Sacramento Digs Gardening: Dig In: Garden checklist for March 1

Berries, roses and annual flowers could use some fertilizer now. (Photos: Kathy Morrison)

Warmth prompts rapid spring growth

Will March finally give us some rain?

Typically, March delivers about 2.75 inches of precipitation. We could sure use it.

After the driest February on record in Sacramento, our gardens may be thirsty. Check soil moisture and start deep watering.

Following several days in the 70s (and some record-setting high temperatures), we’re expected to cool down to normal for this first week of March: days in the mid 60s and nights in the 40s.

Be ready for rapid changes. Highs can soar to the upper 80s and overnight lows may flirt with freezing. Our record low for March is 26 degrees. Sacramento’s traditional frost date (the last night to worry about sub-freezing cold) is March 20.

All this recent warmth has prompted an explosion of growth in the garden.

What tasks should top your list?

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

Got weeds? Sure, who doesn't? Get them out of there soon.

* Pull weeds now! Don’t let them get started. Take a hoe and whack them as soon as they sprout.

* Start preparing vegetable beds. Spade in compost and other amendments.

* Prune and fertilize spring-flowering shrubs after bloom.

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

* In the vegetable garden, transplant lettuce, cabbage, broccoli, collards and kale.

* Seed chard and beets directly into the ground.

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

* Shop for perennials. Many varieties are available in local nurseries and at plant events; they do well when transplanted now.

CHECKLIST FOR THE WEEK

Your weekly checklist of activities in the garden.

Keywords:

fertilizing seeds Sacramento garden chores camellias irrigation weather gardening vegetable gardens checklist bulbs perennials 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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