The DeKalb Extension Garden Patch

What can you do for your garden in this searing heat?

First:  Mulch!  Mulch!  Mulch!  Mulch all your plants.  It will help to conserve soil moisture, help keep plant roots cooler, help to suppress weeds (which will leave more moisture for the plants you want!).  Keep the mulch pulled slightly off plant stems and tree trunks (so as not to encourage boring/chewing pests and rot). 

There are many types of mulch - 2-3 sheets of newspaper (under a thin layer of pine straw or wood chips if you prefer not to see the newspaper!); pine straw (up to 5 inches thick; wood chips (up to 3 inches thick).  County compost is available free from the parking lot area at the DeKalb Extension office on Memorial Drive.  Just drive up and help yourself - The area is monitored, and you have to be a DeKalb County resident.  It’s great stuff for mulching at this time of year!  We are using it at our community garden for the entire Food Pantry garden, about two inches thick, and it will eventually become incorporated into the soil. 

There are plants which act as living mulches - ground cover plants - varieties of thyme, sedums, creeping phlox, and many more.  Some of these are very fast-growing and will take over your garden if you don’t keep them cut back!   But they do cover the soil!

Second:  Water wisely!  Remember to water deeply - about 1” per week (split into a couple of waterings if you prefer), rather than a light sprinkle every day.  This way roots will grow deep into the soil and be much healthier.  Light watering will only encourage shallow roots, which will dry out very quickly.

New seeds should be kept moist until they have a good root system.

Containers and hanging baskets always dry out faster than you think possible.  In the current hot, dry weather, they probably need to be watered at least once a day.

Current watering regulations - and yes, we do have restrictions! - are laid out in the Georgia Water Stewardship Act of June 2, 2010 and can be found at this website:  http://www.gaepd.org/Documents/outdoorwater.html

(And just a reminder:  Water expands when it gets hot so if you have a hose out in the sun, closed at both ends, e.g. attached to the spigot and with a closed hose-end attachment, it is likely to burst!)

Third:  Cutting back herbaceous perennials and annuals - up to one third - will give the roots less plant to supply with water, and will also encourage the plants to bush.  This is a good time to do this for e.g. chrysanthemums and swamp sunflowers, before they have produced flower buds.

Lastly:  Shade cloth can be used for plants that continually get stressed in the sun and seem to need constant watering, but next time around make sure these plants are where they should be!  Remember – “The right plant in the right place”.   Some plants can’t take full sun, and some need full sun to flower.  Put your plants where they are happiest!

And …….  something that is going well now!  Harvesting vegetables  - 

If you have kept your summer vegetables watered, they should be thriving.  At the community garden we have beans, squash, a few early tomatoes. If you still have lettuce pick it now - most lettuce has already bolted.

And when it comes to taste, bigger is not necessarily better!  Squash left on the vine to grow big will not only grow woody and inedible, but will prevent the plant from producing more flowers.  So keep the young squash and zucchini picked, and enjoy!  Same with beans and cucumbers.

Corn should be picked when it is at the “milk stage” – the silks become dry and brown and the kernels are plump and pop when punctured with a thumb nail.  It tastes best when eaten immediately!

Okra will flourish in this hot weather, and when ready, again … pick it young.

Happy gardening!  It will rain again ..... won't it?

Gardening questions?  Email or phone the Master Gardener Office:  dekalbmastergardener@dekalbcountyga.gov  or  404-298-4080

or add a question to the comments section.  Any method you use, you will get good, up-to-date information.