Sacramento Digs Gardening logo
Sacramento Digs Gardening Article
Your resource for Sacramento-area gardening news, tips and events

Articles Recipe Index Keyword Index Calendar Twitter Facebook Instagram About Us Contact Us

Get ready for Mulch Mayhem

Local water providers offer free way to save more this fall

Sacramento Digs Gardening logo
Sacramento Digs Gardening
PUBLISHED SEP 9, 2021
Plants with mulch  along a walkway
Mulch helps your plants make the most of available moisture while also cutting down on weeds. (Photo courtesy GardenSoft and Regional Water Authority)

Circle Saturday, Sept. 25, on your garden calendar. It’s Mulch Mayhem, a great way to help your plants and save water, too.

Sponsored by the Regional Water Authority and local water providers, this free event provides mulch just in time for fall planting. But get there early; Mulch Mayhem starts at 8 a.m and lasts until noon (or when all the mulch is gone).

According to irrigation and gardening experts, mulch slows evaporation, moderates soil temperature, beautifies landscapes and even controls weeds. As it breaks down, mulch also adds nutrients to the soil to help your plants grow.

Water-efficiency managers estimate that Sacramento-area residents can save 30 gallons of water for every 1,000 square feet of landscape, just by adding 2 to 3 inches of organic mulch around plants and 4 to 6 inches around trees. Organic mulch includes leaves, wood chips, straw, etc. – not rocks.

When mulching around trees or shrubs, make sure to leave about 6 inches of space around the trunk to avoid crown rot.

Available to customers of the participating water agencies, free mulch is limited to one cubic yard per customer (enough to fill a pickup truck) and must be for personal use only.

Mulch will be available on a first-come, first-served basis until supplies are gone. Customers are encouraged to bring their own shovels, containers, tarps or other items to cover the mulch in transport and must provide their own way to haul it away.

Contact your water provider for more details. (Not sure who your provider is? See www.bewatersmart.info .)

Here are the Mulch Mayhem participating sites.

Sacramento County

Sacramento Suburban Water District, Enterprise Site
917 Enterprise Drive, Sacramento
Hosted by Sacramento Suburban Water District
Details: 916-972-7171 or sswd.org

Carmichael Water District
7837 Fair Oaks Blvd., Carmichael
Hosted by Carmichael Water District
Details: 916-483-2452 or carmichaelwd.org

City of Sacramento South Area Corporation Yard
5730 24th St., Sacramento
Hosted by the City of Sacramento
Details: 916-808-5605 or SacWaterWise.com

Placer County

Sierra College, Overflow Lot
Corner of Rocklin Road and El Don Drive (opposite the campus), Rocklin
Hosted by Placer County Water Agency and San Juan Water District
Details: 530-823-4850 or pcwa.net or
916-791-2663 or sjwd.org

Comments

0 comments have been posted.

Newsletter Subscription

Sacramento Digs Gardening to your inbox.

Flowers in My Back Yard Series

Oct. 13: Our state flower is oh-so-easy to grow (California poppy)

Oct. 9: Give roses some TLC for great fall bloom

Oct. 6: Hummingbirds love California fuchsia

Sept. 29: Pineapple sage is a fall bright spot

Sepr. 22: Ginger can flourish in Sacramento

Sept. 15: Plant seeds soon for fragrant spring blooms (sweet peas) 

Sept. 8: A must for fall gardens, asters are little powerhouses

Sept. 1: Yarrow an easy-care, sturdy flowering plant

Aug. 25: Crape myrtles, Sacramento's unofficial tree of summer

Aug. 18: Pollinators adore scabiosa, aka pincushion flower

Aug. 11: Hardy hibiscus adds big tropical impact

Aug. 4: Dianthus a deceptively hardy flower

July 28: Naked Ladies put on summer show

July 21: Thank Luther Burbank for these long-lasting beauties (Shasta daisies)

July 14: How to keep hydrangeas happy

July 7: Grow these bright cosmos for bees and butterflies

June 30: Agapanthus adds blue fireworks to the garden

June 23: Easy-care gazanias fill those hot corners

June 16: Daylilies are perfect for water-wise gardens (and a lot more)

June 9: Grow coneflowers for pollinators -- and yourself

June 2: Sunflowers capture Sacramento's summer attitude

May 29: Are your roses going 'blind'?

