DIG IN: Garden checklist for week of July 1

Expect a dry month ahead in the Sacramento garden; plan accordingly

By Debbie Arrington

Sacramento gardeners can count on one thing in July: No rain.

Our monthly average rain fall is 0.0 inches; that’s dry. That also means your garden is dependent on you for moisture. Keep an eye on irrigation and persistent dry spots. Make adjustments as necessary.

Petunias at Maple Rock Gardens

Also plan for hot days and warm nights. Our monthly averages for July are 92-degree days and 59-degree nights. (The all-time July record: 114 degrees.)   Take care of garden chores early in the morning.

With that in mind, here’s what should be on your garden to-do list:

* Keep your vegetable garden watered, mulched and weeded. Water before 8 a.m. to

reduce the chance of fungal infection and to conserve moisture.

* Deep water, then fertilize vegetables and blooming annuals, perennials and shrubs to give

them a boost. Feeding flowering plants every other week will extend their bloom.

* Don’t let tomatoes wilt or dry out completely. Give tomatoes a deep watering two to three times a week.

*Harvest vegetables promptly to encourage plants to produce more. Squash especially tends to grow rapidly in hot weather. Keep an eye on zucchini.

* Pinch back chrysanthemums for bushy plants and more flowers in September.

* Remove spent flowers from roses, daylilies and other bloomers as they finish flowering.

*Pinch off blooms from basil so the plant will grow more leaves.

* It’s not too late to add a splash of color. From transplants, plant petunias, snapdragons, zinnias and

marigolds.

* From seed, plant corn, pumpkins, radishes, winter squash and sunflowers.