August Ramble

It’s August and while some things are slowing down, others are just getting started all over again. So, with lots to cover, it’s time for a ramble.

A few words about mail. I get lots of email from readers and I never know for sure if they get my responses or if my response ends up in a spam folder. If you write and don’t hear back from me in three or four days then please write again.

I try to answer each and every email. Except the one that started when I was asked if I would use ice cubes to water plants.

My simple response was no. The reader then demanded a detailed explanation. I thought my response, in the middle of peak gardening season, was more than adequate.

In my last two columns on weeds I mentioned that you would probably need to use two different herbicides to control crabgrass and broadleaf weeds. There is in fact a product in a spray bottle that will kill both. It’s Ortho’s Weed B Gon Max.

Keep in mind though that crabgrass has already gone to seed so spraying now is pretty pointless unless you’re sure the crabgrass hasn’t seeded yet. It’s so much easier to use a pre-emergent in late spring.

And speaking of crabgrass, a family friend has been battling this weed in his lawn and peastone driveway for several years. Two years ago he finally got the upper hand by using a pre-emergent on the lawn and a spot herbicide on his driveway. Unfortunately he had hip surgery last summer and a few crabgrass plants broke through, just a few though.

This year his lawn is a mess and his driveway has enough untreated plants that I’m sure next year will be a disaster. Remember, weeds are opportunistic. The slightest opportunity and ...

Time To Grow

I’ve touched on the topic of global warming a few times in this column but an article on its full effects on our gardens is coming next spring. In the meantime, I’d like to share a few short thoughts and observations.

There is no question that our growing season is about two weeks longer than it was 20 years ago. Those plants that are mostly affected by temperature are showing changes while those which rely on light (photoperiodic plants, such as chrysanthemums) aren’t showing as dramatic a response.

Published literature that came out four years ago saying that poison ivy would respond to global warming seems to be true. I’ve been noticing it in landscape beds where it would never show up before so it seems to be on the move.

Global warming is also sure to have an effect on our insect populations. As we warm up, many insects will have longer reproductive cycles so there will be more of them. Presumably the good ones and the bad ones so maybe it will balance out.

The effect on the bad ones though is critically clear in the mountains of the western states where pine bark beetles are devastating enormous areas of native pines. The reason given is that due to global warming the winters have been so mild that the cold, which usually tempers and inhibits the beetle population, simply isn’t happening and the devastation that we’re seeing now is the result.

A reader wrote several weeks ago noting that her shrub altheas (shrub hibiscus or Rose of Sharon) weren’t blooming. I have six of these growing in my upstate property and this was the first year there was virtually no twig and stem dieback.

I usually do a heavy pruning just at bud break in the spring to force new growth as these shrubs only flower on new growth. If you don’t prune them, they still flower as there is always a flush of new stem-tip growth. And in colder winters, Mother Nature does the job for us. My suspicion is that as winters become warmer there will be less dieback on these plants, so if you want them in full flower they’ll need some pruning or sheering each spring back to or just below the first new bud breaks.

All Sown Up

I decided to try my luck at carrots this summer. I planted four short rows of four types and much to my dismay only ended up with nine carrots. I consulted with my local farmer and she laughed. She told me that carrots were very difficult to germinate and suggested I keep the seed bed moist and covered with row covers to keep the sun off the soil.

On July 20th, I did my second sowing. This time I did the same four varieties but did 10-foot-long rows, watered them in and covered them. Then it rained off and on for 10 days and stayed pretty warm.

I took the row covers off and to my joy I had gazillions of carrot seedlings. So, heavy seeding, constantly moist soil and row covers to keep the sun off the soil thus keeping it moist as well as warm.

And speaking of sowing, is your fall garden in yet? Garden centers should have seedlings available for your fall veggie garden any day now and you can sow seeds for a number of crops, including carrots, beets, peas, spinach and other salad greens.

Sow the greens every 10 days or so and spinach can be seeded right through October. The latest sowing of spinach will not mature but can be covered with salt hay and it can often overwinter to become your first spring pickings.

Now is the time to place your order for garlic cloves and bulbs. These are planted early in the fall. Plant too early and they begin to shoot up vegetative growth. Plant once the soil cools and you get root growth only and great garlic next summer.

On a side note, the Hudson Valley Garlic Festival is September 29 and 30. It’s a bit of a hike but it’s a great chance to meet the garlic pros and get your cloves for planting. Check out hvgf.org for the details.

It’s also prime tomato time and unless you’ve planted early-, mid- and late-season types, they’re all ripening at the same time.

But there’s a bit more to it than that. There are basically two types of tomato plants. There are the determinate types that grow to a certain size, stop growing, fruit and stop. The other type, like the ones that are now 8 feet tall on my balcony, are indeterminate. This type will continue to grow and get taller (or longer) until the weather becomes unfavorable for continued growth.

It’s the indeterminates that will produce well into September and in some cases early October. Indeterminates are often the heirloom varieties and cherries but also include Brandywine, Beefsteak and Big Boy. But there are also a couple that are considered semi-indeterminate, like Celebrity and Early Girl. These are also early varieties but they tend to die out sooner than the others. Indeterminates are often pruned or grown as vines and can often grow up to 10 feet long or tall.

Grow Natural

I’ve had a number of readers asking about organic lawn care this year so it’s been on my mind quite a bit.

As we get towards the end of the summer, we approach the time when we’d do our last fertilizer application. On lawns maintained with chemical fertilizers, this last nutrient application has been traditionally applied in October. However, since organic fertilizers rely partly on soil temperature for the nutrients to be released, and since the “break take up” of organic fertilizers is slower than with chemicals, the last feeding should be done earlier.

So if you’re managing your lawn organically, your last fertilizer application should be some time from late August to the end of September. This will give the grass plants the energy storage to make it through the winter while at the same time keeping the lawn healthy and thriving through the fall.

There’s still plenty of work to be done and a good three months available to work in the garden. Keep in mind that many of the late summer and early fall chores are the backbone of next year’s garden.

Keep growing