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Spring Gardening Tips for a Flourishing Garden
As the vibrant colors of spring burst forth and the air fills with the sweet scent of blossoms, it's the perfect time to roll up your sleeves and tend to your garden. Whether you're a seasoned gar...
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Light rain, cool temperatures and warm soil create great conditions for planting fall garden
The Sacramento area received some light rainfall Saturday morning to end September on a wet note. Kathy Morrison
Surprise! Fall is making a (little) splash with a drizzly weekend.
Sacramento’s last day of September will be unusually cool and possibly wet, says the National Weather Service. Along with a 40% chance of rain, afternoon temperatures will be decidedly cool; Saturday’s expected high is only 68 degrees – 20 degrees below average for this date.
“Scattered showers and isolated thunderstorms are expected to continue today through tomorrow, though the majority of rainfall will occur today,” the NWS Sacramento office tweeted Saturday morning. “Watch out for slick roadways and minor ponding while driving.”
Less than 0.15 inches are expected in downtown Sacramento; north of I-80 likely will get a little more. That’s probably not enough to prompt turning off the sprinklers. Check your soil to see which plants still need a drink.
September ends our “water year” and it’s usually a very dry month. If we do get one-tenth inch of rain, it would push our September rain total to above normal. Before Saturday, September had totaled 0.02; average for the month in Sacramento is 0.08.
Although it feels very fall-ish this weekend, our summer heat isn’t over. Following this cool spell, we’ll have a few days in the mid 80s. Then, the weather service expects Sacramento to return to 90 degrees by Thursday and stay hot through next weekend. That heat may coax a few more tomatoes to ripen and will keep soil warm.
So, make the most of this cooler weather. Get to work on your fall garden:
* October is the best month to plant trees, shrubs and perennials. Plants become established – sending down deep, strong roots – faster in warm soil.
* Divide and replant perennials. Add a little well-aged compost and bone meal to the planting hole, but hold off on other fertilizers until spring. Keep the transplants well-watered (but not wet) for the first month as they become settled.
* Now is the time to plant seeds for many flowers directly into the garden, including cornflower, nasturtium, nigella, poppy, portulaca, sweet pea and stock.
* Plant seeds for radishes, bok choy, mustard, spinach and peas.
* Plant garlic and onions.
* Set out cool-weather bedding plants, including calendula, pansy, snapdragon, primrose and viola.
* Reseed and feed the lawn. Work on bare spots.
* Dig up corms and tubers of gladioli, dahlias and tuberous begonias after the foliage dies. Clean and store in a cool, dry place.
* Treat azaleas, gardenias and camellias with chelated iron if leaves are yellowing between the veins.
* Clean up the summer vegetable garden and compost disease-free foliage.
* Harvest pumpkins and winter squash.
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Garden Checklist for week of May 19
Temperatures will be a bit higher than normal in the afternoons this week. Take care of chores early in the day – then enjoy the afternoon. It’s time to smell the roses.
* Plant, plant, plant! It’s prime planting season in the Sacramento area. If you haven’t already, it’s 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.
* 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.
* Don’t forget to water. Seedlings need moisture. Deep watering will help build strong roots and healthy plants.
* Add mulch to the garden to help keep that precious water from evaporating. 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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