January Gardening in Southern California's Coastal Areas

January 5, 2017 Author: Ann Clary GardenZeus Southern California / The Mighty Garden Archive

Despite the cooler weather and forecasted rain, there is still plenty to be done in Southern California gardens. Here is Darren’s general list of January gardening tasks for existing vegetable and herb plants, designed for those who live in Southern California’s coastal areas. For a customized list of gardening tasks by plant and month, enter your zip code to find your GardenZeus Climate Zone.

Monitor plants regularly, at least every 2 to 5 days during cool-to-cold weather to catch wilting, irrigation, pest, disease, weed, and other problems early.
Maintain or add mulch.
Harvest thinnings, remaining fall crops, and winter crops.
Irrigate variably depending upon rain frequency and volume; turn off irrigation during rainy periods.
Add nitrogen as recommended.
Harvest and save seeds from fall-and-winter-bolted vegetables and herbs such as arugula, basil, beets, chard, lettuce, and parsley after seed stalks are brown and dry; and from warm-season vegetables such as tomatoes.
Cut off expired plant stems at ground level after harvest or as plants die, leaving roots in place to feed soil.
Plan and complete irrigation, seed-starting, transplanting, soil testing, soil amending, and garden projects for late winter and spring.
Plan for garden protection from winter winds and/or install windbreaks.