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Dig In: Garden checklist for week of May 24


Sun and sunflowers: It's almost summer in Sacramento, but it surely will fee like it the next few days. (Photo: Kathy Morrison)

Prepare for hot days to come; check your irrigation



The heat is on! What would you expect on Memorial Day Weekend?
May goes out on a hot streak with a string of days in the high 90s. According to the National Weather Service, we may see 100 degrees on Tuesday or Wednesday before "cooling" down into the mid 90s.
Concentrate your gardening efforts this long weekend by making your garden as comfortable as possible and helping it cope with the heat to come.

* Check your irrigation. Are your drip emitters putting the water where it's needed? Are they all working? Are they delivering enough water for growing plants?
* Deep water trees, shrubs, perennials, berries and vegetables.
* Plant anything lately? It needs water, too. Be consistent with irrigation.
* Try to water in the early morning or evening; there's less evaporation and less waste.
* Mulch, mulch, mulch. Check for bare spots where ground is baking. But avoid mounding mulch around trunks or main stems; leave a 6- to 12-inch circle open to avoid crown rot.
* 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.
* Put your veggie garden on a regular diet. Set up a monthly feeding program, and keep track on your calendar. Make sure to water your garden before applying any fertilizer to prevent “burning” your plants.
* Are birds picking your fruit off trees before it’s ripe? Try hanging strips of aluminum foil on tree branches. The shiny, dangling strips help deter birds from making themselves at home.
* It's not too late to add a few more tomatoes, peppers or other summer favorites.
* Direct-seed melons, cucumbers, summer squash, corn, radishes, pumpkins and annual herbs such as basil.
* In the flower garden, direct-seed or transplant sunflowers, cosmos, salvia, zinnias, marigolds, celosia and asters.
* Plant dahlia tubers.
* Transplant petunias, marigolds and perennial flowers such as astilbe, columbine, coneflowers, coreopsis, dahlias, rudbeckia and verbena.

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Garden Checklist for week of Dec. 8

Make the most of dry weather while we have it this week. Rain is returning.

* Rake leaves away from storm drains and gutters. Recycle those leaves as mulch or add to compost.

* It’s not too late to plant something. Seed wildflowers and plant such spring bloomers as sweet pea, sweet alyssum and bachelor buttons.

* Trees and shrubs can be planted now, especially bare-root varieties such as fruit trees or rose bushes. This gives them plenty of time for root development before spring growth. They also benefit from winter rains.

* Plant bare-root berries, kiwifruit, grapes, artichokes, horseradish and rhubarb.

* Set out cool-weather annuals such as pansies and snapdragons.

* Lettuce, cabbage and broccoli also can be planted now.

* Brighten the holidays with winter bloomers such as poinsettias, amaryllis, calendulas, Iceland poppies, pansies and primroses.

* Keep poinsettias in a sunny, warm location; bring them inside at night or if there’s rain.

* Plant garlic and onions.

* Prune non-flowering trees and shrubs while they’re dormant.

* Clean and sharpen garden tools before storing for the winter.

* Mulch, water and cover tender plants to protect them during threat of frost. Succulent plants are at particular risk if temperatures drop below freezing. Make sure to remove coverings during the day.

* Rake and remove dead leaves and stems from dormant perennials.

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