Sacramento Digs Gardening: Dig In: Garden checklist for week of Sept. 5

A honey bee harvests pollen from a Diablo cosmos blossom, not far from the tomato bed. Keep harvesting summer veggies to keep the plants producing. (Photo: Kathy Morrison)

Labor Day weekend marks the unofficial end of summer with another hot streak.

According to the National Weather Service, expect a string of hot days, topping out around 102 degrees on Monday. Some parts of the Valley will top 105.

It’s a good weekend to take it easy and stay hydrated. That includes your garden, too. Water deeply and limit chores to early morning when temperatures will be coolest.

Starting Tuesday, we’ll see temperatures slide back into the mid and low 90s. Friday’s predicted high is only 89 degrees.

What’s normal for September in Sacramento? For this week, 91 degrees (high) and 61 (low); for the month, 87 and 56, respectively. The all-time record is 108 degrees.

Chance of rain remains slight: Our average total for September is just 0.29 inches.

* September starts another season in the vegetable garden. Plan to plant for fall in the weeks ahead. The warm soil will get these veggies off to a fast start.

* Keep harvesting tomatoes, peppers, squash, melons and eggplant.

* Compost annuals and vegetable crops that have finished producing.

* Cultivate and add compost to the soil to replenish its nutrients for fall and winter vegetables and flowers.

* Divide and replant bulbs, rhizomes and perennials.

* Plant onions, lettuce, peas, radishes, turnips, beets, carrots, bok choy, spinach and potatoes directly into the vegetable beds.

* Transplant cabbage, broccoli, kale, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, lettuce and other cool-season veggies.

* Sow seeds of California poppies, clarkia and African daisies.

* Transplant cool-weather annuals such as pansies, violas, fairy primroses, calendulas, stocks and snapdragons.

CHECKLIST FOR THE WEEK

Your weekly checklist of activities in the garden.

Keywords:

fall vegetables seeds tomatoes Sacramento garden chores Labor Day weather fall planting gardening bees checklist compost

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Garden Checklist for week of April 21

This week there’s plenty to keep gardeners busy. With no rain in the immediate forecast, remember to irrigate any new transplants.

* Weed, weed, weed! Get them before they flower and go to seed.

* April is the last chance to plant citrus trees such as dwarf orange, lemon and kumquat. These trees also look good in landscaping and provide fresh fruit in winter.

* Smell orange blossoms? Feed citrus trees with a low dose of balanced fertilizer (such as 10-10-10) during bloom to help set fruit. Keep an eye out for ants.

* Apply slow-release fertilizer to the lawn.

* Thoroughly clean debris from the bottom of outdoor ponds or fountains.

* Spring brings a flush of rapid growth, and that means your garden is really hungry. Feed shrubs and trees with a slow-release fertilizer. Or mulch with a 1-inch layer of compost.

* Azaleas and camellias looking a little yellow? If leaves are turning yellow between the veins, give them a boost with chelated iron.

* Trim dead flowers but not leaves from spring-flowering bulbs such as daffodils and tulips. Those leaves gather energy to create next year's flowers. Also, give the bulbs a fertilizer boost after bloom.

* Pinch chrysanthemums back to 12 inches for fall flowers. Cut old stems to the ground.

* Mulch around plants to conserve moisture and control weeds.

* From seed, plant beans, beets, cantaloupes, carrots, corn, cucumbers, melons, radishes and squash.

* Plant onion sets.

* In the flower garden, plant seeds for asters, cosmos, celosia, marigolds, salvia, sunflowers and zinnias.

* Transplant petunias, zinnias, geraniums and other summer bloomers.

* Plant perennials and dahlia tubers for summer bloom.

* Mid to late April is about the last chance to plant summer bulbs, such as gladiolus and tuberous begonias.

* Transplant lettuce seedlings. Choose varieties that mature quickly such as loose leaf.

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