Get ready for a heat wave

This little tomato is in danger of getting sunburned in triple-digit heat. Shade cloth and burlap are options for afternoon shade. (Photos: Kathy Morrison)

Triple-digit temperatures are on the way; help your garden cope

By Debbie Arrington

Is your garden ready for summer? Although we’ll officially still be in spring for almost another month, high heat is coming very soon.

According to the National Weather Service, temperatures will rise rapidly over Memorial Day weekend. The greater Sacramento area could hit triple digits as soon as Tuesday or Wednesday.

Several days in the high 90s are forecast including a string of midweek 99s.

Take time now before this late May heat wave to help your garden cope:

* Deep water shrubs, trees, perennials and vegetables. Give your tomatoes a good soaking.

* Mulch, mulch, mulch! Spread a thick, cooling layer of organic material to retain that moisture and keep plant roots temperate. Use straw, old leaves, bark, grass clippings, even shredded newspaper. Don’t use rocks; they retain too much heat.

Heat will make artichokes open quickly. 

* Harvest lettuce, cabbage, broccoli and other cool-season vegetables. This heat will cause them to bolt – send out flower shoots and go quickly to seed. Higher temperatures also tends to make greens bitter.

* Harvest artichokes before the flowers open. (The heat will open them quickly.) Those little artichokes on side shoots won’t get bigger; they’re ready, just smaller.

* Shade peas, spinach and other cool-season crops that aren’t ready to harvest. Erect temporary shade structures to ward off some of that blistering afternoon sun. That will buy those veggies a few more weeks of production.

* Already have baby tomatoes or peppers? Shade those plants in the hot afternoon, too, to protect from sunburn.

* Keep an eye on new plantings and seedlings. Make sure they stay hydrated. Check soil moisture and water in the early morning or evening.

* Create some needed summer shade for veggies – plant sunflowers. These fast-growing (and tall) plants can shade neighbors who appreciate an afternoon break from direct sun such as peppers or eggplant.

* Let the vines keep the soil cooler. Plant watermelons, pumpkins, sweet potatoes, cucumbers, squash and other vining crops. Their vines will cover the soil, keeping it cooler and blocking out weeds. To be doubly effective, mulch around the plants before the vines cover everything.