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Dig In: Garden checklist for week of Aug. 30

August ends with hazy days before another heat wave

Sacramento Digs Gardening
BY Debbie Arrington PUBLISHED AUG 29, 2020

The vegetables may look a little ragged this late in the season -- and the air a

bit smoky, even in the morning -- but keep harvesting to prompt plants

to continue producing. (Photo: Kathy Morrison)

After unbearable conditions most of this month, the last few days of August feel (almost) comfortable.
Lingering wildfire smoke continues to keep our skies hazy (and air quality unhealthy for sensitive people).

But a fog bank off the coast and some Delta breeze have kept high temperatures in the low 90s, average for late August. The haze lowered temperatures a degree or two, too.

Enjoy these low 90s while you can. The National Weather Service forecasts a string of triple-digit days starting Tuesday and lasting through Labor Day, with afternoon highs 10 to 15 degrees above normal.

Concentrate your garden chores on Sunday and Monday, then prepare for another heat wave.

* Harvest tomatoes, beans, squash, pepper and eggplants to prompt plants to keep producing.
* Give your plants a deep watering twice a week, more if planted in containers.
* Consider pulling unproductive or spent plants in the vegetable garden. Tomatoes won't set in triple-digit heat. Make room for fall planting.
* Cut off spent blooms from roses, annuals and perennials. Roses will rebloom about six to eight weeks after deadheading.
* Divide and replant bearded irises.
* Pick up after your fruit trees. Clean up debris and dropped fruit; this cuts down on insects and prevents the spread of brown rot.
* Watch out for caterpillars and hornworms in the vegetable garden. They can strip a plant bare in one day. Pick them off plants by hand in early morning or late afternoon.
* Knock spider mites and their webs off plants with a blast of water. Do this in the morning for best results.
* Wash any accumulated ash from wildfires off leaves.
* Sow seeds of perennials in pots for fall planting including yarrow, coneflower and salvia.
* Indoors, start seedlings for fall vegetable planting, including bunching onion, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, kale, radicchio and lettuce.

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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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