With temperatures hovering in the mid-90s, let’s look at some suggestions to improve your summer gardening experience.
Personal protection As you work outside, be mindful of your health and alertness. The heat takes a toll on us physically. Take frequent breaks to drink and cool off. Wear a wide rim hat and sun screen. Use mosquito repellent in the evening when they are active.
Mulch Plants need water too and can suffer from the heat. Mulch around the roots helps them stay cooler and conserves the soil moisture.
Wide rows Instead of planting your vegetables or flowers in a single row consider planting 2-3 rows fairly close together. This allows the plants to shade and cool their neighbor’s roots and helps to shade out competing weeds. You can also have more plants in your garden plow with these wide rows.
Horizontal planting Plants like tomatoes and sweet potatoes root readily along their stem. They can be planted with the stem buried horizontally to allow for more root formation and greater use of the soil’s moisture.
Plant in a trench instead of mounding Another soil moisture technique is to plant summer crops in a shallow trench instead of up on a hill. Our sandy soils are quick to drain so the roots will not rot with this trench technique. When it rains or as you water the garden the water will puddle in these trenches and soak down into the root zone.
A little shade helps Many plants are labeled in nurseries as being “full sun.” Here in Florida many of these “full sun” plants benefit from a partial shade in the afternoon when the temps are at their highest. I have some herbs in two locations. The ones in the partial afternoon shade are twice as vigorous as those in the full sun!
Irrigation timer Your plants will need water during the summer. Some you may want to continue to water using a hose. This gives you more control over the water and gives you a chance to inspect or harvest as needed. For other plants you can save a lot of time by using an irrigation timer and a sprinkler or soaker system. A simple battery powered timer can be connected to the faucet then to the water hose. Most timers have several settings for the duration and frequency that they come on.
Time of day Plant in the evening, water in the morning. That about sums it up. Your transplants will not wilt as much if you plant later in the day. Your lawn and garden plants will not have as much leaf and root fungus problems if you water early in the morning.
Planting depth For perennials, trees, shrubbery, etc. plant these at the same depth they were growing in the pot. You can make a small ring of soil around the root ball to hold in water until the plant gets established. For flowers and vegetable transplants, go just a little deeper than the plant was originally growing. This places the roots into moister and cooler soil. Seeds can also be planted just a bit deeper in the summer so they do not dry out before they have a chance to sprout.
I hope these tips give you something to ponder as you enjoy your summer gardening adventures.
Send me an e-mail at gardendoctor@comcast.net if you would like to submit gardening questions, comments and suggestions for future articles. I would love to see your gardening and nature scene photos and hear your success (and not so successful) stories.
