* Begin hardening tomato, eggplant, and pepper seedlings that were started indoors. Either put them in a cold frame or move them outdoors for an hour or two the first day and then gradually increase the time by a couple of hours each day thereafter. They’ll be ready to plant in the garden in about 10 days. In the meantime, make additional sowings of lettuce, carrots, radishes, and beets or set out cabbage, broccoli, and onion plants.
* Try growing some vegetables in containers if the thought of a vegetable garden is not appealing to you. Even though our garden is quite large, I do enjoy having some container-grown veggies right outside the kitchen door. All that is needed is a large container and a bag or two of potting soil.
* To take the guesswork out of fertilizing, buy a fertilizer specified for lawn application, just be sure that at least half of the nitrogen is in a slow release form. This will appear on the label as water insoluble nitrogen or W.I.N. As an alternative to synthetic fertilizer, apply about an eighth of an inch of compost over lawns every four weeks.
* Fertilize roses. There are many theories on fertilizing roses but current thinking seems to favor starting applications of fertilizer when leaves first appear and repeat applications at 4 to 6 week intervals until early August. Use a fertilizer with an analysis such as 5-10-5 and apply a half cup to the soil around each plant. Use a quarter cup for new plants.
* Get after weeds in the garden. As my friends the effusive Sweet Pea and her husband the Old Admiral (sometimes mistaken as her father) facetiously like to remind me, I once stated that “little weeds grow up to be big weeds.” What I lack in depth I make up for with triteness.
* Plant an assortment of so-called small fruit, i.e. grapes, strawberries, blueberries, raspberries and blackberries. These fruit take up less garden space than do fruit trees but provide high yields of tasty fruit. All prefer well-drained soil and full sun. Blueberries favor an acid soil with a pH of 4.5 to 5.5 while the others prefer a soil pH of 6.0 to 6.5. If soil pH is unknown, collect a sample of soil (a composite sample taken from 10 spots in the area to be planted) and have it tested.
* Use a forceful spray of water from a garden hose to blast aphids off plants on which they have taken up residence. Most of the indignant aphids will refuse to return to the plants but a few spiteful ones may. Applications of insecticidal soap or horticultural oil should take care of these unrelenting aphids. In any case, be vigilant through the gardening season since aphids can infest plants at any time.
* Rent a core type aerator to aerate lawns that have excessive thatch. Thatch is the layer of un-decomposed organic matter at the base of grass plants. A core aerator pulls up cores of soil and deposits these on the surface of the lawn. This soil filters down into the thatch and creates an environment favorable to microbial decomposition of the thatch. Core aeration is best done before the weather gets too hot and dry.
* Shear off about half of the foliage of creeping phlox after the plants have completed their bloom. This will keep the plants looking neat and tidy through the summer. That reminds me; I need haircut.
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Some have said that I don’t know Jack, but I do know Jack-in-the-pulpit. This and many other native wildflowers are now blooming in woodlands dominated by deciduous trees. Years ago, the only way to get specimens of these wildflowers was to dig them in the wild – a practice that should never be done, except when survival of those plants is threatened by the bulldozer making way for a new development or cannabis facility. Fortunately, many of these plants are now propagated and grown in commercial nurseries. Some that I have seen at garden centers or in nursery catalogs include white trillium, lady’s slipper, foamflower, bloodroot, Jack-in-the-pulpit, and Solomon’s seal. Give some thought to these for a shade garden or woodland garden.
