What are my gardening priorities? How can I get things done in this heat? Hot weather stresses everyone, including your plants. Check soil moisture before watering. Plants may look droopy in the heat of the day. Don’t we all? However, if you watered landscape plantings deeply that morning, chances are the plant moisture is fine.
Keep watering deeply once or twice a week for new trees and shrubs and three or four times a week for perennials. Frequency is an estimate because only you can know if rain has swamped your property or if the soil has turned rock solid.
When you water, allow the water to seep slowly into the soil and provide enough water to saturate the plant’s bottom-most roots by measuring the volume of water used. If you water the surface of the soil everyday, the water will likely evaporate and never reach the bottom of the rootball. And if you water deeply every day, the roots will drown. Three rules: 1) Water deeply as determined by the plant’s rootball or potted volume; 2) water once or twice a week for new shrubs and trees; and 3) water three or four times a week for new perennials.
Plants that have been established around your home for at least a year probably do not need extra irrigation unless sunshine has increased dramatically in the surrounding landscape. Focus your efforts on the new expensive ornamentals and fruiting crops.
As I stand still in the garden and water deeply, I ponder what flowers could fill empty spaces or block ugly views in August. Summer-flowering Hydrangea shrubs come in multiple species forms and have few pest problems. Notice your favorites around town. White, pink, or blue flowers of Hibiscus syriacus or rose of Sharon explode in August. Also consider native Clethra alnifolia or summersweet. Selections with pink or white flowers support a wide range of local pollinators. As the name suggests, summersweet also has fragrant flowers.
Another priority for me this week: bean planting. I went to pull out my pea vines to make room for beans but discovered that the nest in the vines has three songsparrow eggs! I purposely cut the vines at soil level because the roots affix nitrogen in the soil. But now I didn’t have the heart to pull out the vines and nest. Luckily, I can plant more bush beans further down the bed that recently opened up after I harvested my garlic. I have planted bush beans in July before and enjoyed them well into late September.
Keep cutting herbs regularly. Herbs that you don’t use can be dried for use later. Or use fresh dill, rosemary, and tarragon to flavor vinegars for salads and stir fries.
Keep annuals fresh by deadheading or even cutting back. I cut back my leggy petunias by half. The plants will now send out new side shoots and get bushier. I am also adding a blossom-booster fertilizer to encourage a fresh wave of flowers. By giving them a “haircut” now, I can enjoy attractive flowers until frost.
After harvesting the central crown of broccoli, leave the stem to send out side shoots and extend your harvest. If cabbage loopers have invaded the florets, let the broccoli crowns soak in a cold bath of salt water for about 15 minutes. This will separate the loopers from the vegetables.
Harvest sweet peppers at any time. Green peppers are early forms of red, yellow, or orange peppers.
Check thoroughly for zucchini. Fruits grow enormous seemingly overnight. If your neighbor has abandoned monster zucchini on your doorstep, you can spiralize it and freeze it to use as gluten-free “pasta” in the winter months.
More priorities:
Keep houseplants out of direct sun now.
Focus weeding efforts on plants about to set seed. Purple loosestrife has bloomed amid a tangle of grapevines, goldenrod, and bittersweet. Will I go after this whole mess all at once? No, I don’t have the time. First priority is rooting out the flowering hot pink/purple loosestrife and preventing the million plus seeds from taking root.
Just like applying blossom booster to your annual flowers, apply compost around vegetable plants as a mid-season refresh. Those plants are actively pulling nutrients from the soil.
A priority for later: My summer-bearing raspberries are fruiting in spite of the Japanese beetle parties on numerous leaves. Once all the fruit has finished, I will cut those fruiting canes back to the ground. The darker green canes, also riddled with beetle holes, will bear fruit next year, so I leave those standing.
Don’t worry about the lawn. Lawn grasses will often go dormant in dry heat. Keep the mower high and mow often to keep grass roots cool and moist. If you see strange burnt circles of grass, perhaps you left the kiddy pool in one place too long. You can damage the lawn when applying insect repellents, too. Not all damage comes from insect pests or fungi.
If you can’t beat the heat, join it! Or at least use some plants that love it.
For long-lasting perennial flowers in late spring through summer, I love Geranium species or cranesbill and especially now, Geranium x “Rozanne.” Seed heads form a crane-like shape above the fragrant foliage. Some bloom in early June and others, like “Rozanne,” will keep blooming through summer if you shear the foliage after the first bloom. The plants do fine in full sun to dry shade where the soil drains well. They can withstand short periods of drought, and foliage turns red or burgundy in fall! This plant shrugs off the hot days of mid-summer, no problem. I wish I could, too.
I call myself the Lazy Berkshire Gardener because I don’t want to work too hard in my gardens. I want to enjoy them. I find it easier to observe my landscape and let the compost happen, the water pool up, or daisies to self-sow. I look for ways to do the minimum task for the biggest impact. For example, mulching is better than spraying and much better than weeding all season. I look for beautiful, low-maintenance plants that thrive in or at least tolerate my garden conditions. Plus, I am willing to live with the consequences if I miss something.
