Dig In: Garden checklist for week of Dec. 15

Keep that rain gear handy! After this December deluge, more moisture is on its way.

In fact, the National Weather Service forecasts possible rain Monday through Friday for the Sacramento area with “definite rain showers” on Monday in the late morning and early afternoon.

Monday’s rain will feel like a little splash compared to the atmospheric river that hit Friday and Saturday. By midnight Saturday (Dec. 14), Sacramento likely will total 2 inches or more from that storm system.

This rain has been accompanied by gusty wind, knocking down branches and knocking out power. Large sections of Sacramento experienced power outages Friday night. (Make sure to check your irrigation controller; it likely needs to be reset.)

This weekend, strong winds from the south could deliver gusts of 40 mph to the Sacramento area. (Make sure your holiday decorations are well anchored or those inflatable Santas may be taking flight.) Those wind gusts are enough to topple a tree already weakened by years of drought but now standing in wet (and soft) ground. Watch out for leaning trunks and any disruptions in the soil; those could be signs that a tree is about to topple. Call an arborist before it’s too late.

Also watch for falling branches – and clean up all that fallen debris. Otherwise, you could have more issues such as clogged storm drains and standing water.

Get more Sacramento-area weather updates here: https://www.weather.gov/sto/#

Sunday (Dec. 15) is our one “dry” day this week. Get outside to check on your garden and take care of issues before the rain starts up again.

Between showers this week, take advantage of soft soil; it’s not too late to plant cool-season annuals. But be careful of soggy ground; it can compact easily. Soggy soil also will rot newly planted bulbs. Wait until the soil is moist but not dripping wet.

* Rake leaves away from storm drains and gutters. Recycle those leaves as mulch or add to compost.

* Brighten the holidays with winter bloomers such as poinsettias, amaryllis, calendulas, Iceland poppies, pansies and primroses.

* Keep poinsettias in a sunny, warm location; bring them inside at night or if there’s rain. (They don’t like cold, wet weather.)

* Prune non-flowering trees and shrubs while they’re dormant.

* Clean and sharpen garden tools before storing for the winter.

* Rake and remove dead leaves and stems from dormant perennials.

* Seed wildflowers and plant such spring bloomers as sweet pea, sweet alyssum and bachelor buttons.

* Trees and shrubs can be planted now, especially bare-root varieties such as fruit trees or rose bushes. This gives them plenty of time for root development before spring growth. They also benefit from winter rains.

* Plant bare-root berries, kiwifruit, grapes, artichokes, horseradish and rhubarb.

* Set out cool-weather annuals such as pansies and snapdragons.

* Lettuce, cabbage and broccoli also can be planted now.

* Plant garlic and onions.