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Dig In: Garden checklist for week of Sept. 19

Say goodbye to summer garden; get ready for fall and beyond

Sacramento Digs Gardening
BY Debbie Arrington PUBLISHED SEP 18, 2021

Orange, red and yellow Gypsy peppers

Peppers such as these Gypsy peppers at the Fair Oaks Horticulture Center are still producing, but many summer vegetables are done. Any of those can be removed and composted. (Photo: Kathy Morrison)

Our last days of summer may see something we haven’t seen much of in six months – rain.

Scattered showers are in Sacramento’s Sunday forecast.

If the National Weather Service can measure even a trace at its Downtown Sacramento station, it will break a rainless streak going back to March 19. (Executive Airport got 0.05 inches from that thunderstorm that hit late Sept. 9, but any measurable rain passed over downtown.)

Sunday’s anticipated moisture won’t be much. According to the weather service, it will be followed by gusty winds and dry conditions – adding to already high fire danger.

This last summer weekend may feel like fall, but September will still have some more heat. After two days in the mid 70s this weekend, the predicted high for Monday is 89 degrees. The rest of the week is expected to see highs in the low 90s.

Say goodbye to your summer garden; fall officially starts Wednesday.

* 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, cauliflower, lettuce and cool-season greens.

* 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.

* Late September is ideal for sowing a new lawn or re-seeding bare spots.

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cool-weather annuals fertilizing seeds Sacramento trees garden cleanup wildflowers garden checklist weather fall planting gardening lawns compost perennials flowers

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Garden Checklist for week of May 5

Survey your garden after the May 4 rainstorm. Heavy rain and gusty winds can break the neck of large flowers such as roses. Also:

* Keep an eye on new transplants or seedlings; they could take a pounding from the rain.

* Watch out for powdery mildew. Warmth following moist conditions can cause this fungal disease to “bloom,” too. If you see a leaf that looks like it’s dusted with powdered sugar, snip it off.

* After the storm, start setting out tomato transplants, but wait on the peppers and eggplants (they want warmer nights). Pinch off any flowers on new transplants to make them concentrate on establishing roots instead of setting premature fruit.

* 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, pumpkins, 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.

* Don’t wait; plant summer bulbs, such as gladiolus and tuberous begonias.

* Harvest cabbage, lettuce, peas and green onions.

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