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Keep your cool: Tips on avoiding heat-related illness


No doubt about it: Summer is here. Protect your health in the garden. (Photo: Kathy Morrison)

Gardeners are at risk during triple-digit days



Sacramento’s real summer has finally arrived. Triple-digit temperatures will be the norm this week – just in time for the wrap-up of the State Fair.

Expect to see more days in the 100s in August. It’s Sacramento; we should be used to such summer extremes.

But even longtime residents may ignore the dangers of heat exposure. Too much heat can make you sick; it can even kill you.

According to the National Weather Service, more than 200 Americans die each year from heat-related illnesses.

Gardeners are particularly vulnerable. We want to be outside. We have work to do!

Don’t be a heat victim. Follow these tips from the Sacramento County master gardeners:

1. Acclimate yourself. Gradually get into a summer rhythm; a little time in the sun or outdoors, then a break in the shade or inside. Over days or weeks, you can increase your sun and heat exposure (and sweat less).

2. Make use of cool time. Do your most strenuous tasks during the coolest parts of the day (or night). Get chores done in the early morning or evening. (That’s also the best time to water.)

3. Drink plenty of fluids. That means water or electrolyte-packed sports drinks, not coffee and sodas. Plan on at least one quart of water per hour of outdoor activity. Avoid caffeinated beverages; they make you thirstier.

4. Wear sun protection, such as a brimmed hat and light-colored, lightweight, loose-fitting clothing, preferably cotton. Sunscreen is a good idea, too.

5. Find some shade and use it. Frequent breaks out of the sun are important to regulate your body’s temperature. If no shade is readily available, make some with a portable umbrella or shade structure.

6. Know the symptoms of heat-related illness, such as light-headedness, fatigue, dizziness, fainting, cramping and nausea. If you’re feeling any of those symptoms, get out of the sun. Take a break in the shade.

7. If you suspect heat stroke, call 911. When suffering heat stroke, you stop sweating and your body can’t regulate its temperature. It’s serious and needs immediate medical attention.

8. Remember: Tomorrow is another day. It may be cooler. Do that chore in the morning.

Need help for heat-stressed plants? Check out tips for tomatoes
here or plants in general (especially container plants) here.

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Garden Checklist for week of June 22

Mornings this first week of summer will remain comfortably cool – just right for gardening!

* Water early in the morning to cut down on evaporation. Check soil moisture and deep water trees and shrubs. Keep new transplants and veggies evenly moist. Deep water tomatoes to encourage deep roots.

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

* Plant basil to go with your tomatoes.

* Transplant summer annuals such as petunias, marigolds and zinnias. It’s also a good time to transplant perennial flowers including astilbe, columbine, coneflowers, coreopsis, dahlias, rudbeckia, salvia and verbena.

* Tie up vines and stake tall plants such as gladiolus and lilies. That gives their heavy flowers some support.

* Dig and divide crowded bulbs after the tops have died down.

* Feed summer flowers with a slow-release fertilizer.

* Mulch, mulch, mulch! This “blanket” keeps moisture in the soil longer and helps your plants cope during hot weather.

* Avoid pot “hot feet.” Place a 1-inch-thick board under container plants sitting on pavement. This little cushion helps insulate them from radiated heat.

* Thin grapes on the vine for bigger, better clusters later this summer.

* Cut back fruit-bearing canes on berries.

* Feed camellias, azaleas and other acid-loving plants. Mulch to conserve moisture and reduce heat stress.

* Cut back Shasta daisies after flowering to encourage a second bloom in the fall.

* Trim off dead flowers from rose bushes to keep them blooming through the summer. Roses also benefit from deep watering and feeding now. A top dressing of aged compost will keep them happy. It feeds as well as keeps roots moist.

* Pinch back chrysanthemums for bushier plants with many more flowers in September.

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