Sacramento Digs Gardening: Now with a break in the rain

Oops, that saucer should be emptied, then removed. The leaves crowding the plant probably should be cleared

out, too. (Photo: Kathy Morrison)

5 chores that will help your garden before the next storm

Quick, it's not raining: Get outside and check on things before the rain starts up again Friday afternoon or this weekend. The Sacramento area's received roughly 3 inches of rain in the past seven days and we're barely into December.

-- Search for and pick up large twigs or branches that have fallen or been blown out of trees, especially ones that have landed on top of tender plants. Also, look up into the trees to see if there are other loose branches within reach that you can pull down.

-- Is water collecting in container saucers? Dump it out now so that plant can get a break from the sogginess. Better yet, take the plant out of the saucer for now.

-- Another container check: Are there so many leaves on the soil surface that raindrops can't get through to the soil and the plant's roots? (They're probably draining down the sides or -- eek! -- not draining at all.) Some leaves are OK, but not when they create an organic tarp.

-- Any puddles remaining even though the rain's stopped? There might be a drainage problem in that part of the garden. Depending on the size and location, you could hoe a temporary drainage ditch away from it or add some garden soil. Or just make a note to keep an eye on it -- especially if there haven't been issues in that spot previously.

-- Check that leaf piles aren't blocking the flow of water in the street gutter. Even better, take a walk around the block and, with a stick or a plant stake, push leaves away from the gutter drains just enough so water won't back up there. Help the neighborhood avoid flooding.

GENERAL GARDENING

An article about gardening.

Keywords:

gardening Sacramento winter weather container plants soil saturation flooding rainfall leaves weather

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Food in My Back Yard Series

May 6: Maintain soil moisture with mulch for garden success

April 29: What's (already) wrong with my tomato plants?

April 22: Should you stock up on fertilizer? (Yes!)

April 15: Grow culinary herbs in containers

April 8: When to plant summer vegetables

April 1: Don't be fooled by these garden myths

March 25: Fertilizer tips: How to 'feed' your vegetables for healthy growth

March 18: Time to give vegetable seedlings some more space

March 11: Ways to win the fight against weeds

March 4: Potatoes from the garden

Feb. 25: Plant a fruit tree now -- for later

Feb. 18: How to squeeze more food into less space

Feb. 11: When to plant? Consider staggering your transplants

Feb. 4: Starting in seed starting

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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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