Dig In: Garden checklist for week of Sept. 1

Make the most of relatively “cool” weather this Labor Day weekend. More heat is coming soon.

According to the National Weather Service, Sacramento won’t even reach the 90s on Monday’s Labor Day holiday with an expected high of 89 degrees. Sunday’s forecast is on the temperate side, too, with a high of 90 degrees and an overnight low of 60.

But by Tuesday, temperatures will start climbing again. Wednesday and Thursday (and maybe more) are expected to reach at least 100 degrees. It’s one more challenge for our tomatoes, peppers and squash.

September typically is on the milder side, averaging highs of 87 degrees in Sacramento. That makes it excellent for planting – whether it’s veggie seeds or whole trees. Warm soil makes for rapid root development.

Just make sure to keep seeds and transplants comfortably moist. Don’t let them dry out during those hot days to come.

* September starts another season in the vegetable garden. Now is the time to plant for fall.

* Keep harvesting tomatoes, peppers, squash, melons and eggplant.

* Compost annuals and vegetable crops that have finished producing.

* Cultivate and add compost to the soil to replenish its nutrients for fall and winter vegetables and flowers.

* Fertilize deciduous fruit trees.

* Plant onions, lettuce, peas, radishes, turnips, beets, carrots, bok choy, spinach and potatoes directly into the vegetable beds.

* Transplant cabbage, broccoli, kale, Brussels sprouts and cauliflower as well as lettuce seedlings.

* Sow seeds of California poppies, clarkia and African daisies.

* Transplant cool-weather annuals such as pansies, violas, fairy primroses, calendulas, stocks and snapdragons.

* Divide and replant bulbs, rhizomes and perennials.

* Dig up and divide daylilies as they complete their bloom cycle.

* Divide and transplant peonies that have become overcrowded. Replant with “eyes” about an inch below the soil surface.