The Digging Fork
A Davis Garden Newsletter
November – December 2008
November
Planting Cool season annuals
Perennials: CA natives,
most everything except
frost tender plants
Cool season bulbs
Cool season vegetables:
broccoli, cabbage, lettuce,
cauliflower, artichokes,
see bulbing onions, garlic,
Plant notes divide & replant clumps
of multiplying onions
Seeding Cool season annuals
directly Cool season vegetables:
into the arugula, beets, fava,
carrots, kale and collards,
garden
green onions, cilantro,
see
Plant notes
spinach, peas, radish,
Swiss chard, turnips,
miner’s lettuce
Fertilize
Spray nectarines and peaches
Pest & at Thanksgiving for peach
Disease leaf curl.
Control Control for snails, slugs,
earwigs and cabbage worms
as needed.
Protect seedlings from birds.
Tasks Cut back herbaceous
perennials (don’t cut back
frost tender perennials
until late spring)
Divide and replant
herbaceous perennials.
Garden clean-up continues.
Compost leaves and plant
debris.
After first frost (or before),
pull out summer annual
flowers and vegetables.
Remove unwanted
seedlings or transplant.
Cultivate with a digging
fork and mulch.
Weed control continues
If rains haven’t started, water
Water as needed. Once rains start,
turn off automatic irrigation
systems. Make sure new
plantings have the water they
need.
Fall blooming perennial sunflower, Sedum ‘Autumn Joy’
and white spider chrysanthemum
December
Cool season annuals
Bare-root ornamentals:
trees, roses, shrubs and
vines
Bare-root fruits-vegetables:
artichokes, asparagus,
bulbing onions, rhubarb,
strawberries, berries,
grapes, fruit trees
Cool season annuals
Cool season vegetables:
fava, spinach, Swiss
chard, cilantro, green
onions
Spray nectarines and peaches
between Christmas and
New Year’s Day for peach
leaf curl.
When pruning look for borer
damage and cut off infected
limbs.
Continue control of snails,
slugs, birds, cabbage worms.
Finish November tasks
Start pruning deciduous
trees
Can start pruning roses
toward the end of the
month.
Garden clean-up and weed
control continues.
Water as needed (under
large eaves too)
Well watered plants are less
susceptible to frost damage!
Red Baron peach blossoms in March
Fruit Tree Planting--Fruit Bushes
With the bare-root season approaching in January, it
is a good time to look around your yard to see if there
is room for a fruit tree or two. Fruit trees can be
allowed to grow to full size and make wonderful shade
trees (sometimes a bit messy on lawns if all the fruit
isn’t harvested). However in smaller yards many
gardeners are growing “fruit bushes” instead. The
trees are grown so they are no taller than an adult can
reach when standing on the ground, typically no more
than 7 ft. tall. Most any deciduous fruit tree is a
candidate for a fruit bush.
The advantages of keeping the fruit trees smaller
are many. A fruit bush gives less fruit, but several can
be grown in the space of one big fruit tree. If early, mid
and late season cultivars are grown, the harvest is
extended over a much longer period. Sprayings for
peach leaf curl, pruning, thinning fruit, netting cherries
to keep them from birds and fruit harvest are all much,
much easier with the smaller fruit bushes.
Fruit trees are grafted to rootstock and it is
important to choose one adapted to your area and soil
conditions. Trees grafted to dwarf and semi-dwarf
rootstock will still grow pretty big. Fruit bushes are
kept small not by the rootstock but by summer
pruning of new growth. When there are less leaves
with less photosynthesis occurring, the growth is
slowed. Each year, the first pruning of shoots is in
late April or May when about half of the new growth is
cut off. The next pruning is late June or July when
again half of the new growth is cut. Some find
hedging shears useful as the tree definitely starts to
look like a bush. If there is vigorous growth, a third
pruning may be needed in late summer. Since the
center of the tree needs light and good air circulation
for fruit production, this is opened up as well with
some pruning cuts in the center of the tree. Dormant
pruning, when the fruit bush has no leaves during the
winter, is still necessary to help shape the tree in the
early years. But dormant pruning stimulates growth so
most of the pruning should be in the summer.
Peaches about ready to harvest
The summer prunings are extra work, but they
occur at two times that are easy to remember. The
first pruning is when fruit is about marble size and
needs to be thinned anyway. The second pruning is
usually after the fruit is harvested.
Fruit bushes can be grouped close together and
planted so 3 or 4 trees act as one. For example, four
different peaches and nectarines, with varying harvest
dates, can be planted together in a square with about 2
ft. between them. Another idea is to make a hedge of
several types of fruit bushes planting them as close as
3 ft. apart.
To insure fruit bushes get off to a good start:
1. They need sun.
2. When planting new trees, plant them on a
mound for good drainage. Year old trees
should be cut back to about 2-3ft. above the
graft to encourage lower branches that are
easier to harvest.
3. To avoid sunburned bark, point the concave
area of the graft toward the northeast and paint
the whole tree with slightly watered down white
latex paint.
Fruit Tree Sources Locally: Lemuria Nursery, Three
Palms Nursery and The Redwood Barn Nursery
Yolo County Master Gardeners have planted fruit bushes
at Woodland College. Free workshops.
