Summer planting
Summer's scorching sun, dry periods, and hot, moisture-sucking winds aren't the ideal conditions for starting new plants, but that doesn't mean you can't start plants in the summer at all.
Summer planting is possible, especially if that is the main way most plants are sold these days – in plastic containers.
If plants could talk, they'd say they'd rather be in the ground somewhere as soon as possible, rather than in a pot sitting on gravel at the garden center.
Still, summer is tougher on new plants, as the soil dries out quickly during a typical July and August in Harrisburg (and June this year), and without mulch, the soil surface can warm enough to damage plant roots.
New plants are especially vulnerable because their root systems are underdeveloped and lack the deeper, wider soil moisture draw of larger, more mature plants.
New plants also go through the shock of going from the nursery's ideal nutrients, protected environment and growing medium to the harsher conditions of the garden.
Below are six steps to ease the challenges of summer planting: Otherwise, wait until after Labor Day.
1.) Start with a larger pot. A larger container will have more root mass and will be easier to manage than a smaller plant with fewer roots.
On the other hand, you can also make a big mistake by buying a large plant that doesn't have enough root mass or that has roots that are too rotten in the pot. Remember, the smaller you go, the greater the responsibility of keeping the soil moist at all times.
2.) Water your new plants frequently. Get a rain gauge to track rainfall in your area and periodically check the soil for moisture a few inches down (even your index finger will do). If you like gadgets, buy a water gauge.
Consistently moist soil can mean the difference between life and death for your plants, especially during the first six to eight weeks while summer-planted plants are getting established and adjusting to their new environment.
Thin-rooted plants planted in summer, such as annuals and perennials, benefit from soaking in water every two or three days (daily if they are potted).
Larger plants such as trees, shrubs and evergreens planted in summer benefit from deep watering every four to five days rather than shallow, more frequent watering.
The key is to keep the soil moist (but not soggy). Larger plants will need more water but less frequently, while smaller plants will need less total water but more frequently because the top layer of the soil dries out first.
If you can't properly water with a hose or bucket, invest in a DIY drip irrigation system or a sprinkler or two connected to an automatic timer.
Learn more about how to properly water your plants so they don't die in the summer heat here
3.) Consider a storage bed: A storage bed is a small, protected bed of good quality soil where you can grow new young plants for a year before planting them in a permanent location.
Grouping new shoots together in storage beds makes it easy to concentrate water and allows you to fence them off to prevent animal damage (fresh young leaves are very attractive), and you can also put up temporary shade screens to protect the new plants from the hot summer sun for the first few weeks.
Read more about keeping your bed
4.) Choose your location wisely. Do your research to get the right plants in the right place.
By moving sun-loving plants into the sun, shade-loving plants into the shade, and keeping damp-loving plants out of the dry spots, you can help any plant grow through the transition and into the long term.
5.) Fixing Bad Clay: Very few gardeners are blessed with naturally good garden soil.
Most of our land is made up of clay, shale, subsoil cleared by construction work, or a mix of all three.
Plants will take root faster if you mix at least 10 to 20 percent compost into the soil before planting. Loosen and amend the soil as widely as possible. Consider making a planting bed instead of digging a hole.
Read more about planting and soil improvement methods
6.) Choose your planting time wisely. Planting in the evening, or better yet, when it's cool and overcast, or just before a rainfall, will reduce wilting and increase your chances of summer success.
Plants will acclimate better if you give them plenty of water immediately after planting and keep them out of hot, direct sunlight immediately in the afternoon.
Plants are more likely to die or go into shock if you plant them when daytime highs are in the 90s than when daytime highs are in the 70s or low to mid 80s.
Learn more about how to keep your plants vibrant during our hot summers here Lilies are some of the most fragrant plants to add to your Pennsylvania landscape.
Add fragrance to your garden
In Grandma's time, flowers were more fragrant, but those traits often became exotic as breeders focused on developing new varieties that met gardeners' higher-priority demands: low maintenance, long flowering periods, insect and disease resistance, and compact size.
That doesn't mean you can't have a garden that smells great in the summer, you just need to plan for it and choose plant types and varieties that will provide a pleasing aroma to your nose.
Before you go too far down that path, keep in mind that a 2019 study from the Monell Chemical Senses Center in Philadelphia found that not everyone smells the same, and even slight changes in a flower's chemical makeup can make a big difference.
For example, this is why some people love the “strong, sweet smell” of Paperwhite light bulbs, while others find them to smell like burning rubber.
Monell's research also found that there are psychological links between how we respond to different scents.
For example, if your grandma used to walk through lavender fields as a child, the smell of lavender alone may bring back fond memories, but if your mom used to spray you with lavender scent to get you to eat Brussels sprouts, you might still regret the smell to this day.
