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Dig In: Checklist for week of March 17

Sacramento Digs Gardening
BY Debbie Arrington PUBLISHED MAR 16, 2019

Buttercup oxalis has a leaf like a shamrock.
This edible weed is a sure sign of spring.
(Photo: Courtesy Wikipedia)

Warm St. Patrick’s Day brings out spring green

Can you feel the green? With warmer weather, it’s only appropriate during St. Patrick’s Day weekend that our gardens seem to be greening up before our eyes.

While all that almost-spring growth is wonderful, it also attracts aphids. Knock them down with a strong spray of water from the hose. These soft-bodied critters can’t survive the fall.

Also troublesome now are quick-growing weeds. They’ll crowd out your newly sprouted veggies if you let them. Instead, pull those unwanted plants while they’re young. In particular, keep an eye out for bind weed. That morning glory cousin only gets tougher to eradicate if it gets a roothold.

One weed seems almost appropriate for St. Paddy’s Day: Buttercup oxalis . This common bright-yellow flower has a leaf that looks a lot like a shamrock.

Also known as sourgrass, Bermuda oxalis or African wood-sorrel , this pretty but obnoxious oxalis appears after winter rain, then disappears as weather heats up. It’s actually an edible green and tastes a lot like sorrel (it’s a member of the wood sorrel family). A few shamrock-shaped leaves add a lemony edge to a salad. (Note: Like all oxalis, this plant contains oxalic acid, which can be toxic in large doses.)

With so much growth, your spring garden has worked up an appetite. Here’s what else you should keep an eye on this week:

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

* Feed citrus trees, which are now in bloom and setting fruit. To prevent sunburn and borer problems on young trees, paint the exposed portion of the trunk with diluted white latex (water-based) interior paint. Dilute the paint with an equal amount of cold water before application.

* Feed roses with a balanced fertilizer (such as 10-10-10, the ratio of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium available in that product). If pruned in January or February, they’re now forming their first blooms of spring.

* Prune and fertilize spring-flowering shrubs and trees after they bloom. Try using well-composted manure, spread 1-inch thick under the tree. This serves as both fertilizer and mulch, retaining moisture while cutting down on weeds.

* Seed and renovate the lawn (if you still have one). Feed cool-season grasses such as bent, blue, rye and fescue with a slow-release fertilizer. Check the irrigation system and perform maintenance. Make sure sprinkler heads are turned toward the lawn, not the sidewalk. Remember: Sacramento is now under two times-a-week watering rules.

* In the vegetable garden, transplant lettuce and cole family plants, such as cabbage, broccoli, collards and kale.

* Seed radish, chard and beets directly into the ground. Plant onion sets.

* Harvest cabbage, broccoli, kale and lettuces before warm weather makes them go to seed.

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

* Shop for perennials. They can be transplanted now before the weather heats up.

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CHECKLIST FOR THE WEEK

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Food in My Back Yard Series

April 22: Should you stock up on fertilizer? (Yes!)

April 15: Grow culinary herbs in containers

April 8: When to plant summer vegetables

April 1: Don't be fooled by these garden myths

March 25: Fertilizer tips: How to 'feed' your vegetables for healthy growth

March 18: Time to give vegetable seedlings some more space

March 11: Ways to win the fight against weeds

March 4: Potatoes from the garden

Feb. 25: Plant a fruit tree now -- for later

Feb. 18: How to squeeze more food into less space

Feb. 11: When to plant? Consider staggering your transplants

Feb. 4: Starting in seed starting

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Garden Checklist for week of April 27

Once the clouds clear, get to work. Spring growth is in high gear.

* Set out tomato, pepper and eggplant transplants.

* From seed, plant beans, beets, cantaloupes, carrots, corn, cucumbers, melons, pumpkins, radishes and squash. Plant onion sets.

* In the flower garden, plant seeds for asters, cosmos, celosia, marigolds, salvia, sunflowers and zinnias. Transplant petunias, zinnias, geraniums and other summer bloomers.

* Plant perennials and dahlia tubers for summer bloom. Late April is about the last chance to plant summer bulbs, such as gladiolus and tuberous begonias.

* Transplant lettuce and cabbage seedlings.

* Weed, weed, weed! Don’t let unwanted plants go to seed.

* April is the last chance to plant citrus trees such as dwarf orange, lemon and kumquat. These trees also look good in landscaping and provide fresh fruit in winter.

* Feed citrus trees with a low dose of balanced fertilizer (such as 10-10-10) during bloom to help set fruit. Keep an eye out for ants.

* Apply slow-release fertilizer to the lawn.

* Thoroughly clean debris from the bottom of outdoor ponds or fountains.

* Start thinning fruit that's formed on apple and stone fruit trees -- you'll get larger fruit at harvest (and avoid limb breakage) if some is thinned now. The UC recommendation is to thin fruit when it is about 3/4 of an inch in diameter. Peaches and nectarines should be thinned to about 6 inches apart; smaller fruit such as plums and pluots can be about 4 inches apart. Apricots can be left at 3 inches apart. Apples and pears should be thinned to one fruit per cluster of flowers, 6 to 8 inches apart.

* Azaleas and camellias looking a little yellow? If leaves are turning yellow between the veins, give them a boost with chelated iron.

* Trim dead flowers but not leaves from spring-flowering bulbs such as daffodils and tulips. Those leaves gather energy to create next year's flowers. Also, give the bulbs a fertilizer boost after bloom.

* Pinch chrysanthemums back to 12 inches for fall flowers. Cut old stems to the ground.

* Mulch around plants to conserve moisture and control weeds.

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