Sacramento Digs Gardening logo
Sacramento Digs Gardening Article
Your resource for Sacramento-area gardening news, tips and events

Articles Recipe Index Keyword Index Calendar Twitter Facebook Instagram About Us Contact Us

Pick up a 'Garden Sampler' for best Sierra foothill advice


Sacramento Digs Gardening logo
Sacramento Digs Gardening
PUBLISHED SEP 16, 2018

Gardening is different in the Sierra foothills. With higher elevations come subtle changes in weather compared to the Valley; in particular, more rain and colder winter nights. Surrounded by nature and open space, there’s a greater threat of wildfire. Deer and other wildlife are more likely to visit backyards.

All those factors and more shape the foothill approach to gardening.

If you’re a foothill gardener in need of great, totally local advice, pick up a copy of “Garden Sampler,” the 2019 Calendar and Garden Guide created by the UC Cooperative Extension Master Gardeners of Placer County. This excellent gardening tool is now available for $10 at several locations in Placer, El Dorado and Nevada counties as well as at special events this fall.

Or get one directly from the master gardeners at the Placer County office, Building 306 in the DeWitt Center, 11477 E Ave., Auburn (530-889-7385), or at the El Dorado County master gardeners office, 311 Fair Lane, Placerville (530-621-5512).

This 13-month calendar is packed with garden inspiration, focusing on different styles of foothill gardening, according to the master gardeners. “Additionally, there are seasonal tips on how to care for your garden sustainability, as well as timely planting suggestions. Not into growing your own fruits or vegetables? The ‘In Season at the Market’ section is just for you.”

Look for “Garden Sampler” in local nurseries and garden shops as well as the Fall Auburn Home Show, Sept. 28-30, at Auburn’s Gold Country Fairgrounds. More details: http://pcmg.ucanr.org/

Comments

0 comments have been posted.

Newsletter Subscription

Sacramento Digs Gardening to your inbox.

Local News

Ad for California Local

Taste Spring! E-cookbook

Strawberries

Find our spring recipes here!

Thanks to Our Sponsor!

Cleveland sage ad for Be Water Smart

Garden Checklist for week of June 29

We're into our typical summer weather pattern now. Get chores, especially watering, done early in the morning while it's cool.

* 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. Plant Halloween pumpkins now.

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

* Water, then fertilize vegetables and blooming annuals, perennials and shrubs to give them a boost. Feeding flowering plants every other week will extend their bloom.

* Don’t let tomato plants 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.

* Harvest tomatoes, squash, peppers and eggplant. Prompt picking will help keep plants producing.

* 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.

* Give vegetable plants bone meal or other fertilizers high in phosphate to stimulate more blooms and fruiting.

Taste Summer! E-cookbook

square-tomatoes-plate.jpg

Find our summer recipes here!

Taste Fall! E-cookbook

Muffins and pumpkin

Find our fall recipes here!

Taste Winter! E-cookbook

Lemon coconut pancakes

Find our winter recipes here!