Sacramento Digs Gardening: Dig In: Garden checklist for week of Aug. 29

Keep harvesting tomatoes as they ripen; give the plants a spritz if they have a

lot of ash accumulated on them. (Photo: Kathy Morrison)

September brings cooldown and another planting season

Relief is on its way! August ends with another smoky triple-digit weekend. But September starts Wednesday with some much needed coolness and (we hope) cleaner air.

According to the National Weather Service, Sacramento will smolder through Sunday with a forecast high of 101. Then, light winds will start to blow away the haze and bring high temperatures down. By Wednesday, we’ll be back in the mid 80s for the rest of the week.

Weather then will be ideal for setting out cool-season vegetables: Not too hot in the afternoon, but still warm and cozy after dark.

Wait this weekend, then get started in earnest on your fall and winter vegetable garden. Although there’s plenty to keep busy, avoid outdoor activity during poor air quality.

* Keep harvesting tomatoes, peppers, squash, melons and eggplant.

* Pull plants that have finished producing and compost.

* Cultivate and add compost or other amendments to the soil to replenish its nutrients for the next season of 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 other 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 bearded iris as well as other rhizomes, bulbs and perennials.

* Dig up and divide daylilies as they complete their bloom cycle.

CHECKLIST FOR THE WEEK

Your weekly checklist of activities in the garden.

Keywords:

harvest seeds tomatoes Sacramento garden chores smoke weather fall planting gardening vegetables heat checklist perennials summer

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Temperatures will be a bit higher than normal in the afternoons this week. Take care of chores early in the day – then enjoy the afternoon. It’s time to smell the roses.

* Plant, plant, plant! It’s prime planting season in the Sacramento area. If you haven’t already, it’s 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 cabbage, lettuce, peas and green onions.

* In the flower garden, direct-seed sunflowers, cosmos, salvia, zinnias, marigolds, celosia and asters.

* Plant dahlia tubers. Other perennials to set out include verbena, coreopsis, coneflower and astilbe.

* Transplant petunias, marigolds and perennial flowers such as astilbe, columbine, coneflowers, coreopsis, dahlias, 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.

* Don’t forget to water. Seedlings need moisture. Deep watering will help build strong roots and healthy plants.

* Add mulch to the garden to help keep that precious water from evaporating. Mulch also cuts down on weeds. But don’t let it mound around the stems or trunks of trees or shrubs. Leave about a 6-inch to 1-foot circle to avoid crown rot or other problems.

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