YOUR PLACE AFTER THE STORM TIPS FOR RAINY-DAY GARDENING.

When it rains, it pours in L.A.

After this week's storm, many yards are suffering from mud slides, trees split down the middle, lawn lakes - or at the very least flower beds of drowned daffodils.

To get your garden back in shape by the end of the weekend, try these 10 tips from Victor Sanchez of Green Thumb nursery in Canoga Park and Hania Saoud of Sperling Nursery in Calabasas:

1. Do some general cleanup, picking up broken branches and debris, but don't cut back your trees until we've had at least a couple of weeks of sunshine.

2. If you've got mudslides in your yard, use a square-front shovel to get it off patios and walkways, putting it back into flower beds where possible.

3. Don't dig soil (and avoid walking on it) while it's still wet, as our clay-based soil will get compacted, thus killing plants.

4. Don't try mowing the lawn until it's completely dry or you'll damage new growth.

5. While the lawn is still rain-soaked, it's a good time to fertilize. Sanchez suggests using Green Thumb's Super Green fertilizer with a 21-7-14 formula. Saoud suggests getting a yellow lawn green again with calcium nitrate.

6. Get the standing water out of your flower beds by checking drainage holes in planters to make sure they are not plugged with mud. If you have retaining wall planters without drainage holes, drill some in the bricks or get a bucket and get water out quickly so plants don't get root rot and drown.

7. Scrub bird baths with a brush and a mild bleach-and-water solution to get rid of green scum caused by standing water. Rinse well and refill.

8. Finish pruning rose bushes if you haven't done so, but do not trim shrubs until the stormy season is over and the weather is warmer.

9. Restake any trees that have fallen over.

10. Pick off any mushy, damaged flowers in flower beds to encourage regrowth, but don't plant new bedding flowers until the ground is completely dry.

- Barbara De Witt 

GRAZING PARTY: Put on your jeans and sneakers, and grab a grocery bag and scissors for Hilla Futterman's informational wild food walk through the woodlands and fields of Soka University America. The walk and tea party event will begin at 1 p.m. Feb. 25, and is free, but you'll need to make reservations by calling [phone]. The walk begins at the Soka campus, 26800 W. Mulholland Highway, Calabasas.

- B.D.

PLANTING

CELEBRATING CAMELLIAS: This weekend's 29th annual Camellia Show at the Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens, coincides with the International Camellia Congress and the American Camellia Society's Spring Convention, which are both being held in Pasadena. Next weekend, it will be Descanso Gardens' turn to show off their camellias with Camellia Festival 2001.

At the Huntington, there are displays of prize-winning blooms entered into the show by area growers and hobbyists, Japanese-style flower arrangements, a rare book exhibit, large flower arrangements and demonstrations.

At Descanso, Feb. 24-25, experts will lead walks through the Camellia Forest and conduct demonstrations on pruning and shaping camellia plants and preserving them through waxing.

The Huntington Camellia show will run from noon to 4 p.m. today and 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Sunday. The show is free with regular admission of $8.50 for adults, $8 for seniors, $6 for students, with children under 12 getting in free. The Huntington is located at 1151 Oxford Road, San Marino. Call [phone].

Descanso's Camellia Festival is Feb. 24 and 25 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and is free with garden admission of $5 for adults, $3 for senior and students, $1 for children ages 5 to 12 and free for those under 5. Descanso Gardens is located at 1418 Descanso Drive, La Canada Flintridge. For more information, go to www.descansogardens.org or call [phone].

- Michelle J. Mills

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