Sacramento Digs Gardening: Dig In: Garden checklist for week of July 5

Keep an eye on zucchini; it grows rapidly in hot weather. (Photos: Kathy Morrison)

Make most of cool mornings; keep garden hydrated

Happy Independence Day weekend! Celebrate with some garden time.

Plan on getting chores done early. According to the National Weather Service, Sacramento will see a steady string of warm dry days with temperatures topping out in the mid to high 90s.

Fortunately, overnight lows cool down to below 60, setting up pleasant conditions each morning. We shouldn't see 80 degrees until after 11 a.m. each day.

Those conditions are slightly above normal for July in Sacramento; this month averages highs of 92 and lows of 59. Don't expect any rain until August -- or most likely later. July averages 0.00 inches of precipitation.

This week, make the most of those mornings:

Elsie the tabby cat provides a little extra mulch -- temporarily

-- to a bed of newly seeded winter squash.

* Keep your vegetable garden watered, mulched and weeded. Water before 8 a.m. to reduce the chance of fungal infection and to conserve moisture.

* Water, then fertilize vegetables and blooming annuals, perennials and shrubs to give them a boost. Feeding flowering plants every other week will extend their bloom.

* Don’t let tomatoes wilt or dry out completely. Give tomatoes a deep watering two to three times a week.

* Harvest vegetables promptly to encourage plants to produce more. Squash especially tends to grow rapidly in hot weather. Keep an eye on zucchini.

* Remove spent flowers from roses, daylilies and other bloomers as they finish flowering.

*Pinch off blooms from basil so the plant will grow more leaves.

* Cut back lavender after flowering to promote a second bloom.

* Plant petunias, snapdragons, zinnias and marigolds.

* From seed, plant bush beans, corn, pumpkins, radishes, winter squash and sunflowers.

CHECKLIST FOR THE WEEK

Your weekly checklist of activities in the garden.

Keywords:

Sacramento garden chores summer produce garden checklist summer weather summer cleanup gardening heat summer vegetables mulch summer annuals summer squash vegetable gardening checklist summer flowers summer gardens 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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