Chilly nights ahead; make most of clear days
Fallen leaves have extra benefits. You can sweep or rake them up, but leave some on the soil for mulch and in places for beneficial insects to winter under. Kathy Morrison
Keep your sweater handy – and some warm gloves, too.
Sacramento can expect another clear and chilly week, according to the National Weather Service. Daytime highs will be mostly in the low 60s before finally warming up to 66 by Thanksgiving Day. Overnight lows will dip into the 30s, flirting with frost danger.
“Near freezing temperatures are expected for the Valley and foothills through the weekend into Monday morning,” tweeted the weather service’s Sacramento office. “Don’t forget to bring your pets indoors!”
Give animals a warm, safe place to sleep, off cold floors, says the weather service.
Take care of your plants, too. Insulate new transplants with a blanket of mulch. Keep frost cloths handy for the most sensitive plants such as succulents, tropical plants and young citrus trees.
By next weekend, overnight lows are expected to warm slightly, staying above 40 degrees. Although we’ll see some clouds by midweek, no rain is in the forecast.
Stay warm by enjoying some outdoor activity, like showing your garden some TLC.
* Cold nights and gusty winds are quickly finishing off autumn foliage. Rake up fallen leaves – great for making compost. Turn some of those leaves into mulch.
* To help prevent leaf curl, apply a copper fungicide spray to peach and nectarine trees after they lose their leaves this month. Leaf curl, which shows up in the spring, is caused by a fungus that winters as spores on the limbs and around the tree in fallen leaves. Sprays are most effective now – when there’s no rain in the forecast and any wind has died down.
* Keep planting bulbs to spread out your spring bloom. Some possible suggestions: daffodils, crocuses, hyacinths, tulips, anemones and scillas.
* This is also a good time to seed wildflowers and plant such spring bloomers as sweet pea, sweet alyssum and bachelor buttons.
* Now is still a great time to plant most trees and shrubs. This gives them plenty of time for root development before spring growth. They also benefit from winter rains.
* Set out cool-weather annuals such as pansies and snapdragons.
* Lettuce, cabbage and broccoli also can be planted now.
* Plant garlic and onions.
* Give your azaleas, gardenias and camellias a boost with chelated iron.
* After they bloom, chrysanthemums should be trimmed to 6 to 8 inches above the ground. If in pots, keep the mums in their containers until next spring. Then, they can be planted in the ground, if desired, or repotted.
* Prune non-flowering trees and shrubs while dormant.
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Garden Checklist for week of April 21
This week there’s plenty to keep gardeners busy. With no rain in the immediate forecast, remember to irrigate any new transplants.
* Weed, weed, weed! Get them before they flower and go to seed.
* April is the last chance to plant citrus trees such as dwarf orange, lemon and kumquat. These trees also look good in landscaping and provide fresh fruit in winter.
* Smell orange blossoms? Feed citrus trees with a low dose of balanced fertilizer (such as 10-10-10) during bloom to help set fruit. Keep an eye out for ants.
* Apply slow-release fertilizer to the lawn.
* Thoroughly clean debris from the bottom of outdoor ponds or fountains.
* Spring brings a flush of rapid growth, and that means your garden is really hungry. Feed shrubs and trees with a slow-release fertilizer. Or mulch with a 1-inch layer of compost.
* Azaleas and camellias looking a little yellow? If leaves are turning yellow between the veins, give them a boost with chelated iron.
* Trim dead flowers but not leaves from spring-flowering bulbs such as daffodils and tulips. Those leaves gather energy to create next year's flowers. Also, give the bulbs a fertilizer boost after bloom.
* Pinch chrysanthemums back to 12 inches for fall flowers. Cut old stems to the ground.
* Mulch around plants to conserve moisture and control weeds.
* From seed, plant beans, beets, cantaloupes, carrots, corn, cucumbers, melons, radishes and squash.
* Plant onion sets.
* In the flower garden, plant seeds for asters, cosmos, celosia, marigolds, salvia, sunflowers and zinnias.
* Transplant petunias, zinnias, geraniums and other summer bloomers.
* Plant perennials and dahlia tubers for summer bloom.
* Mid to late April is about the last chance to plant summer bulbs, such as gladiolus and tuberous begonias.
* Transplant lettuce seedlings. Choose varieties that mature quickly such as loose leaf.
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