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Dig In: Garden checklist for week of Dec. 15


Christmas camellias are now in full bloom. Pick some for a winter bouquet. (Photo: Debbie Arrington)
Make the most of soft soil on dry days



What drought? Recent rain has refreshed our gardens and our water reserves.

After speculation in November that we were heading for a dry winter, the storms washed away any mention of the “D” word.

According to the
National Weather Service , Sacramento has received more than 3.55 inches so far in December. That increased our seasonal total since Oct. 1 to 4.26 inches – normal for this time period.

By comparison, last season to date was 3.14 inches.

Make the most of soft soil during dry days to get things done:

* Pick a winter bouquet to enjoy indoors. Christmas camellias are enjoying this weather and are now in full bloom.

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

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

* Plant cool-season annuals such as calendulas, Iceland poppies, pansies and primroses.

* Plant bare-root berries, kiwifruit, grapes, artichokes, horseradish and rhubarb. Beware of soggy soil. It can rot bare-root plants.

* Just because it rained doesn't mean every plant got watered. Give a drink to plants that the rain didn't reach.

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Garden Checklist for week of May 18

Get outside early in the morning while temperatures are still cool – and get to work!

* 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. 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.

* 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.

* As spring-flowering shrubs finish blooming, give them a little pruning to shape them, removing old and dead wood. Lightly trim azaleas, fuchsias and marguerites for bushier plants.

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