Make some shopping expeditions to your favorite nurseries to select water-conserving trees, shrubs, and perennials.
Inspect trees for die-back and weak limbs, which are common in drought-stressed plants, and remove them before they become a safety hazard.Leave frost-damaged growth on tender plants as protection until the danger of frost is past. Begin pruning as new growth emerges.Keep fallen camellia petals picked up to avoid petal blight.Finish deciduous pruning — chip debris for mulch.Wait to prune spring-flowering shrubs until after they bloom.Cut back scented geraniums to 18 inches.Fertilize blooming ornamentals such as camellias and azaleas that have finished blooming.Fertilize cool-season lawns late in the month if fall fertilization was missed.Add permanent plantings of non-deciduous and needle evergreens.Annuals: fibrous begonia, twinspur (Diascia).Bulbs, corms, tubers: autumn crocus.Fruits and vegetables: cabbage, lemon grass (Cymbopogon).Perennials: Red-Hot Poker (Kniphofia), wallflower (Erysimum), blanket flower (Gaillardia).Trees, shrubs, vines: bird of paradise bush (Caesalpinia), beautyberry (Callicarpa), bottlebrush (Callistemon).Annuals and perennials: calendula, larkspur (Consolida).Bulbs, corms, tubers: daffodil, iris.Trees, shrubs, vines: dogwood (Cornus), forsythia, lemon.Fruits and vegetables: chives, fennel, kohlrabi, leek.Water may be scarce again this summer. Limit new plantings of annuals and bedding plants, and consider converting part of your landscape watering system to drip irrigation.
Source: Adapted from A Gardener’s Companion for the Central San Joaquin Valley, 3rd edition, currently available from Fresno County Master Gardeners for $30. These can be purchased at our demonstration garden – Garden of the Sun (1750 N Winery (McKinley/Winery), open Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 9 am to Noon, and via email at mgfresno@ucanr.edu. Gardening questions answered as well at mgfresno@ucanr.edu. Prepared by Terry Lewis, Master Gardener UCCE Fresno County.
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