Sacramento Digs Gardening: Dig In: Garden checklist for week of Aug. 5

Apple trees may need thinning to allow fruit to fully develop.
(Photo: Debbie Arrington)

Smoky skies temper heat in peak of summer

After a super-hot July, this first week of August may feel downright balmy. High temperatures are expected to hover just above normal; August averages 91 degrees in Sacramento.

Part of that weather picture is due to the smoke cover from nearby wildfires. Acting like clouds, all that haze can bring down afternoon heat.

Recent triple-digit days may have taken a toll on fruit trees. Concentrate this week on making them more comfortable -- and bountiful:

* Deep-water trees. Make sure moisture reaches at least 6 inches down at the tree’s dripline, the outer edge of its leaf canopy.

* Replenish mulch if necessary. Ideally, trees like 3 to 4 inches deep of organic material (such as shredded leaves or bark). Don’t let it mound around trunks; that can promote crown rot.

A last round of fertilizer will help citrus trees.
(Photo: Kathy Morrison)

* Feed citrus trees their last round of fertilizer for the year. This will give a boost to the fruit that’s now forming. Always deep-water before applying fertilizer.

* Recent heat prompted trees to drop fruit, too. Pick it up. This cuts down on insects and prevents the spread of brown rot.

* Thin apples and pears to allow fruit to fully develop. Watch out for codling moths.

* Wash harvested fruit, tomatoes and vegetables carefully to remove any soot or grit from wildfires.

* Feed stone-fruit trees (peaches, plums, apricots, cherries, etc.) with slow-release fertilizer for better production for next year. (Remember: Water first.)

What to plant?

* Outdoors, direct seed bush beans, beets, carrots, leaf lettuce and turnips. Keep soil evenly moist until they sprout. Plant potatoes.

* Indoors, start seedlings for fall vegetable planting, including bunching onion, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, kale, radicchio and lettuce.

* Pick tomatoes, squash, peppers, beans, corn, tomatillos and more. This is your garden’s peak summer production.

CHECKLIST FOR THE WEEK

Your weekly checklist of activities in the garden.

Keywords:

seeds Sacramento garden chores fruit trees citrus trees smoke fall planting gardening vegetables heat mulch summer

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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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