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As summer approaches, City prepared to open weather-respite centers
As summer approaches and the temperatures rise, the City is prepared to open weather-respite centers during extreme heat. Following its use as a respite location during winter storms, the City’s O...
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Soggy week offers some gardening breaks
Camellia leaves collect raindrops during Saturday's storm. Those fat little buds should bloom just in time for Sacramento's 100th anniversary Camellia Show in early March. Kathy Morrison
Saturday’s storm has given our gardens a good, deep soaking – and more rain is on the way.
According to the National Weather Service, Sacramento can expect more rain on Tuesday evening into Wednesday. Then another round of showers is forecast to arrive Friday night and continue into next weekend.
These next two storm systems will be much lighter than Saturday’s steady rain. The weather service expects the Sacramento area to get a half inch to an inch of rain before the clouds clear out Sunday morning.
Between storms this week, temperatures will stay relatively warm with days in the high 50s or low 60s and overnight lows in the mid 40s. Normal for mid-January in Sacramento: high of 54 degrees and low of 39.
So, keep the umbrella and mud boots handy, but the frost cloths can be put aside – at least for this week.
Turn off your irrigation system, if you haven’t already. Be careful of soggy soil; it can compact easily, squeezing out the air needed by microbes and roots.
* After the rain, our soil should be soft and easy to dig – making it a great time to transplant. Plant bare-root roses, trees and shrubs.
* If your ground seems saturated, consider planting your garden additions in large black plastic pots. The black plastic will warm up faster than the ground soil and give roots a healthy start. Then, transplant the new addition (rootball and all) into the ground in April as the weather warms.
* Prune, prune, prune. Now is the time to cut back most deciduous trees and shrubs. The exceptions are spring-flowering shrubs such as lilacs.
* Now is the time to prune fruit trees. Clean up leaves and debris around the trees to prevent the spread of disease.
* Prune roses, even if they’re still trying to bloom. Strip off any remaining leaves, so the bush will be able to put out new growth in early spring.
* Clean up leaves and debris around your newly pruned roses and shrubs. Put down fresh mulch or bark to keep roots cozy.
* Browse through seed catalogs and start making plans for spring and summer.
* In the vegetable garden, plant fava beans, head lettuce, mustard, onion sets, radicchio and radishes.
* Plant bare-root asparagus and root divisions of rhubarb.
* Plant calla, anemone, ranunculus and gladiolus tubers or bulbs for bloom from late spring into summer.
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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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