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Dig In: Garden checklist for week of Oct. 13

Sacramento Digs Gardening
BY Debbie Arrington PUBLISHED OCT 12, 2019

Plant transplants of kale and other cool-weather vegetables now. (Photo: Kathy Morrison)

After the smoke clears, plant something; lots of possibilities

Plants don’t mind the smoke. This weekend, fires burning in the Sierra foothills cast a smoky haze over the Sacramento area, making eyes water and throats scratch.

So, although temperatures remained mild, it’s not advised to undertake strenuous activity outdoors until the smoke clears. That should happen when breezes pick up, which may be as soon as Sunday night.

When the smoke clears, take advantage of some very comfortable fall weather. According to the National Weather Service , Sacramento high temperatures will stay in the 70s all week with overnight lows flirting with 50.

That’s great planting weather. Need suggestions?

* October is the best month to plant perennials in the greater Sacramento area. Add a little well-aged compost and bone meal to the planting hole, but hold off on other fertilizers until spring. Keep the transplants well-watered (but not wet) for the first month as they become settled.

* Trees and shrubs also benefit from fall planting. Keep them well watered until winter rains take over irrigation.

* California native plants do best when transplanted now; they’ll develop strong, deep roots.

* Now is the time to plant seeds for many flowers such as cornflower, nasturtium, nigella, poppy, portulaca, sweet pea and stock.

* Plant seeds for radishes, bok choy, mustard, spinach and peas.

* Transplant cool-weather vegetables including lettuce, kale, cabbage, broccoli and cauliflower.

* Plant garlic and onions.

* Set out cool-weather bedding plants, including calendula, pansy, snapdragon, primrose and viola.

* Reseed and feed the lawn. Work on bare spots.

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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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