Takeaway: Beauty is in the nose of the beholder.
If you can't smell the plant when you buy it, do your “preliminary research” in a local or public garden beforehand.
When you find plants with scents you like, resist the seemingly logical urge to cram them all into one “scent garden,” especially if most of the plants flower at the same time.
All of these smells can blend together in an unrecognizable mess… like a casserole with too many ingredients.
A good way to scent your garden is to spread out the placement and flowering times of your fragrant plants, so that you have little fragrant surprises all around, from early spring through to the frozen winter.
Place scented products along walkways, near entryways, on patios or around benches, or next to windows where the breeze can carry the scents of your favorite plants into your home on warm evenings.
With that in mind, here is a list of the most fragrant plants to consider for your Pennsylvania landscape.
Trees: Most magnolias, some apples and crabapples, American fringetree, cedars, junipers, pines, cherry trees, mountain lilies, some crape myrtles.
Shrubs: Lilac, Korean viburnum, mock orange, most roses, sweetbox (Sarcococca hookeriana), witch hazel, daphne, summersweet (Clethra alnifolia), sweetshrub (Calycanthus floridus), Virginia sweetspire, bayberry, and some native honeysuckle.
Perennials: Lavender, agastakes, peonies, some irises, some hostas, santolina, carnations, evening primrose, oregano, pussy mint, Russian sage, mint (best grown in pots with the roots attached), some phlox, sweet woodruff.
Annuals: Flowering tobacco (nicotiana), scented geranium, sweet pea, lemon thyme, rosemary, sweet alyssum, jasmine vine, basil, night scented stock, and some heliotropes, petunias, pansies, and violas.
Bulbs: Tuberose (Polianthes tuberosa), Dutch hyacinth, Oriental and Orienpet lilies, some daffodils (especially Jonquilla, Poeticus and Tazetta species), some tulips, and freesias.
For more on garden scents, check out Ken Drewes' book, The Scentual Garden (Harry N. Abrams, 2019, $50 hardcover).
You can use a paintbrush to transfer pumpkin pollen from one plant to another.
Increase yields through pollination
Good pollination is necessary for the production of corn, fruit trees, and fruiting vegetables (such as tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbers).
To be edible, pollen from male flowers must be transferred to female flowers, and according to a National Garden Bureau post by Johnny's Selected Seeds, honeybees do that job in about 80 percent of cases, and wind does the job in most of the remaining cases.
So by encouraging your bees, knowing some of the things that can go wrong, and maybe even helping nature out with a little hand pollination, you can maximise the yield of your vegetable patch.
Most of the fruit trees and vegetables in the Cucurbitaceae family (cucumbers, pumpkins, zucchini, squash, watermelon, and cantaloupe) are heavily dependent on honeybees.
Successful pollination of fruit trees starts with choosing the right variety. For apples, cherries, pears and most plums, you'll need two varieties that flower together.
For sour cherries, peaches, and most shrub fruits (blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, gooseberries, elderberries), a single variety will produce fruit, but yields are usually even better when bees cross two or more varieties.
Varietal diversity isn't as important for cucurbit crops, but without bees there would be no fruit, which is the main reason why squash and cucumber plants are thriving but not producing fruit these days.
Ways suggested by Johnny's Seeds to ensure adequate bee populations include avoiding the use of pesticides, planting a variety of flowers in your garden that bloom throughout the season, planting several flowers that attract bees in or near your vegetable patch (zinnias, salvias, cosmos and sunflowers are particularly good), and creating habitat for bees that nest in the ground or in cavities.
Tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, and corn are common vegetable garden plants that are primarily pollinated by the wind rather than bees, as the wind blows pollen from flower to flower.
But bees can also help these plants by vibrating the flowers during their visits, dropping pollen grains from flower to flower.
Most cereal grains (wheat, rye, barley, oats) and some nuts (walnuts, pecans) are also primarily wind-pollinated.
The “trick” for successful pollination of corn in the home garden is to plant it in blocks rather than in long, straight rows, which gives the wind a better chance of spreading pollen from the male flowers to the silks (female flowers) of the ear.
If there are not enough bees or the wind is not working hard enough, gardeners can make up for the shortage with mechanical pollination.
For corn, Johnnie's recommends cutting off mature ears and waving these “canes” over the top silk threads of each ear of corn.
For tomatoes, peppers and eggplants, simply shaking the plants gently every now and then is often enough to encourage pollination.
To act as a surrogate honeybee, use a small paintbrush to place pollen from a male flower onto a female flower, and Johnnies says to place one new grain of pollen on every three or four pollinated female flowers.
Tips on what to do and when: George's “Pennsylvania Gardening by Month” book
