How to prepare your garden after the rain

Here’s a tip for new SoCal gardeners or old-timers who need a refresher because, you know, it’s been awhile since water came pouring out of the sky: Stay out of the mud.

Or, if you must wander in the garden, tread verrrrry lightly until your soil has a chance to dry out a bit.

If you walk on muddy ground or try to work with soil that has the consistency of wet clay, you’re compacting the soil, which isn’t good for your plants or your garden, said Yvonne Savio, master gardener and creator of GardeningInLA.net, a comprehensive guide to growing almost anything in Southern California.

So if you have a part of your yard you’ve been planning to turn into a garden bed but haven’t yet, mark it off now and avoid walking in that area until the ground has dried out, Savio said.

After all this rain (and more forecast to come), water is filling all the microscopic air pockets in your soil until it can drain deeper in the ground, which will be a good thing later this spring, Savio said. Roots dig deep to find moisture, which gives you healthier plants that are better equipped to deal with summer heat.

But if you stomp around in the garden while the soil is wet, “you’re literally squishing the water out of those air pores and pushing the granules of soil together,” Savio said. “That’s why compression is a bad thing, because those air pores are where the roots wend their way through the soil to find water and fertilizer.”

Another issue is that planting in cool, overly wet soil encourages damping off, a disease caused by mold or fungus that rots the stems of tender seedlings. And even digging in wet ground can be bad, she said, since your spade can compress the soil at the sides of a hole, creating a hard wall that’s difficult for roots to penetrate beyond.

In her weekly blog, Savio noted that March‘s weather has been very different for gardeners who typically start planting the last of their cool-weather crops, such as lettuce and peas, and warm-season seedlings such as tomatoes. Once your soil is dry enough, go ahead with cool season veggies, she writes, but because we’ve had such a wet, chilly spring, it’s probably best to wait until May to plant “summer-weather delights like cucumbers, eggplants, melons, peppers and squash. Tomatoes can thrive in the still-cold soil, but the others just sit there and pout …”

Here are Savio’s tips for post-deluge gardening:

Know thy soil

It usually takes a few days after a good rain for the soil to dry out enough that you can start planting. If you’re unsure, push aside any mulch, dig 2 or 3 inches into the soil and take a handful. “If it clings together so you can form a fist of it, it’s mud, and still too wet to work in,” Savio said.

If the soil is crumbly, dig holes with a garden fork to avoid shearing off the sides of the holes. Put your seedling into the hole and then fill it by crumbling in handfuls of soil — don’t slap it with a spade or stomp with your feet — and water it enough so the soil “melts around the roots.”

How fast your soil drains depends on what you have. Sandy soil is like a sieve. It will dry out quickly as the moisture runs deep into the ground. Clay soil, on the other hand, drains very slowly, to the point that the water might run off or evaporate before it penetrates deep into the ground. Loamy soil — our hero — holds moisture longer than sand but is still permeable enough for water to sink deep into the ground. If you have sandy or clay soil, you can make it more loamy by adding lots of organic amendments like compost, earthworm castings and well-aged manure from plant-eating animals.

Banish weeds before they seed

This is a banner year for weeds, which are sprouting from every crack in my driveway and patio, not to mention my yard. Pull them as soon as you can, because if they bloom and release their seeds, things will be a lot worse when those seeds start to sprout. If you can’t get them pulled quickly, borrow a goat, use a weed whacker or power up the mower to stop them from flowering and setting seed and then try covering them thickly with wet, flattened cardboard and wood chips (known as sheet mulching or lasagna mulching) to stop further growth.

Start fertilizing

While you’re waiting for the soil to dry out, start fertilizing fruit trees, flowering shrubs and other plants whose nutrients have been diluted by all this rain. Savio said an organic general purpose fertilizer like Dr. Earth should be applied now to help plants leaf out and bloom, and then again once they start blooming to help them set fruit. Don’t get too hung up about the brands or categories — as long as it’s organic and has roughly the same amount of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium (N-P-K) ratings, you’ll have all you need to give the plants an early spring boost, she said.

Savio prefers organic fertilizers because she feels they give plants better nutrition. Chemical fertilizers are, in her opinion, “like getting a big cake on Sunday, but that’s all you get to eat, so you’re on a sugar high and after a day or so you just crash.” Organic fertilizers offer a more balanced, nutritious meal that keeps plants healthier in the long run, she said.

Important note: Use an all-purpose organic fertilizer that has roughly the same amount of nitrogen (N), phosphorous (P) and potassium (K). For instance, Dr. Earth’s all-purpose fertilizer has an N-P-K number of 2-2-2, whereas a fertilizer for lawns is almost entirely nitrogen, with a number like 30-0-0. (N-P-K ratings are usually printed prominently on fertilizer packaging). Turf grass thrives on nitrogen, but large doses “can zap other plants,” Savio said, or cause a tomato plant to grow big and lushly green without producing any flowers or fruit.

