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Dig In: Garden checklist for week of Sept. 12

Dry, sunny and slightly cooler weather ahead; get ready for fall

Sacramento Digs Gardening
BY Debbie Arrington PUBLISHED SEP 11, 2021

Cool-weather vegetables such as cabbage, above, bok choy and chard are newly

planted at the Fair Oaks Horticulture Center. The floating row cover is ready to pull

over the plants to protect them from birds, cabbage moths and other pests. (Photo: Kathy Morrison)

After some “perceived” precipitation (but little real rain) from passing thunderstorms, our September weather is settling into a “normal” pattern: Dry and sunny days, followed by cool nights.

According to the National Weather Service, expect several days in the low 90s or high 80s, with overnight lows dipping into the 50s.

“We will see a warming trend through Tuesday followed by slightly cooler temperatures going into the later portions of next week,” says the weather service’s Sacramento office.

That warming trend is forecast to top out at 96 degrees Tuesday; by Thursday, it will drop 10 degrees to a predicted high of 86.

As for precipitation, the weather service labeled Friday’s thunderstorm rain total as “perceived” for much of the Sacramento area. That’s not enough to get a measurement, but it sure looked like rain. While Downtown Sacramento got no measurable rain, Executive Airport did record 0.05 inches.

Meanwhile, give your trees and shrubs a deep watering this week. No rain – perceived or otherwise – is expected until later this month.

Take advantage of cooler weather later this week to get your garden ready for fall.

* Pull out tomato vines if they’ve stopped 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.

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fertilizing seeds Sacramento garden chores floating row covers garden checklist weather fall planting gardening vegetables cool-weather vegetables Fair Oaks Horticulture Center transplants

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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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