Sacramento Digs Gardening: Dig In: Garden checklist for week of Sept. 15

Persimmons are ripening -- be sure to pick up any that fall off the tree. (Photos: Kathy Morrison)

Rain possible on Monday, then great weather to close out summer

Change is in the air – and it’s not just smoke.

According to the National Weather Service, the greater Sacramento area has a 40 percent chance of rain Monday. This could be the first real precipitation in weeks, but not that unusual. September averages .29 inches of rain.

But after this storm system blows through, the sun will return. Fortunately, high temperatures most of this coming week will be in the low 80s.

Make the most of this prime almost-fall weather by getting your garden ready for the months ahead.

* Do your tomato plants have new flowers? Leave them in place for a little longer. If the fruit sets, those tomatoes will be ripe for Thanksgiving or Christmas.

* Peppers and eggplant with new blooms may set late-season fruit, too.

*Keep an eye on squash, melons and pumpkins. Summer varieties are still blooming and fruiting.

* Cut back on water as melons ripen.

* Compost annuals and vegetable crops that have finished producing.

* Cultivate and add compost to the soil to replenish its nutrients for fall and winter vegetables and flowers.

* Pick up fallen apples, pears and persimmons; they attract pests as they rot.

* Fertilize deciduous fruit trees.

* 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.

* Transplant cabbage, broccoli, kale, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower and lettuce.

* Transplant pansies, violas, fairy primroses, calendulas, stocks and snapdragons.

* Late September is ideal for sowing a new lawn or re-seeding bare spots.

CHECKLIST FOR THE WEEK

Your weekly checklist of activities in the garden.

Keywords:

fall vegetables peonies Sacramento daylilies garden chores fruit trees lawn weather fall planting gardening rainfall bulbs compost perennials watering

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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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