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Dig In: Garden checklist for week of July 12

Sacramento Digs Gardening
BY Debbie Arrington PUBLISHED JUL 11, 2020

Are you feeling as fried as these roses? We are, too. And these need to be deadheaded.
(Photos: Kathy Morrison)

Normal nights help gardens cope with heat

Hot days, comfortable nights; that's our weather pattern for mid-July.

According to the National Weather Service, Sacramento will continue to hit triple digits at least through Tuesday before settling back down into the low to mid 90s.

Fortunately, our overnight temperatures will keep dipping down to about 62 degrees -- normal for July. So, while days may reach 10 degrees above our mid-July average high of 92, those normal nights will refresh plants -- and us.

Those cooler nights also help keep soil and roots comfortable, too.

Until cooler days, concentrate on that comfort factor:

That's one droopy cosmos. Plants protect themselves in heat by
drooping, but keep them well-watered and they'll snap

back overnight.

* Keep plants hydrated but not soggy. Too much water can harm plants, too; check your moisture levels.
* Water early, preferably before 8 a.m., to cut down on moisture loss.
* Deep water trees, shrubs and perennials. Let the moisture soak in.
* Refresh your mulch. Cover bare spots. Don't let it pile up around trunks or main stems.
* Pick up fallen fruit; it attracts pests and problems.
* Pinch back chrysanthemums for bushy plants and more flowers in September.
* Harvest tomatoes, squash, peppers and eggplant. Prompt picking will help keep plants producing.
* Remove spent flowers from roses, daylilies and other bloomers.
* Pinch off blooms from basil so the plant will grow more leaves.
* Cut back lavender after flowering to promote a second bloom.
* From seed, plant corn, pumpkins, radishes, winter squash and sunflowers. Make sure seeds stay evenly moist.

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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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