Hot summer garden pointers

Here's a few pointers for gardeners suffering through a hot, dry summer.

1. Do not water lawns.  Grasses naturally go dormant in hot, dry weather, so don't go against nature.

2. Plant okra.  This isn't my favorite fruit, but when young and tender there are several interesting ways to cook it.  And this is important because okra likes hot weather, and seems to be the one garden item the Phactor has that may do well this season.  For some reason, probably because they were filled by dining on broccoli, beans, peas and the like, the bun-buns and woodchucks have left the okra alone.  A good surrounding fence may have helped.

3. If you do water plants, water them well.  At our last TGIF one of impatient friends, the always in a hurry type, mentioned that even watering her garden twice a day did nothing and the garden looked awful.  So how long was she watering?  Probably 10-15 mins.  And she was using a nozzle on a hose, and almost no one has the patience, or time, to water well using that equipment.  Generally a nozzle applied too much water over a small area too quickly providing the illusion that you have watered well when in fact the water is just running off.  When instructing amateurs, the Phactor lets them water until they think they have done it thoroughly.  Then they get handed a screw driver or trowel, and asked to make a little trench across the area they just watered, and seldom has the water penetrated more than a quarter of an inch.  Get a sprinkler and let it run, and the bigger the area you are watering the longer you must let the water run.  If you don't notice the difference in your water bill you aren't watering enough to matter. 

4. Pay particular attention to new plantings.  New plants, those in the ground less than 12-15 months, need special attention in hot, dry weather.  If you want to limit water use, then you must concentrate on new plantings or write off your purchases and efforts as losses. 

5. Don't prune anything now!  You really don't know whether trees or shrubs have died back or just dropped some leaves to in reponse to the drought.  Some plants will just go dormant, so wait until next season before doing anything drastic.  Of course, a few plants may actually be dead and there are ways of checking for certain, but even then some types of plants will resprout from the base. 

6. Put out some water for birds and other wildlife.  Yes, be kind to wildlife.  Our lilypond is one gigantic bird bath-watering hole, but just a shallow bowl of water will provide lots of relief.

7. Keep your eye on well established plants for signs of stress.  When you see a plant looking water stressed, it's a good idea to give it a deep watering.  Plants that wilt during the heat of the day, but recover in early evening is probably doing OK.  Wilting actually reduces the heat stresss because droopy leaves absorb less sunlight and therefore lose less water through transpiration.  If wilted plants do not recover, then water them well.  Look for scorched, browing tips and edges on leaves.  The Phactor missed noticing  this on a witchhazel, and now the leaves are really damaged although the plant will be OK.

8. Perennials that die back are probably OK.  Many perennials can and will die back under conditions of drought, and they will probably recover next season, assuming conditions get better.  Some ferns, lily of the valley, and wild ginger have all died back, but we're not worried.  They will survive.  There will probably be a few things that do not survive.  The wax bells are a bit of a worry.

9. Ice cubes.  No matter how severe the water restrictions, margaritas must be served on the rocks.  This is very important for maintaining a proper attitude about weather and gardens.  Cocktail hours are exactly for attitude adjustment.  For example, one new perennial has flowered for the first time, a nodding onion.  Of course this prairie native is plenty tough, but it had been forgotten until up popped the flowers.  There are always some bright spots.  Now to find a recipe for a gumbo.

Hot and humid vs. hot and dry

Today promises to be a typical hot, humid Carolina low-lands' day.  Back home the upper mid-west is sweltering, but the big difference is that here it's humid and there it's dry.  In out particular area summer always brings hot days, but there have been summers when we've barely turned on the AC.  But when you string together day after day of 90s and even the occasional 100 degree high, our weather is more like what you expect in Tulsa, and who wants to live in Tulsa?  Unless some thunderstorm activity intervenes and waters our gardens, we expect to find some losses among the newly planted.  One of the problems of doing everything ourselves, no one else knows when and where things are planted, and therefore a house-cat sitter has no idea what to do if you say "water the new Japanese yews".  Actually the needs-water list is rather long this year, and just watering the potted/house plants is quite a chore, so our vacation may end up costing us more than we planned.  Maybe we need to start a coop garden babysitting service because having someone who knows gardens and plants would make things much easier.  Anybody part of such a thing?

Dry, dry, dry

Some things are meant to be dry: wine, towels, gin, martinis, gun powder, humor.  Gardens are not in that category, and now the early heat, the lack of seasonal rain, and the minimal winter precipitation are all combining to make the end of May way too dry, and it's a deep dry.  Advice: water the crap out of any newly plantings if you have any hope of having them survive. Think of it as insurance to protect your investment.  Water the crap out of any trees or shrubs you planted last year too.  Trees that were under watered last year are basically toast; some are already going down for the count.  A further note to inexperienced waterers: long and slow is the way to go.  Once you think you've actually watered something adequately, dig a plug and see just how deeply you watering penetrated.  You may be in for a big surprise at how superficial your watering is, and this is doubly bad because you leave with the impression that you have watered.  The combination of near drought conditions and political rhetoric, which can dessicate your brain, bode badly for the summer months.