throughly clean up the vegetable garden; pull up the last of the summmer crops and compost remains Dethatch cool-season lawns by machine View another month
November Continue to plant wildflowers Plant California native plants Now through January transplant shrubs and young trees that are growing in the wrong places Plant ground covers Plant ranunculus, anemones, grape hyacinths, Dutch irises, all kinds of daffodils, and all other spring-flowering bulbs except tulips, hyacinths and crocuses Finish filling flower beds with cool-season flowers for winter and spring bloom Prune pine trees and other conifers Open up spaces in dense trees to allow wind to pass through Prune acacias Fertilize cool-season bedding flowers; don't feed wildflowers Don't feed roses this month Continue to fertilize cool-season lawns; stop fertilizing warm-season lawns when their growth slows Water roses until midmonth, only when rains aren't adequate Don't let citrus go dry in cold or frosty weather Bait flower beds, especially wildflowers, for cutworms and slug and snails Stake young trees loosely so they can develop strong trunks View another month
December Begin planting bare-root roses, trees, vines, berries and vegetables Finish planting all spring-flowering bulbs, except tulips, hyacinths and crocuses, on or before December 25 Plant tulips, hyacinths and crocuses between Christmas and New Year's Day Continue to plant cool-season flowers in coastal zones only Stop picking and deadheading roses; leave hips on the bush Start pruning deciduous fruit trees, if you have time Don't prune tropicals Prune native palnts Don't fertilize roses Feed cool-season flowers with a complete fertilizer for growth and bloom Continue to water if the weather's hot, dry and windy; include California native plants now since this is their growing season Don't water roses Spray peach and apricot trees for peach leaf curl if you didn't do so in November Use dormant spray on deciduous fruit trees and other woody plants that drop their leaves in winter View another month
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