Dig In: Garden checklist for week of July 30

Climatologists say that this may be the hottest July ever recorded on Earth, with intense heat waves in Europe and across North America. In Sacramento, these final days of July will just seem normal – and maybe a little cool.

According to the National Weather Service, Sacramento can expect highs of 97 degrees on Sunday and Monday – average for those dates. Overnight lows will be on the cool side – dipping down to 60 degrees or lower each night. Coupled with breezy conditions, August will start with three consecutive days in the high 80s.

“Slight warming this weekend will bring localized Moderate Heat Risk into Monday,” tweeted the NWS Sacramento office on Saturday. “Temps will then cool back to near/slightly below normal by midweek.”

Make the most of this cooling trend and tackle garden chores.

* Harvest tomatoes, beans, squash, pepper and eggplants to prompt plants to keep producing. Give your plants a deep watering twice a week, more if planted in containers. Also, give them a boost with phosphate-rich fertilizer to help fruiting. (Always water before feeding.)

* Watch out for caterpillars and hornworms in the vegetable garden. They can strip a plant bare in one day. Pick them off plants by hand in early morning or late afternoon.

* Mulch can be your garden's best friend – it conserves moisture while blocking out weeds. But don't let mulch mound around stalks, stems or trunks. That can promote rot.

* Pick up after your fruit trees. Clean up debris and dropped fruit; this cuts down on insects and prevents the spread of brown rot. Then feed fruit trees with slow-release fertilizer for better production for next year.

* Feed citrus trees their last round of fertilizer for the year. This will give a boost to the fruit that's now forming.

* Pinch off dead flowers from perennials and annuals to lengthen their summer bloom.

* Cut off spent blooms from roses, then give them a boost of fertilizer. Roses will rebloom about six to eight weeks after deadheading.

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

* Sow seeds of perennials in pots for fall planting including yarrow, coneflower and salvia.

* In the garden, direct seed beets, bush beans, carrots, leaf lettuce and turnips.

* Plant potatoes.