Dig In: Garden checklist for week of April 5

Keep your umbrella close – and your sun screen, too. This week’s forecast calls for more April showers as well as plenty of sunshine.

According to the National Weather Service, Sacramento will continue to enjoy above-average temperatures with afternoon highs in the low to mid 80s through Tuesday (including 84 on Easter Sunday).

On Wednesday afternoon, clouds and a chance of rain will drop those temperatures back into the mid 70s (but still above normal). Those clouds and possible showers will continue through Thursday before more sunshine on Friday and next weekend.

Overnight lows are warming, too, with temperatures staying above 50 degrees each night.

As for that upcoming rain, it likely won’t be much (less than 0.1 inches), but any moisture helps after a very dry March. Our recent midweek showers totaled .25 inches – double what was expected, but not enough to turn off the irrigation.

Enjoy this spring weather – and get to work!

* Weed, weed, weed! Pull them before they go to seed.

* Swing into action in the vegetable garden. As nights consistently stay above 50 degrees, start setting out tomato, pepper and eggplant transplants.

* From seed, plant beans, beets, cantaloupes, carrots,  cucumbers, melons, radishes, and summer and winter squash.

* Plant onion sets.

* In the flower garden, plant seeds for asters, cosmos, celosia, marigolds, salvia, sunflowers and zinnias.

* Transplant petunias, zinnias, geraniums and other summer bloomers.

* Plant perennials and dahlia tubers for summer bloom. Late April is about the last chance to plant summer bulbs, such as gladiolus and tuberous begonias.

* Transplant heat-resistant lettuce seedlings.

* April is the last chance to plant citrus trees such as dwarf orange, lemon and kumquat. These trees also look good in landscaping and provide fresh fruit in winter.

* Smell orange blossoms? Feed citrus trees with a low dose of balanced fertilizer (such as 10-10-10) during bloom to help set fruit. Keep an eye out for ants.

* Apply slow-release fertilizer to the lawn.

* Thoroughly clean debris from the bottom of outdoor ponds or fountains.

* Trim dead flowers but not leaves from spring-flowering bulbs such as daffodils and tulips. Those leaves gather energy to create next year’s flowers. Also, give the bulbs a fertilizer boost after bloom.

* Mulch around plants to conserve moisture and control weeds.