Gardening Tips for December 2025

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• Annuals - (or perennials used as annuals) - Calendula, Chrysanthemum paludosum (nice white daisy flowers for winter bloom), Bellis perennis, Primrose, Stock, Sweet Peas, Snapdragons, Cyclamen (plant a little high so they do not rot). Wildflower Seeds, such as Nigella, Larkspur, Breadseed Poppies, Flanders Poppies, can be sown through January.
• Shrubs - Chaenomeles (Flowering Quince-can be a spreader), Daphne*, Elaeagnus pungens 'Marginata', Cornus stolonifera (Redtwig Dogwood-for great winter stem color).  
• Trees- Arbutus 'Marina', Crataegus (Hawthorn) , Chionanthus retusus (Chinese Fringe Tree).
• Veggies - Onion sets, Shallots, Spinach, Some Lettuce.
• Extras - Dormant Oil or Neem Oil, Frost Cloth and Clothes Pins to hold cloth onto plant.  

*Daphne shrubs can quickly disappear from nurseries. If you really want one, start shopping now before they are all gone! Choose well branched, full plants with lots of flower buds that haven't bloomed yet.

Plant Some Drama - For a dramatic, low care shrub that will steal the show in winter, plant Corylus avellana 'Contorta' (Harry Lauder's Walking Stick). Harry offers year-round interest. In the summer this shrub will be full of green leaves, by fall the leaves can turn a yummy yellow before falling off to reveal its winter splendor of catkins hanging down from twisted stems! Little to no pruning is needed for Harry except to remove crossing growth and remove any sucker growth a few times a year.

•  Color Bowls for Winter - Planting shallow containers (shaped like a bowl) is a fun way to create color at entryways or in the garden or for a Winter Wedding . Here are a few plants that can be planted now: Bellis perennis, Chrysanthemum paludosum 'Snowland', Ornamental Cabbage, Stock, and Cyclamen. Color Bowls are easier to keep winter pests managed and they can be moved around for best sunlight and show. 
• Sweet Peas - can still be planted this month by seed or seedlings (may be best choice-just in case seeds have a hard time germinating). Protect from birds, earwigs, snails, slugs etc. Planting now will ensure large plants and lots of flowers by spring.
• Fertilize – Continue to fertilize annual plants, such as Pansies, Violas, Bellis perennis, and Iceland Poppies. At first, when the plants are young, use All Purpose and switch to Bloom once the plants get bigger. Mary uses Maxsea fertilizer.  
• Pruning - Wisteria pruning in winter is how to encourage the most blooms in spring. Prune, leaving two to three buds on each spur (short stem). When you look closely you will see fat buds and thin buds. The thin buds will make more foliage. The fat buds will become your beautiful flowers in spring. To learn how to prune Wisteria, Fruit Trees, and other plants Contact Mary for an Appointment . Continue to prune off spent flowers (called deadheading) from Pansies, Bellis perennis, Calendula and other winter bloomers so they keep blooming and do not go to seed.  
• Fruit Trees - Remember, dormant pruning will encourage lots of new growth next year. So, if you're trying to make an old apple or pear tree smaller best to leave it be in winter. Spring and especially summer pruning will slow the growth of the tree.  
• Frost - Leave frost brunt leaves on plants, like citrus, to protect the undamaged growth.
• Pests - Spraying for peach leaf curl: The best way to remember when to spray is to begin around Thanksgiving, then at Christmas, and then near Valentine's Day (before bud break). Follow instructions on spray as to how to apply. Choose a time when no rain is in the forecast for a few days at least (but it can be better to spray even if it’s raining if the rain will not let up). Maybe Even Better Than Spraying: Keep Fruit Trees Well Watered in the Dry Months and Mulch Thickly. Fuchsias and other dormant plants may also benefit from dormant spraying to manage fungal spores and pests like, thrips and whitefly. Remember to also spray the ground under and around plants and trees because pests can overwinter in the soil. When using bird netting to protect young vegetable plants, make sure to close off the bottom sides of the netting with 2x4s or something laid along the edge so birds cannot get in and hurt themselves on the netting. Once plants are big enough netting can be removed. Watch plants carefully to keep them from growing into the netting.

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ALL CONTENT by Mary Frost (no AI).