By Clyde Noel

Deane Furuichi, Los Altos Nursery owner, walks among flowers at the Hawthorne Avenue nursery.

It might be too wet to start your gardening, but it’s not too wet to get the garden soil ready.

“The Los Altos and Mountain View area is full of red clay, and this is a good time to start working with the soil,” said Deane Furuichi, proprietor of Los Altos Nursery, one of the city’s longest-running businesses. “It’s easier to manipulate compost and chicken manure as you turn it over.

“It might be too early to plant the garden seeds, but it’s a great time to plant trees, Japanese maples and Satsuki azaleas,” Furuichi said.

With the constant daily rains, experts don’t know how much the fruit trees will be impacted. Blossoms become soaked and blown off by the wind, and the bees are too wet to fly to visit the blossoms and spread the pollen.

Furuichi said there is still time to fertilize the citrus and fruit trees and pour fertilizer on the camellia bushes. Perennials should be cut back, and it’s time to feed the hydrangeas aluminum sulfate if you want blue blossoms or super phosphate for a vibrant red hydrangea flower.

Furuichi said to be sure to check container plants so they aren’t standing in water. Empty the drainage saucers after each rain, because the plants are already soggy. Check the roses because they become susceptible to black spot and powdery mildew in the wet weather.

Once you set out your seedlings, watch for large populations of moisture-loving pests such as earwigs, snails and slugs.

Home gardeners are aware of hybrid varieties of vegetables. Hybrid tomatoes are strong, vigorous growers and out yield regular varieties. Furuichi said that hybrid tomatoes have the ability to produce larger plants and higher yields, but must be fed more than standard tomatoes.

With this unpredictable weather, don’t jump the tomato season. It’s better to be safe than sorry when it comes to setting out tomatoes because mornings are still cold this time of year. If you have to plant to beat your neighbors, cover each seedling with a flowerpot to protect it from the sun until the wilting is past. Mulching around tomatoes is well worth the small amount of trouble it requires.

“We have more than 60 varieties of tomato in stock, but if you’re only going to plant a few tomatoes, you should consider the celebrity or champion varieties,” Furuichi said. “Of course you always need a couple of cherry tomato plants.”

Los Altos Nursery is located at 245 Hawthorne Ave., Los Altos. For more information, call 948-1421.