Fair Oaks Horticulture Center has planted many examples
of fruit bushes.
http://groups.ucanr.org/sactomg/Fair_Oaks_Horticulture_Center/
Some useful websites:
http://homeorchard.ucdavis.edu/ UC website for the
California backyard orchard
http://anrcatalog.ucdavis.edu Agricultural and
Natural Resources, Cooperative Extension. Lots of
publications for purchase and to download for free.
The Home Orchard – Growing Your Own
Deciduous Fruit and Nut Trees Publication 3485
http://www.davewilson.com/ Dave Wilson Nursery
for backyard orchard culture.
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Local workshops and events
City of Davis Worm and Garden Composting
Workshops given periodically during the year
Free compost bin by taking Davis Compost
Correspondence Class
Information www.davisrecycling.org (530) 757-5686
Master Gardener Workshops
Backyard and worm composting Saturday,
November 8, 10 am – 12 pm
Learn About Planting Cover Crops Saturday,
November 8 1:30 – 3:30 pm. Wear appropriate
clothing and help with the planting.
Free workshops held at Woodland Community College
Information 530-666-8736
http://ceyolo.ucdavis.edu/Gardening_and_Master_Gardening/
Davis Botanical Society
Southern Africa’s Botanically Abundant Cape
Floral Region Speaker is Ernesto Sandoval
Monday, November 24, 7 to 9 pm, free
Blanchard Room (Yolo County Library)
Botanical Illustration Workshop
Saturdays, January 24 and 31, 9 am to 12 noon
$45 for Society member and $55 nonmembers
Advanced registration required.
Information http://herbarium.ucdavis.edu
UCD Arboretum
Botanical Watercolor Workshop
Sunday, November 9, 9 am – 4 pm
$85 general/ $75 UCD Arboretum members
Advanced registration required.
Lots of great walks and tours coming up!!
For information www.arboretum.ucdavis.edu 530-752-4880
Ceanothus California Field Botanists Association
Saturday, December 6 (9:00am-12:00pm)
Learn to key plants. Group meets about once a month
at UC Davis Center for Plant Diversity
Information www.ceanothusfieldbotanist.blogspot.com
florist chrysanthemum beautyberry
Friends of the Davis Library Book Sale
December 5 (noon-7 pm), 6 (10 am-5 pm), 7 (10 am-3 pm)
Often good finds on gardening books! Info. 758-4754
Tree Davis
Free shade trees available in November. Fill out the
online application and sign up for a workshop
“Neighborwoods” Tree Planting Opportunities!!
Information http://treedavis.org
Davis Garden Club
November 17, 7 to 9 pm Albert Crepeau from the
Woodland Library Rose Club speaking about Roses
December 12 & 13 Holiday Wreath Making and Sale
For information 222-3052 www.davisgardenclub.org
 Plant notes! Tips from digging expert Margaret Lloyd
Here is more information about some plants mentioned in this newsletter.
Bare-root plants:
Plants will start showing up in nurseries in late December and on
into January: ornamental and fruit trees, roses, shrubs, vines,
artichokes, asparagus, bulbing onions, rhubarb, strawberries, grapes
Red Baron peach Incredible dark pink flowers that look more
like quince flowers than a peach. Yummy freestone peaches, too.
Redwood Barn Nursery usually carries them.
Descanso hybrid lilics Syringa vulgaris Purple, 12 ft.
tall. These require less chill than most lilacs. ‘Lavender Lady’ is a
very common cultivar.
my favorite French lilac (common name) Syringa vulgaris
‘My Favorite’ French hybrid cultivar, purple, double flowers.
Lilacs can start blooming in late March in Davis. 10-15 ft. tall. There
are numerous common and French lilac cultivars!!
cut-leaf lilac Syringa x laciniata The flowers appear
all along the stem, not just at the ends of the stems. 6-8 ft. tall and wide A chance digging lesson at the UCD Student Farm…
with airy foliage. The part of the foot you put on the digging fork matters!
Fall blooming perennials: The ball and arch of the foot are the most likely to be
perennial sunflowers Helianthus maximilianii Native to injured. It is best to use the heel area of the foot for
southwestern US. Can grow 10- 12 ft. tall, but the stems usually arch digging -- and then your leg also lines up perfectly with the
over to the ground. Cutting the stems to a foot in early July will handle of the fork allowing for more digging force. As you
produce shorter, sturdier plants but may also delay bloom.
sedum Sedum ‘Autumn Joy’ 2 – 3 ft. tall. Cut back to the ground rock the fork handle back to loosen the soil, don’t bend over,
after bloom. Showy leafy rosettes during the winter and spring. but just rock your body back with it. Keep joints and back
chrysanthemums (florist) Chrysanthemum x grandiflorum from bending whenever possible to avoid muscle soreness.
Many cultivars to choose from! Purchasing them in the fall, when they
are blooming, helps with selection. Fava beans (Vivia faba) take nitrogen from the air and fix
beautyberry Callicarpa bodinieri ‘Profusion’ The deciduous it in the roots of the plant with the help of Rhizobia bacteria
shrub blooms in spring but the florescent purple-pink berries stand out found in the soil. To insure the needed Rhizobium species is
in the fall. They bloom on new wood so are pruned late winter. present, an inoculant may be needed when planting. Favas
Cool season vegetables and fruits: don’t produce as much nitrogen as some of the other legume
It is still possible to plant now!! There will be another opportunity to cover crops, but are still worthwhile to grow since they are
plant many cool season vegetables in late January and early February. pretty plants and the beans can also be eaten.

