Sacramento Digs Gardening: Dig In: Garden checklist for week of Sept. 6

Plants will appreciate a morning shower during this heat wave. Coneflowers especially will -- they have rough leaves that easily collect dust and, lately, ash from wildfires. (Photo: Kathy Morrison)

The heat is back on this Labor Day weekend with the possibility of more records. Sacramento could see its hottest September day ever; 110 is forecast for Sunday. That's 20 degrees above normal for early September. The previous record for the month: 109.

For the Sacramento region, the National Weather Service issued an excessive heat warning through Tuesday night. Then, the Delta breeze is expected to start back up, giving us some relief.

In the meantime, drink extra water and avoid outdoor activities from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., advises the weather service. Help kids and elderly family or friends stay cool. And pets, too.

That also goes for your garden. Irrigate early. Give plants in containers extra water. Shade maturing tomatoes, peppers, eggplant and squash.

What else should you be doing in your garden this week?

* In these smoky conditions, foliage could use some water, too. Give your plants a morning shower. Rinse off dust, ash and grime.
* Keep harvesting tomatoes, peppers, squash, melons and eggplant. In this high heat, pick before your crops get overripe.
* Compost annuals and vegetable crops that have finished blooming and producing.
* 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.
* Plant onions, lettuce, peas, radishes, turnips, beets, carrots, bok choy, spinach and potatoes directly into the vegetable beds. Make sure to keep them hydrated.
* After the heat wave ends, transplant cabbage, broccoli, kale, Brussels sprouts and cauliflower as well as lettuce seedlings.

CHECKLIST FOR THE WEEK

Your weekly checklist of activities in the garden.

Keywords:

fall vegetables seeds peonies Sacramento daylilies heat wave garden checklist container gardening fall planting gardening heat summer vegetables

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Food in My Back Yard Series

April 29: What's (already) wrong with my tomato plants?

April 22: Should you stock up on fertilizer? (Yes!)

April 15: Grow culinary herbs in containers

April 8: When to plant summer vegetables

April 1: Don't be fooled by these garden myths

March 25: Fertilizer tips: How to 'feed' your vegetables for healthy growth

March 18: Time to give vegetable seedlings some more space

March 11: Ways to win the fight against weeds

March 4: Potatoes from the garden

Feb. 25: Plant a fruit tree now -- for later

Feb. 18: How to squeeze more food into less space

Feb. 11: When to plant? Consider staggering your transplants

Feb. 4: Starting in seed starting

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Garden Checklist for week of April 27

Once the clouds clear, get to work. Spring growth is in high gear.

* Set out tomato, pepper and eggplant transplants.

* 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. Late April is about the last chance to plant summer bulbs, such as gladiolus and tuberous begonias.

* Transplant lettuce and cabbage seedlings.

* Weed, weed, weed! Don’t let unwanted plants go to seed.

* April is the last chance to plant citrus trees such as dwarf orange, lemon and kumquat. These trees also look good in landscaping and provide fresh fruit in winter.

* Feed citrus trees with a low dose of balanced fertilizer (such as 10-10-10) during bloom to help set fruit. Keep an eye out for ants.

* Apply slow-release fertilizer to the lawn.

* Thoroughly clean debris from the bottom of outdoor ponds or fountains.

* Start thinning fruit that's formed on apple and stone fruit trees -- you'll get larger fruit at harvest (and avoid limb breakage) if some is thinned now. The UC recommendation is to thin fruit when it is about 3/4 of an inch in diameter. Peaches and nectarines should be thinned to about 6 inches apart; smaller fruit such as plums and pluots can be about 4 inches apart. Apricots can be left at 3 inches apart. Apples and pears should be thinned to one fruit per cluster of flowers, 6 to 8 inches apart.

* Azaleas and camellias looking a little yellow? If leaves are turning yellow between the veins, give them a boost with chelated iron.

* 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.

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