Dig In: Garden checklist for week of Sept. 15

The last week of summer will feel like fall – and maybe get a little damp.

After a record-hot summer, this final week starts with a dramatic cooldown. Sunday (Sept. 15) is expected to top out around 77 degrees, 15 degrees cooler than Saturday’s forecast high, says the National Weather Service. Monday’s high won’t even reach 70.

The real surprise: A chance of showers on Monday and Wednesday. It’s no sure thing – 30 to 50% probability, says the weather service. Even if it does rain, it won’t be much (less than 0.1 inches in Sacramento). But it’s enough to break the heat and nudge us into fall planting season.

A little September rain is normal for Sacramento, which averages 0.29 inches of precipitation for this month. But we haven’t had any measurable rain in downtown Sacramento since May 4. These showers, if they develop, could rinse off a lot of dust.

By next weekend, temperatures (and weather conditions) will be back to normal for September in Sacramento: 85 degrees — and sunny.

Make the most of this cool break – and get things done. Your garden needs you!

* Now is the time to plant for fall. The warm soil will get cool-season veggies off to a fast start.

* Keep harvesting tomatoes, peppers, squash, melons and eggplant.

* Compost annuals and vegetable crops that have finished producing.

* Cultivate and add compost to the soil to replenish its nutrients for fall and winter vegetables and flowers.

* Fertilize deciduous fruit trees.

* Plant onions, lettuce, peas, radishes, turnips, beets, carrots, bok choy, spinach and potatoes directly into the vegetable beds.

* Transplant cabbage, broccoli, kale, Brussels sprouts and cauliflower as well as lettuce seedlings.

* Sow seeds of California poppies, clarkia and African daisies.

* Transplant cool-weather annuals such as pansies, violas, fairy primroses, calendulas, stocks and snapdragons.

* Divide and replant bulbs, rhizomes and perennials.

* Dig up and divide daylilies as they complete their bloom cycle.

* Divide and transplant peonies that have become overcrowded. Replant with “eyes” about an inch below the soil surface.

* Late September is ideal for sowing a new lawn or re-seeding bare spots.