More gardening tips!

Fragrant Lilacs. Two lilacs have done well in Patricia’s
garden. Since lilacs need winter chill to bloom, many
cultivars don’t thrive in Davis with the mild climates. Some
also don’t like the hot weather. Lilacs do like the Davis
alkaline soil and prefer sun. Nitrogen-fixing rhizobia live in the nodules on roots of favas

A frost is coming!! Usually by the first of December we

My Favorite French lilac
Cut-leaf lilac (UBC Botanical Gardens)
get freezing temperatures. Move or make provisions for
protecting frost tender plants. In case you’ve forgotten what
winters are like here in Davis, here’s an article.
http://www.redwoodbarn.com/DE_weatherindavis.html
Herbaceous perennials die back, but with our mild
climate there are usually low clumps of greenery during the
winter. A few herbaceous perennials, however, die
completely to the ground and it is easy to forget there is a
plant in that space. Often another plant gets planted on top or
surrounding plants overrun the space. Plants that need
marking include Salvia guaranitica, coneflower, balloon
flower, dahlias, and phlox.

Descanso Hybrids, ‘Lavender Lady’ being a common Newsletter created by:

cultivar, need less winter chill. A French hybrid whose
common name is My Favorite French Lilac has done very
well, maybe because it is in a very exposed location that is
colder. A lilac on the Arboretum All Star list is the cut-leaf
lilac. It has small, airy leaves and blooms along the stems
rather than on the tips of the branches. Look for these during
the bare-root season and spring Arboretum sales.
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Patricia Carpenter -- Gardening Coach (Design and Education),
with 35 years of Davis gardening experience.
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