Garden Jobs / Things to do in your garden this week:

* Camellia culture. Don’t fertilize camellias from now until after they bloom but keep them watered since buds are swelling. If you want bigger (but fewer) flowers, twist off some of the buds so the remaining grow larger. Mulch camellias (and azaleas) with acidic materials, such as leaf mold, composted sawdust or pine needles. (I know one gardener who gathers all he needs from a neighboring pine-lined street.)

* Vegetable plotting. To keep winter harvests coming, make a second planting of things like lettuce and the cole crops. Sow seed of lettuce, spinach and other leafy greens, or root crops such as carrot and beets. Cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli and Brussels sprouts--the cole crops--are best added to the garden as small plants. Make sure you bury that characteristic crook in the seedling’s stalk. Bury them deeper than they were in their packs and it won’t harm the plant (as it most certainly will with most flowers and vegetables), but it will help them grow nice and straight.

* For the birds. Natural bird food will soon be in short supply. Feeders that are safe from cats and filled with seed are one way to nourish birds in winter. If you’re concerned spilled seed may sprout with the rains, here’s a helpful hint from the Master Gardeners of Los Angeles: Bake bird seed on a cookie sheet in a 300-degree oven for five minutes and seed will be sterile but still nutritious. Some birds favor shrubs with decorative winter berries, including pyracantha, cotoneaster and the native toyon (their favorite). These can be planted now.