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Dig In: Garden checklist for week of Sept. 2

Sacramento Digs Gardening
BY Debbie Arrington PUBLISHED SEP 1, 2018

Break out the seeds for fall vegetables, and don't forget to plant California poppies, too. You'll be glad you did.
(Photo: Kathy Morrison)

September starts a season of garden renewal; plant winter vegetables now

A new month and almost a new season: September brings renewed enthusiasm to Sacramento gardeners.

Weather tends to be cooler, particularly at night and early morning. It puts a little more bounce back in plants, and more bounce in gardeners’ steps.

Average Sacramento high for September is 87 degrees; overnight lows remain relatively warm with an average of 56 degrees. That range represents a sweet spot for planting fall and winter vegetables as well as flowers for spring. It’s also an ideal time for transplanting shrubs and perennials.

Need ideas? Here are some suggestions:

* Before planting, cultivate and add compost to the soil to replenish its nutrients for fall and winter vegetables and flowers.

* Plant onions, lettuce, peas, radishes, turnips, beets, carrots, bok choy, spinach and potatoes directly into the vegetable beds.

Divide peonies now for more blooms
in the spring. (Photo: Debbie Arrington)

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

* Sow seeds of California poppies, clarkia and African daisies.

* Transplant cool-weather annuals such as pansies, violas, fairy primroses, calendulas, stocks and snapdragons.

* Divide and replant bulbs, rhizomes and perennials. Bearded irises should be divided every three to five years.

* 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.

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CHECKLIST FOR THE WEEK

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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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