Sacramento Digs Gardening: Dig In: Garden checklist for week of Oct. 27

It's not too late to add fall color to your garden. (Photo: Debbie Arrington)

Pleasant fall weather great for gardening

After a blast of dry hot windy weather, our October days will return to a very pleasant pattern of low 70s in the afternoon and crisp nights in the low 40s.

In other words, Sacramento will feel and look like fall.

According to the National Weather Service, Sacramento highs will be in the mid to low 70s for seven consecutive days, below normal of 78. The colder overnight temperatures will coax out fall color in deciduous trees and sweeten apples and oranges. Pumpkins and winter squash will be ready for harvest, if they’re not picked already.

Enjoy this autumn weather and your great outdoors!

* Plant something. It’s not too late to start a cool-weather garden or add fall and winter color to your landscape.

* This is the best time to transplant shrubs, trees and most perennials.

* Remember to water deeply, especially seeds and new transplants. Wind and low humidity can suck the moisture out of the soil.

* Dig up corms and tubers of gladioli, dahlias and tuberous begonias after the foliage dies. Clean and store in a cool, dry place.

* Treat azaleas, gardenias and camellias with chelated iron if leaves are yellowing between the veins.

* Plant spring flower seeds including cornflower, nasturtium, nigella, poppy, portulaca, sweet pea and stock.

* Plant seeds for radishes, leaf lettuce, bok choy, mustard, spinach and peas.

* Plant garlic and onions.

* Set out cool-weather bedding plants, including mums, calendula, pansy, snapdragon, primrose and viola.

* Reseed and feed the lawn. Work on bare spots.

CHECKLIST FOR THE WEEK

Your weekly checklist of activities in the garden.

Keywords:

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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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