The heat had us running (or rather staggering) around indoor air-conditioned spaces last week. The Lazy Berkshire Gardener has made time to plan gardening activities in the cooler indoors and then limit our time working in the heat to short periods of time. Two key words of wisdom during these times: Stay hydrated.
The bare minimum you should do now is:
To keep annuals and vegetables hydrated, water them early in the day – if they're in a hanging basket in direct sunlight, you may need to water them again at midday.
Gaze lovingly at the container combinations you created in May (from indoors if you must), but be sure to take them outside to ensure they are fertilized and watered evenly. Take pictures to remember what you picked and bought, and save them for next May's shopping trip.
You can also take pictures of other container combinations you like at your local store or garden center. Many stores make a special effort to combine beautiful containers to attract customers. If you see something you like, tell the salesperson or manager. Ask for the names and varieties of the plants now and try to recreate it yourself next year.
Midsummer is also a good time to accurately assess how much sun your plants are getting. Currently, if a spot gets at least six hours of direct sunlight, it's a sunny spot. I thought the little potted plant in my backyard was sunny, but last year I noticed that it was in a lot of shade during the day. I planted a shade-loving impatiens to the north of this potted dahlia, and a million bells (calibrachoa) to the south. Both annuals seem to be happy with the conditions. Last year, the million bells got too much shade and died by August.
Develop a pest control plan. I've felt too lazy about Japanese beetles. My raspberry and peach trees have beetles all over them and I can't stand it. But I can't go outside in the heat every day to pick beetles. I want to enjoy the fruit of these plants and I want them to thrive. So I invested in Japanese beetle traps. This investment came after years of avoiding beetles. But now I feel that by carefully placing the traps I can help in the effort to reduce the overall local beetle population. I'm confident the traps are working.
I pretty much followed the trap placement instructions. To be honest, I didn't buy enough traps. You should have two traps for each plant you want to protect. The traps should be placed far enough apart (at least 10 feet) that the beetles can't escape the trap and jump to the plant you're protecting. The trap should also be placed on the upwind side of the plant. The second trap should be placed upwind on the opposite side at the same minimum distance. It creates a cone of protection. The problem is that prevailing winds can change. You won't catch every beetle, but the traps give you peace of mind.
A beetle trap set on a dead verbascum plant. This weedy verbascum is already infested with beetles, and by placing a trap next to the plant, the Lazy Berkshire Gardener has been able to scare the beetles off his peach tree – but not completely.
Who wouldn't want to be more efficient or lazy with weeding in this heat? Spraying herbicides will have an immediate effect on gravel paths and driveways. Be especially careful with herbicides; even the slightest splash can affect the health of non-target plants. Suddenly, peonies can appear spotted and rapidly fade. Avoid spraying on windy days and only spray on targeted weeds.
This week's Lazy Berkshire Gardener's minimal efforts also include harvesting vegetables.
Harvest beans, cucumbers, and summer squash while they're small, tender, and sweet. If your cucumbers are bitter, your plants need more water.
When you hand-water your vegetable garden, keep a close eye on it for pests and diseased leaves. Any yellow or mottled leaves near the base of your tomato plants should be removed as soon as possible. Not only can disease spread up the plant, but yellow leaves also attract pests.
Pick off the tiny wasps by hand before they devour your tomato leaves. Wasps can be very hard to spot; they look like tomato leaves curled up on the stems of plants. They'd be an attractive insect if they weren't so spiteful.
Don't let these caterpillars get to you in August 2022. Look for tiny caterpillars on your tomato plant stems now.
If you want your garden to grow long term, plant cauliflower, cabbage and broccoli seedlings now. You can also direct sow them in the cooler evenings. These vegetables taste better after frost, so you have plenty of time to do so.
Last weekend, I decided I wanted to plant beans where I had been growing strawberries. That meant I had to renovate (or clear out) my strawberry bed. Strawberries are perennials, but they benefit from vigorous renovation each year. I dug up the plants from the field and planted pole beans in their place. That gives you a new bed just for strawberries. If you're not scrounging around for garden space, renovate your strawberry bed by cutting or pruning the old foliage right after fruiting. For everbearing strawberries, new growth will emerge from the roots along with new flowers and fruit. Junebearing strawberries won't fruit after renovation, but they'll be stronger for a bumper crop next year.
Although not strictly a renovation, these strawberry plants have been repotted in spare pots while we wait for the new raised beds just for them.
The heat came early this spring and it seems to have given the garlic a growth spurt. I was able to harvest some of the garlic, but not all of it. I'll let the crop take its course. Once the bottom 3 leaves have died, gently dig around the stem with a shovel and pull the bulb out of the ground. I loosen the soil with the shovel and gently pull the stem up with one hand and the bulb with the other. My big German white garlic looks ready to harvest, but my Russian red garlic needs another week of growth.
There were three dead leaves at the bottom and some of the garlic was ready to be harvested, but not all.
I plan to hand water and prune some this week (or by Sunday evening).
Use hand pruning shears to remove water columns from the base of birch, cherry and apple trees. Small cuts will heal quickly now. Remove faded flower heads from coneflower and coreopsis to encourage more blooms. Cut raspberry stalks back to the ground once the fruit has been harvested. Annual plants such as geraniums, zinnias, marigolds and calendulas that have finished flowering will continue to bloom all summer.
My final observation for the week: I love having thyme growing in a large lawn. Thyme mixed into the lawn grows low, which makes the lawn uneven in height, but unless you're maintaining a golf course or sports field, the variation in height isn't a problem. Planting thyme in the lawn benefits pollinators and minimizes the effort and expense of maintaining a perfect lawn. I applaud this landowner's lazy, beautiful victory.
To grow thyme flowers in your lawn, mix a small amount of thyme seeds with sand and sow the seeds in areas of your lawn.
I call myself a “lazy Berkshire gardener” because I don't like to work too hard in the garden. I want to enjoy it. It's easier to watch my garden and wait for the compost to form, the water to pool, and the daisies to grow. I look for maximum effect with minimum effort. For example, mulching is better than spraying, which is much better than weeding all season. I look for beautiful, low-maintenance plants that will thrive or at least tolerate the conditions in my garden. Plus, I'm prepared to accept the consequences if I miss something.
