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Now with a break in the rain

Sacramento Digs Gardening
BY Kathy Morrison PUBLISHED DEC 5, 2019

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.

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Garden Checklist for week of July 21

Your garden needs you!

* Keep your vegetable garden watered, mulched and weeded. Water before 8 a.m. to reduce the chance of fungal infection and to conserve moisture.

* Feed vegetable plants bone meal, rock phosphate or other fertilizers high in phosphate to stimulate more blooms and fruiting. (But wait until daily high temperatures drop out of the 100s.)

* Don’t let tomatoes wilt or dry out completely. Give tomatoes a deep watering two to three times a week.

* Harvest vegetables promptly to encourage plants to produce more. Squash especially tends to grow rapidly in hot weather. Keep an eye on zucchini.

* Pinch back chrysanthemums for bushy plants and more flowers in September.

* Remove spent flowers from roses, daylilies and other bloomers as they finish flowering.

* Pinch off blooms from basil so the plant will grow more leaves.

* Cut back lavender after flowering to promote a second bloom.

* It's not too late to add a splash of color. Plant petunias, snapdragons, zinnias and marigolds.

* From seed, plant corn, pumpkins, radishes, winter squash and sunflowers.

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