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Winter rain totals just below average in Sacramento

Spring starts with rapid warm-up; what does that mean for your garden?

Sacramento Digs Gardening
BY Debbie Arrington PUBLISHED MAR 19, 2025

Freesias in bloom herald the beginning of spring, which officially starts Thursday, March 20. Kathy Morrison

How will we remember the Winter of ’25? Was it too wet? Too dry? Just right?

Thanks to “March Miracle” storm systems dumping snow on the Sierra, our Water Year picture looks like it’s found the Goldilocks zone. But Sacramento could still use some more rain this spring.

This winter, Sacramento totaled just above 9.5 inches of precipitation; that’s a little below average. So far, our Water Year (which started Oct. 1) has totaled 13.29 inches in Sacramento; average for that same period is 14.81 inches.

More showers should be expected. Historically, March averages 2.75 inches of rain in Sacramento with another 1.15 inches in April.

Thankfully, the Sierra snowpack looks healthy and local reservoirs are relatively full. Compared to recent drought years, we’re in a good place water-wise heading into the drier months ahead. That’s good new for farmers and gardeners.

In the next few days, dramatic shifts in temperatures could cause some complications, especially for tender seedlings.

According to the National Weather Service, spring will start with a jump in temperatures. Sacramento will go from 61 degrees on March 19 (today, the last official day of winter) to 81 degrees Monday, March 24. That warming trend will start on Saturday and Sunday with a weekend in the 70s before zipping right into the 80s. Make sure new transplants stay hydrated.

(And many of us experienced hail last week!)

Don’t let those warm temperatures fool you; it’s still too early to plant tomatoes. Soil temperature has to rise, too. So far this March, our soil temperature has been trending low.

According to USDA, the average soil temperature on Wednesday in Sacramento County was about 53 degrees F.; that’s more than 3 degrees lower than average for the last day of winter.

Tomato roots need temperatures comfortably in the mid 60s; our soil won’t reach those temperatures until late in April or early May.

Want to plant sooner? Soil in raised beds warms faster. So does soil in black plastic containers; the black plastic absorbs heat. Choose those options for your earliest transplants.

For more weather updates: https://www.weather.gov/sto/

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GENERAL GARDENING

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Keywords:

winter March spring rain rainfall snowpack drought Water Year weather Sacramento gardening transplants soil temperature

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Garden checklist for week of May 17

With an eye on warmer weather to come, continue to work on the summer vegetable garden:

* Remember to irrigate your tender transplants. The wind can quickly dry out young plants. Seedlings need consistent moisture. Deep watering will help build strong roots and healthy plants. Water early in the morning for best results.

* Plant, plant, plant! It’s prime planting season in the Sacramento area. Time to set out those tomato transplants along with peppers and eggplants. Pinch off any flowers on new transplants to make them concentrate on establishing roots instead of setting premature fruit.

* Direct-seed melons, cucumbers, summer squash, corn, radishes, pumpkins and annual herbs such as basil.

* Harvest lettuce, peas and green onions.

* In the flower garden, direct-seed sunflowers, cosmos, salvia, zinnias, marigolds, celosia and asters. (You also can transplant seedlings for many of the same flowers.)

* Plant dahlia tubers.

* Transplant petunias, marigolds and perennial flowers such as astilbe, calibrachoa, columbine, coneflowers, coreopsis, rudbeckia and verbena.

* Keep an eye out for slugs, snails, earwigs and aphids that want to dine on tender new growth.

* Feed summer bloomers with a balanced fertilizer.

* For continued bloom, cut off spent flowers on roses as well as other flowering plants.

* Put your veggie garden on a regular diet. Set up a monthly feeding program, and keep track on your calendar. Make sure to water your garden before applying any fertilizer to prevent “burning” your plants.

* As spring-flowering shrubs finish blooming, give them a little pruning to shape them, removing old and dead wood. Lightly trim azaleas, fuchsias and marguerites for bushier plants.

* Don’t forget to weed! Those invaders are growing fast.

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