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Dig In: Garden checklist for week of March 14

Weed and feed while waiting for soil to warm

Sacramento Digs Gardening
BY Debbie Arrington PUBLISHED MAR 13, 2021

The camellias are blooming -- and dropping blossoms. Get them up quickly

to help prevent blossom blight. (Photo: Kathy Morrison)

Recent rain felt refreshing (although the hail hurt a little). But it will take a lot more precipitation to catch up with our March average. So far this month, Sacramento has received 0.55 inch – most of it falling in Tuesday’s thunderstorms. According to the National Weather Service, Sacramento usually gets 1.28 inches in the first two weeks of March.

More showers are expected late Sunday night and early Monday, but the rest of the week is expected to be dry and cool. There’s a slight chance of showers Friday, but otherwise we’ll be mostly sunny.

Clear conditions contribute to cold nights, so overnight lows will dip down into the high 30s. That makes for a cold start to each day, and afternoon temperatures only in the low 60s. That’s colder than normal for Sacramento in mid-March, which averages 65 in the afternoons and lows around 45.

So keep the tomatoes and peppers indoors a little while longer. The ground is still too cold.

Instead, it’s time to weed and feed – but be careful using products that promise to do both. You may kill a lot more than unwanted dandelions.

* Fertilize roses, annual flowers and berries as spring growth begins to appear.

* Weed, weed, weed! It’s either now or later.

* Harvest winter vegetables and make room for summer crops.

* Prepare vegetable beds. Spade in compost and other amendments.

*Feed camellias at the end of their bloom cycle. Pick up browned and fallen flowers to help corral blossom blight.

* Feed roses with a balanced fertilizer (such as 4-4-4, the ratio of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium available in that product).

* Cut back and fertilize perennial herbs to encourage new growth.

* Transplant one last round of lettuce and kale.

* Seed chard, radishes and beets directly into the ground.

* Plant summer bulbs, including gladiolus, tuberous begonias and callas. Also plant dahlia tubers.

Correction note: Due to a typo, the Friday post's cutline (since fixed) said the city of Sacramento's allowed watering period ends at 7 a.m. It should have said 10 a.m.

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fertilizing seeds Sacramento soil temperature March garden chores camellias gardening daylight spring rainfall summer bulbs weeds

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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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