Don't let your garden fry this week
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Melons get sunburned, too. See the hacks post linked below to protect them. (Photo: Kathy Morrison) |
Argh, here comes another heat wave. A heat advisory has been issued for Thursday through Saturday in the Sacramento area.
We gardeners can hide inside. Our plants aren't so lucky.
Fortunately, we here at Sacramento Digs Gardening have a lot of experience with gardens and heat. Here are links to several past columns, with advice to use now, before the temps climb Wednesday:
-- Get Ready for Hot Days Ahead
-- Mulch is Good, and More Mulch is Better
-- 5 Hacks for Shading Your Precious Vegetables
-- Hot Tomato! How to Help Your Vines During High Heat
-- Speaking for the Trees: Don't Forget Them in This Heat
- - For Best Roses in Heat, Watch Water and Mites
And if you're too late:
-- RescuingĀ a Heat-Stressed Plant
Finally, for the gardener:
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Dig In: Garden checklist for week of Feb. 5
Make the most of sunny days and get winter tasks done:
* This is the last chance to spray fruit trees before they bloom. Treat peach and nectarine trees with copper-based fungicide. Spray apricot trees at bud swell to prevent brown rot. Apply horticultural oil to control scale, mites and aphids on fruit trees soon after a rain. But remember: Oils need at least 24 hours to dry to be effective. Don’t spray during foggy weather or when rain is forecast.
* Feed spring-blooming shrubs and fall-planted perennials with slow-release fertilizer. Feed mature trees and shrubs after spring growth starts.
* Finish pruning roses and deciduous trees.
* Remove aphids from blooming bulbs with a strong spray of water or insecticidal soap.
* Fertilize strawberries and asparagus.
* Transplant or direct-seed several flowers, including snapdragon, candytuft, lilies, astilbe, larkspur, Shasta and painted daisies, stocks, bleeding heart and coral bells.
* In the vegetable garden, plant Jerusalem artichoke tubers, and strawberry and rhubarb roots.
* Transplant cabbage and its close cousins – broccoli, kale and Brussels sprouts – as well as lettuce (both loose leaf and head).
* Plant artichokes, asparagus and horseradish from root divisions.
* Plant potatoes from tubers and onions from sets (small bulbs). The onions will sprout quickly and can be used as green onions in March.
* From seed, plant beets, chard, lettuce, mustard, peas, radishes and turnips.
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