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Dig In: Garden checklist for week of Sept. 19

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

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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 Nov. 3

November still offers good weather for fall planting:

* If you haven't already, it's time to clean up the remains of summer. Pull faded annuals and vegetables. Prune dead or broken branches from trees.

* Now is the best time to plant most trees and shrubs. This gives them plenty of time for root development before spring growth. They also benefit from fall and 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.

* 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.

* Rake and compost leaves, but dispose of any diseased plant material. For example, if peach and nectarine trees showed signs of leaf curl this year, clean up under trees and dispose of those leaves instead of composting.

* Save dry stalks and seedpods from poppies and coneflowers for fall bouquets and holiday decorating.

* For holiday blooms indoors, plant paperwhite narcissus bulbs now. Fill a shallow bowl or dish with 2 inches of rocks or pebbles. Place bulbs in the dish with the root end nestled in the rocks. Add water until it just touches the bottom of the bulbs. Place the dish in a sunny window. Add water as needed.

* Give your azaleas, gardenias and camellias a boost with chelated iron.

* For larger blooms, pinch off some camellia buds.

* Prune non-flowering trees and shrubs while dormant.

* 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.

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