Clean up after the latest deluge – there's more rain on the way
The storm that hit Friday night and Saturday morning brought down plenty of gutter-clogging debris. Best to get it up before the next rain, due Monday. Kathy Morrison
Keep that rain gear handy! After this December deluge, more moisture is on its way.
In fact, the National Weather Service forecasts possible rain Monday through Friday for the Sacramento area with “definite rain showers” on Monday in the late morning and early afternoon.
Monday’s rain will feel like a little splash compared to the atmospheric river that hit Friday and Saturday. By midnight Saturday (Dec. 14), Sacramento likely will total 2 inches or more from that storm system.
This rain has been accompanied by gusty wind, knocking down branches and knocking out power. Large sections of Sacramento experienced power outages Friday night. (Make sure to check your irrigation controller; it likely needs to be reset.)
This weekend, strong winds from the south could deliver gusts of 40 mph to the Sacramento area. (Make sure your holiday decorations are well anchored or those inflatable Santas may be taking flight.) Those wind gusts are enough to topple a tree already weakened by years of drought but now standing in wet (and soft) ground. Watch out for leaning trunks and any disruptions in the soil; those could be signs that a tree is about to topple. Call an arborist before it’s too late.
Also watch for falling branches – and clean up all that fallen debris. Otherwise, you could have more issues such as clogged storm drains and standing water.
Get more Sacramento-area weather updates here: https://www.weather.gov/sto/#
Sunday (Dec. 15) is our one “dry” day this week. Get outside to check on your garden and take care of issues before the rain starts up again.
Between showers this week, take advantage of soft soil; it’s not too late to plant cool-season annuals. But be careful of soggy ground; it can compact easily. Soggy soil also will rot newly planted bulbs. Wait until the soil is moist but not dripping wet.
* Rake leaves away from storm drains and gutters. Recycle those leaves as mulch or add to compost.
* Brighten the holidays with winter bloomers such as poinsettias, amaryllis, calendulas, Iceland poppies, pansies and primroses.
* Keep poinsettias in a sunny, warm location; bring them inside at night or if there’s rain. (They don’t like cold, wet weather.)
* Prune non-flowering trees and shrubs while they’re dormant.
* Clean and sharpen garden tools before storing for the winter.
* Rake and remove dead leaves and stems from dormant perennials.
* Seed wildflowers and plant such spring bloomers as sweet pea, sweet alyssum and bachelor buttons.
* Trees and shrubs can be planted now, especially bare-root varieties such as fruit trees or rose bushes. This gives them plenty of time for root development before spring growth. They also benefit from winter rains.
* Plant bare-root berries, kiwifruit, grapes, artichokes, horseradish and rhubarb.
* Set out cool-weather annuals such as pansies and snapdragons.
* Lettuce, cabbage and broccoli also can be planted now.
* Plant garlic and onions.
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Food in My Back Yard Series
May 6: Maintain soil moisture with mulch for garden success
April 29: What's (already) wrong with my tomato plants?
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 May 4
Enjoy this spring weather – and get gardening!
* Plant, plant, plant! It’s prime planting season in the Sacramento area. Time to set out those tomato transplants along with peppers and eggplants. Pinch off any flowers on new transplants to make them concentrate on establishing roots instead of setting premature fruit.
* Direct-seed melons, cucumbers, summer squash, corn, radishes, pumpkins and annual herbs such as basil.
* Harvest cabbage, lettuce, peas and green onions.
* In the flower garden, direct-seed sunflowers, cosmos, salvia, zinnias, marigolds, celosia and asters. (You also can transplant seedlings for many of the same flowers.)
* Plant dahlia tubers. Other perennials to set out include verbena, coreopsis, coneflower and astilbe.
* Transplant petunias, marigolds and perennial flowers such as astilbe, columbine, coneflowers, coreopsis, dahlias, rudbeckia and verbena.
* Keep an eye out for slugs, snails, earwigs and aphids that want to dine on tender new growth.
* Feed summer bloomers with a balanced fertilizer.
* For continued bloom, cut off spent flowers on roses as well as other flowering plants.
* Add mulch to the garden to maintain moisture. Mulch also cuts down on weeds. But don’t let it mound around the stems or trunks of trees or shrubs. Leave about a 6-inch to 1-foot circle to avoid crown rot or other problems.
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