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Sacramento gardens still need volunteers

Sacramento Digs Gardening
BY Debbie Arrington PUBLISHED MAR 25, 2020

The beloved McKinley Park Rose Garden needs volunteers to weed and mulch it. (Photos: Debbie Arrington)

McKinley Park's beloved rose garden could use some TLC

Gardens keep growing, whether or not someone is there to care for them.

When that garden is a public landmark dependent on volunteer help, that situation can quickly become problematic.

Home to about 1,200 bushes, McKinley Park’s beloved Memorial Rose Garden needs some TLC. Usually, the 1.5-acre garden on H Street near 33rd Street in East Sacramento has no shortage of helping hands – especially this time of year. Early spring weather prompts rapid growth. Thousands of buds have formed and are about to burst into bloom.

But weeds are growing even faster in the rose beds. If those weeds are not tackled now and the beds mulched, the formal rose garden can turn raggedy in a hurry.

This week, McKinley Park rose garden coordinator Lyn Pitts put out a plea for volunteers to help as they can when they can, practicing social distancing and spacing themselves apart from others. (Such garden chores count as necessary outdoor exercise and the city park is still open to the public.)

Pitts emailed past volunteers to enlist their help. “Sure wish I could call together another volunteer event, but just can't bring any of you guys into harm’s way by assembling a group together,” Pitts wrote. “But there are still plenty of things to do at the Rose Garden that you great volunteers can still do to help!”

The rose garden is home to 1,200 bushes.

Pitts has a long list of beds that need weeding or mulch as well as other garden chores. (Recent rain makes pulling out the nutgrass much easier.) And even though no group events are planned, volunteers can still tackle assignments.

To take part, email Pitts directly at lynpitts@comcast.net .

Considered one of the most romantic spots in Sacramento, the McKinley Park rose garden usually hosts weddings almost every weekend during the late spring and summer. Those events will pick back up once large gatherings are allowed again. Pitts wants to assure that the garden will be ready.

Some roses are already in bloom, particularly one large climber.

“(Longtime volunteers) Bill and Mary Kuyper pruned our Lady Banks rose and did such a fantastic job, it looks great right now,” Pitts said. “Come see it!”

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Flowers in My Back Yard Series

Aug. 25: Crape myrtles, Sacramento's unofficial tree of summer

Aug. 18: Pollinators adore scabiosa, aka pincushion flower

Aug. 11: Hardy hibiscus adds big tropical impact

Aug. 4: Dianthus a deceptively hardy flower

July 28: Naked Ladies put on summer show

July 21: Thank Luther Burbank for these long-lasting beauties (Shasta daisies)

July 14: How to keep hydrangeas happy

July 7: Grow these bright cosmos for bees and butterflies

June 30: Agapanthus adds blue fireworks to the garden

June 23: Easy-care gazanias fill those hot corners

June 16: Daylilies are perfect for water-wise gardens (and a lot more)

June 9: Grow coneflowers for pollinators -- and yourself

June 2: Sunflowers capture Sacramento's summer attitude

May 29: Are your roses going 'blind'?

May 26: Zinnias are the summer flowers every garden needs

May 19: Plant dahlias now for late-summer flower power

May 12: Know your coreopsis from your bidens

May 5: Mums the word on Mother's Day weekend

April 28: Majestic Matilija poppy is worth a look

April 21: Celebrate roses, America's favorite flower

April 14: Small flowers with outsized impact

April 7: Calendulas do double duty

April 3: Make Easter lilies last for years to come

March 31: In praise of a pollinator magnet (small-leaf salvias)

March 24: Azaleas brighten shady spots

March 17: The perfect flower for beginners? Try zonal geraniums

March 10: Keep camellias happy for years to come

March 3: Fruit tree blossoms are a fleeting joy

Feb. 27: Are your roses looking rusty?

Feb. 24: Treasure spring daffodils now and for years to come

Feb. 17: How and why to grow wildflowers

Feb. 10: Let's talk Valentine's Day roses

Feb. 3: Why grow flowers?

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Garden checklist for week of Aug. 16

During this break in the heat, feed your garden. Make sure to water before and after applying fertilizer.

* In the garden, direct seed beets, carrots, leaf lettuce and turnips.

* Plant potatoes.

* 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. Also, give them a boost with phosphate-rich fertilizer to help fruiting.

* 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.

* Feed citrus trees their last round of fertilizer for the year. This will give a boost to the fruit that’s still small.

* Mulch can be your garden’s best friend – it conserves moisture while blocking out weeds. But don't let mulch mound around stalks, stems or trunks. That can promote rot.

* Camellia leaves looking a little yellow? Give them some chelated iron. That goes for azaleas and gardenias, too.

* Pick up after your fruit trees. Clean up debris and dropped fruit; this cuts down on insects and prevents the spread of brown rot. Then feed fruit trees with slow-release fertilizer for better production for next year.

* To prolong bloom into fall, feed begonias, fuchsias and container plants. Always water before fertilizing.

* Fertilize fall-blooming perennials, too. Chrysanthemums can be fed until the buds start to open.

* Prepare for a fall full of flowers by paying a little extra attention to your garden. Cut off spent blooms from roses, annuals and perennials, then give them a boost of fertilizer. Make sure to water plants before feeding. Roses will rebloom about six to eight weeks after deadheading.

* Indoors, start seedlings for fall vegetable planting, including bunching onion, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, kale, radicchio and lettuce.

* Sow seeds of perennials in pots for fall planting including yarrow, coneflower and salvia.

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