May 26: Zinnias are the summer flowers every garden needs

May 19: Plant dahlias now for late-summer flower power

May 12: Know your coreopsis from your bidens

May 5: Mums the word on Mother's Day weekend

April 28: Majestic Matilija poppy is worth a look

April 21: Celebrate roses, America's favorite flower

April 14: Small flowers with outsized impact

April 7: Calendulas do double duty

April 3: Make Easter lilies last for years to come

March 31: In praise of a pollinator magnet (small-leaf salvias)

March 24: Azaleas brighten shady spots

March 17: The perfect flower for beginners? Try zonal geraniums

March 10: Keep camellias happy for years to come

March 3: Fruit tree blossoms are a fleeting joy

Feb. 27: Are your roses looking rusty?

Feb. 24: Treasure spring daffodils now and for years to come

Feb. 17: How and why to grow wildflowers

Feb. 10: Let's talk Valentine's Day roses

Feb. 3: Why grow flowers?

Local News

Ad for California Local

Taste Fall! E-cookbook

Muffins and pumpkin

Find our fall recipes here!

Garden checklist for week of Oct. 4

* October is the best month to plant perennials in our area. Add a little well-aged compost and bone meal to the planting hole, but hold off on other fertilizers until spring. Keep the transplants well-watered (but not wet) for the first month as they become settled.

* Now is the time to plant seeds for many flowers directly into the garden, including cornflower, nasturtium, nigella, poppy, portulaca, sweet pea and stock.

* Plant seeds for radishes, bok choy, mustard, spinach and peas. Plant garlic and onions.

* Set out cool-weather bedding plants, including calendula, pansy, snapdragon, primrose and viola.

* Reseed and feed the lawn. Work on bare spots.

* Dig up corms and tubers of gladioli, dahlias and tuberous begonias after the foliage dies. Clean and store in a cool, dry place.

* Treat azaleas, gardenias and camellias with chelated iron if leaves are yellowing between the veins.

* Clean up the summer vegetable garden and compost disease-free foliage.

* Harvest pumpkins and winter squash.

Contact Us

Send us a gardening question, a post suggestion or information about an upcoming event.  sacdigsgardening@gmail.com

Taste Spring! E-cookbook

Strawberries

Find our spring recipes here!

Taste Summer! E-cookbook

square-tomatoes-plate.jpg

Find our summer recipes here!

Taste Winter! E-cookbook

Lemon coconut pancakes

Find our winter recipes here!

Food in My Back Yard (FIMBY) Series

Lessons learned during a year of edible gardening

WINTER

Is edible gardening possible indoors?

Hints for choosing tomato seeds

Starting in seed starting

Why winter is the perfect time to plant fruit trees

When to plant? Consider staggering your transplants

How to squeeze more food into less space

Potatoes from the garden

Plant a fruit tree now -- for later

Win the weed war by tackling them in winter

Tips for planting bare-root trees, shrubs and vegetables

Time to give vegetable seedlings some more space

Ways to win the fight against weeds

FALL

Add asparagus to your edible garden

Soggy soil and what to do about it

Plant artichokes now; enjoy for years to come

It's late November, and your peach tree needs spraying

What to do with all those fallen leaves?

Prepare now for colder weather in the edible garden

Plant a pea patch for you and your garden

As citrus season begins, advice for backyard growers

Change is in the autumn air 

We don't talk (enough) about beets

Fava beans do double duty

Seeds or transplants for cool-season veggies?

How to prolong the fall tomato harvest 

SUMMER

Time to shut it down? 

How to get the most out of your pumpkin patch

Summer-to-fall transition time for evaluation, planning

To pick or not to pick those tomatoes?

: Put worms to work for you

Grow food while saving water

Enhance your food with edible flowers

Why won't my tomatoes turn red?

A squash plant has mosaic virus, and it's not pretty

Does this plant need water?

 Tear out that sad plant or baby it? Midsummer decisions

How to grow summer salad greens

 Weird stuff that's perfectly normal

SPRING

Help pollinators help your garden

Battling early-season tomato pests

Make your own compost

Where are the bees when you need them?

How to help tomatoes thrive on hot days

Your plants can tell you more than any calendar can

Maintain soil moisture with mulch for garden success

What's (already) wrong with my tomato plants?

Should you stock up on fertilizer? (Yes!)

Grow culinary herbs in containers

When to plant summer vegetables

Don't be fooled by these garden myths

Fertilizer tips: How to 'feed' your vegetables for healthy growth