This is also a good time to add amendments around your plants, such as compost and earthworm castings (the worm’s nutrient-rich poop) to enrich the soil and help it retain moisture. Be sure to keep amendments and mulch about 4 inches away from the trunk or stem so the plants don’t get overly wet and damp off or mildew.

Don’t forget potted plants

Organic fertilizer and amendments are especially important for potted plants whose nutrients get leached out all year long. Be sure to rough up the surface about an inch or so deep with a hand fork and work an organic fertilizer into the soil before watering it well. Add a top dressing of compost and/or earthworm castings to give the plant an added boost.

Mulch, mulch, mulch to retain moisture

Covering your soil with a thick (4- to 6-inch) layer of small wood chips is a good way to keep moisture in the soil while adding organic material that will slowly break down and feed the soil. You can often get wood chips for free by talking with arborists trimming trees in your neighborhood, or you can register on ChipDrop.com to get chips delivered to your home. Important note: These are often huge deliveries that can fill an entire driveway, so unless you have a big property and many helping hands, reach out to your neighbors to see if they want chips too.

Deter mosquitoes now

One last tip: Walk your property and look for standing water in saucers, buckets or any other receptacle since even the smallest of these can be a breeding ground for mosquitoes. If you want to store that lovely rainwater, put it in a covered container; otherwise, dump it on the ground (unless you want a deluge of mosquitoes when temperatures warm up this spring).

Here are some other plant and garden-related activities coming up in April — check out the plant sales and giveaways. One quick reminder: If you’re inspired by other people’s gardens, be sure to check our list of SoCal garden tours that extend into May. If you’d like to include events in our monthly garden calendar, email information by the third week of the preceding month to [email protected].

April 1
Master Gardeners of Orange County Plant Pop-Up giveaway and sale, from 8 a.m. to noon at 6675 East Canyon Hills Road in Anaheim. Visitors can choose one free plant from multiple varieties of tomatoes, peppers, basils, herbs, succulents, house plants and pollinators. Other plants can be purchased for $1 or more. The free event also includes information about gardening, honeybees, composting, irrigation, new tree pests and citrus quarantine areas in Orange County. mgorange.ucanr.edu

Emerson Avenue Community Garden Super Spring Tomato and Veggie Seedling Sale, 9 a.m. to noon at the garden, 6550 W. 80th St. in L.A.’s Westchester neighborhood. The seedlings were grown by UC Cooperative Extension Master Gardener Dana H. Morgan and 50{ae4c731f0fa9ef51314dbd8cd1b5a49e21f1d642b228e620476f3e076dd7c050} of the proceeds go to support the garden. Tomato, eggplant, tomatillo and pepper seedlings will be available by donation (suggested price $1 to $1.50). eacgc.org

April 1-2
Herb Festival at Roger’s Gardens, 2301 San Joaquin Hills Road in Corona del Mar, features more than 100 varieties of herbs for purchase from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and free classes at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. about how to grow and cook a variety of unique herbs. rogersgardens.com

April 2
Conejo Cactus & Succulent Society Spring Sale from 9 a.m to 4 p.m. at 558 N. Ventu Park Road in Thousand Oaks. Admission is free. conejocss.com

April 3
Conejo Valley Audubon Society presents Beautiful and Amazing California Natives, a talk about the history and uses of California native plants by Laura Pasetta, California naturalist, herbalist, nature photographer and outdoors guide through her business Wild Rootz, during the society’s monthly meeting, 7 to 8:30 p.m. at the Western Foundation of Vertebrate Zoology, 439 Calle San Pablo in Camarillo. conejovalleyaudubon.org

April 6
Native Plant Propagation: Preparing and rooting native plant cuttings is a free, hands on class for volunteers to learn the basics about propagating California native plants from 10 a.m. to noon at the Santa Monica Mountains Fund Rancho Sierra Vista Nursery, 4124 Potrero Road in Newbury Park. Register for a spot online. eventbrite.com

Master Gardeners of Orange County presents “Gardens for Small Spaces, a free class on how to create a bountiful garden with little or no land by growing vertically, making a plan and/or using containers, from 10 to 11 a.m. at the Community Center Grand Ballroom, 24602 Aliso Creek Road in Laguna Niguel. mgorange.ucanr.edu

April 8
Learn to Grow Wildflowers for your Garden, a class taught by California Botanic Garden horticulturist Laura Christianson as part of the garden’s month-long celebration of wildflowers, 10 to 11:30 a.m. at the garden’s wildflower meadow, 1500 N. College Ave. in Claremont. The class will involve some walking in the garden. Advance registration is required, $25 ($20 members). calbg.org