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Get help for fall from region's master gardeners

Open garden, classes in-person and on Zoom are scheduled

Small kale plant with a plant ID marker
At the Sept. 11 Open Garden, check out what's growing in the Fair Oaks Horticulture Center's Vegetable Garden. (Bet there will be kale.) (Photo:
Kathy Morrison)

The light is changing, the summer garden is winding down.  As planning and planting for fall begin in earnest, gardeners can reap loads of advice from the UCCE master gardeners of the region. While each of the counties has its own program, the advice each group offers is often applicable across the Sacramento gardening area, with some tweaks for microclimates.

Here are some upcoming master gardener classes and events:

--- The Yolo County master gardeners will hold a "Kitchen Garden Chat" this Saturday, Sept. 4, starting at 10 a.m. The master gardeners will discuss "how to finish up your summer  garden, what to do with your winter garden and seed saving." The event will be both in person -- at the Leake Room of the Woodland Library -- and on Zoom. The link to join via Zoom is here: https://ucanr.zoom.us/j/95676702285

-- The Open Garden on Saturday, Sept. 11, from 9 a.m. to noon, will be the first by the Sacramento County master gardeners since February 2020. The Fair Oaks Horticulture Center, the MGs' demonstration garden, has undergone several changes since then, including the installation of the beautiful Chuck Ingels Memorial Gate. The FOHC is at 11549 Fair Oaks Blvd. in Fair Oaks.

Master gardeners will be on hand to answer questions about composting, orchard and vineyard care, winter vegetables,  berry and herb gardening, and landscaping with limited water. Gardeners with questions can bring samples or pictures of problem plants to the Ask a Master Gardener table. The Gardening Guide and Calendar also will be on sale, for $10. For more information: http://sacmg.ucanr.edu/?calitem=389780

-- Invasive plants! Preventing them is the focus of a "Wild Wanderers" Zoom workshop presented from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 11, by the Placer County master gardeners. Learn how to fight "Thugs, Multipliers and Pests," as the MGs call them. Zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89053008203? passcode: garden.

This is the beautiful cover of the Placer master
gardeners' Gardening Guide and Calendar.

The Placer Master gardeners will release their 2022 Gardening Guide and Calendar on Sept. 7. For a sneak peek, go here: http://pcmg.ucanr.org/2022_Calendar/

-- Another valuable Zoom class, "Landscape Transformation," is offered online from 9 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 11, by the master gardeners of El Dorado and Amador counties. Registration is free but required; to register go here: https://surveys.ucanr.edu/survey.cfm?surveynumber=35346

-- Kathy Morrison

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Sacramento Digs Gardening plans to change (and upgrade, we hope) our newsletter distribution service soon. Anyone already on our subscription list will be migrated to our new list, but you may be asked to reconfirm your interest in receiving the newsletter version of our blog. The blog itself will stay at its present blogspot address for now, but also will move to a new site later this fall, giving us more flexibility in design and offerings.

Thanks for reading!

Debbie and Kathy


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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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