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Dig In: Garden checklist for week of June 13

Prepare for more triple-digit heat coming soon

Yellow sunflower with bees
Sunflowers are easy to grow in summer -- and the bees love them. (Photo: Kathy Morrison)



Make the most of a weekend in the 80s. More heat is on the way.

According to the National Weather Service, our cool break is over. Sacramento could see 103 degrees on Thursday. That will be followed by plenty of days in the 90s.

What did you expect? Summer is right around the corner.

* Deep-water shrubs and trees before the heat arrives. Check soil moisture. Make sure water reaches 6 inches deep.

* Weed, weed, weed! Pull out invasive plants before they flower and set seed. Be on the lookout for bindweed and nutsedge.

* Mulch, mulch, mulch! That will help retain moisture as well as smother weeds. Mulch keeps your plants’ roots comfortable on hot days, as well as cut down on work. For best results, spread 3 to 4 inches of wood chips, dried leaves, straw or other organic mulch (not rocks). Leave a 6-inch circle around trunks or main stems to avoid crown rot.

* From seed, plant beans, corn, melons, pumpkins, radishes, squash and sunflowers.

* Plant basil to go with your tomatoes.

* Add instant color to the garden with petunias, marigolds and zinnias.

* Transplant perennial flowers including astilbe, columbine, coneflowers, coreopsis, dahlias, rudbeckia, salvia and verbena.

* Feed summer flowers with a slow-release fertilizer. Water before and after fertilizing.

* Dig and divide crowded daffodils and other bulbs after the tops have died down.

* Thin grapes on the vine for bigger, better clusters later this summer.

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Garden Checklist for week of May 11

Make the most of the lower temperatures early in the week. We’ll be back in the 80s by Thursday.

* Plant, plant, plant! It’s prime planting season in the Sacramento area. Time to set out those tomato transplants along with peppers and eggplants. Pinch off any flowers on new transplants to make them concentrate on establishing roots instead of setting premature fruit.

* Direct-seed melons, cucumbers, summer squash, corn, radishes, pumpkins and annual herbs such as basil.

* Harvest cabbage, lettuce, peas and green onions.

* In the flower garden, direct-seed sunflowers, cosmos, salvia, zinnias, marigolds, celosia and asters. (You also can transplant seedlings for many of the same flowers.)

* Plant dahlia tubers.

* Transplant petunias, marigolds and perennial flowers such as astilbe, columbine, coneflowers, coreopsis, dahlias, rudbeckia and verbena.

* Keep an eye out for slugs, snails, earwigs and aphids that want to dine on tender new growth.

* Feed summer bloomers with a balanced fertilizer.

* For continued bloom, cut off spent flowers on roses as well as other flowering plants.

* Add mulch to the garden to maintain moisture. Mulch also cuts down on weeds. But don’t let it mound around the stems or trunks of trees or shrubs. Leave about a 6-inch-to-1-foot circle to avoid crown rot or other problems.

* Remember to weed! Pull those nasties before they set seed.

* Water early in the day and keep seedlings evenly moist.

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