• Trees and shrubs.
• Spring bulbs, including daffodils and grape hyacinths. Pre-cool tulips and hyacinths for 45 days at 40º prior to planting.
• Spring- and summer-flowering perennials, including daisies, iris, daylilies, lilies, thrift, lythrun, etc.
• Spring-flowering annuals, including pansies, pinks, snapdragons, flowering cabbage and kale, English daisies, and California and Iceland poppies.
• Winter-hardy nursery stock.
• Cool-season grasses.

• All planting areas at least once if no rain.

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• Bulbs, annuals, and perennials with earthworm castings and other gentle organic fertilizers.
• Indoor plants with earthworm castings and other low-odor organic fertilizers.

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• Watch roots of removed annuals for nematodes (knots in the roots). Treat infected soil with citrus pulp or oil.
• Watch houseplants for spider mites, scale, and aphids. Spray as needed with Agrispon, Neo-Life soap, and garlic.
• Watch lawn for signs of grubworm damage. Grass will be loose on top of ground. Treat with sugar and beneficial nematodes.

• Begin major tree pruning. Remove dead limbs before leaves fall. Too early for fruit trees.
• Pick-prune shrubs to remove longest shoots if needed.
• Remove spent blooms and seed heads from flowering plants.
• Cut off tops of brown perennials; leave roots in the soil.

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• Have landscape and garden soils tested now to determine soil balancing needs.
• Pick tomatoes the night before the first freeze, then let them ripen indoors.
• Put all fallen leaves, spent annuals, and other vegetative matter into the compost piles.
• Add mulch to your garden -- do not cultivate.
• Mulch all bare ornamental beds for winter protection.
• Turn compost piles.
• Feed the birds!