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Dig In: Garden checklist for week of Sept. 29

Sacramento Digs Gardening
BY Debbie Arrington PUBLISHED SEP 28, 2019

Autumn Joy stonecrop ( Sedum spectabile 'Autumn Joy') is a sturdy perennial and a good choice for fall planting. The flower clusters start out pink, then age to a rosy russet in fall. This specimen grows in the Fair Oaks Horticulture Center. (Photo: Kathy Morrison)

Fall is for planting -- so what are you waiting for?

You hear this motto often from Sacramento plant people: Fall is for planting.

Warm soil, cooler weather, maybe a little rain; conditions are ideal for putting new plants in the ground or moving things around.

It's no coincidence so many plant sales and gardening events are held during these first weeks of autumn. (Just check out our garden calendar .) And the weather is cooperating, too, with this week's high temperatures forecast in the 70s and 80s.

So, hit the dirt!

* October is the best month to plant perennials in our area. (The last weekend of September works, too.) Add a little well-aged compost and bone meal (or rock phosphate) to the planting hole, but hold off on other fertilizers until spring. Keep the transplants well-watered, but not wet, for the first month as they become settled.
* This is an ideal time to plant trees and shrubs. Follow the same advice as perennials.
* Now is the time to plant seeds for many flowers directly into the garden, including cornflower, nasturtium, nigella, poppy, portulaca, sweet pea and stock.
* In the vegetable garden, plant seeds for radishes, bok choy, mustard, spinach and peas. Plant garlic and onions.
* Set out cool-weather bedding plants, including calendula, pansy, snapdragon, primrose and viola.
* Dig up corms and tubers of gladioluses, dahlias and tuberous begonias after the foliage dies. Clean and store in a cool, dry place.
* Treat azaleas, gardenias and camellias with chelated iron if leaves are yellowing between the veins.
* Clean up the summer vegetable garden and compost disease-free foliage.
* Harvest pumpkins and winter squash.

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CHECKLIST FOR THE WEEK

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cool-weather annuals seeds Sacramento garden chores corms fall gardening squash fall planting gardening pumpkins chelated iron cool-weather vegetables checklist perennials

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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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