AUGUST
They say that March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb — well, July started off with mild, low humidity weather but it is ending with the hottest, most humid weather we have had this year.
I think many of us have been surprised by the many pop-up rain showers every week. But every garden is getting different amounts of rain, so don't be ruled by the weather report on the news. Look at the rain gauge in your yard.
Water is going to be critical now.
Every year gardeners ask whether there is a formula for watering, but there is no clear-cut answer since every yard is different.
◼️ Make sure you have a working rain gauge, so you know how much water your yard receives.
◼️ Determining water needs will be based on several factors. How much sunlight lands on your garden? What are you growing? Is the yard level or sloped? What's the soil type? On rocky, sloped yards water will run off quickly. Slow and steady water in shorter increments of time works better in this situation so the water can penetrate and not run off. The key is to get water in the ground, not on the street.
◼️ Watering early in the day allows the water to work itself into the ground before the plants are stressed with mid-day heat, allowing you to be more efficient in your water usage.
◼️ But the key is to water and water well. If you only can water at the end of your workday, do so then — as long as you allow time for the foliage to dry before the sun sets. Wet foliage after dark encourages diseases.
◼️ Remember that containers dry out quickly, and the smaller the container — and the more sunlight the plant gets — the more quickly the plants dry out.
◼️ The more often you water, the more frequently you will need to fertilize, since you are leaching out soil nutrition with the extra watering.
◼️ Apply fertilizer sparingly and water it in. You don't want to burn the plants with too much fertilizer.
◼️ While many gardeners were pleasantly surprised by the recovery of winter-damaged plants, we are seeing some of those plants decline again now. The main plants affected have been azaleas and loropetalum. Even though they looked like they had made it through unscathed, as soon as they began to be stressed by heat and dry conditions, a few limbs started dying.
◼️ If you look closely at the plants that are having trouble, you will probably find split stems or peeling bark. Rapid temperature changes or extremely low temperatures can cause bark to split on marginally hardy plants. They have enough stored reserves to leaf out and look like they are going to survive, but the first time they are stressed by heat or dry conditions, the damage begins to show. Prune out the damaged limbs. The root system should be fine, and any parts below the cracks or splits should be doing fine. It will take time for these pruned plants to fill back in.
◼️ August is the month we start planting the fall vegetable garden. You can still find tomatoes, peppers and some other summer vegetable transplants at nurseries and garden centers, but the cool-season vegetables should be arriving soon. Transplants are encouraged for cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower and brussels sprouts, but you can grow them from seed if you are a patient gardener. Greens of all forms can be seeded now, but hold off on lettuce and spinach until later in the month.
◼️ If your summer vegetables are doing well, keep watering, fertilize and continue harvesting. If they have seen better days, gradually replace them with new plants. You can replant the summer crops now and start putting in cool-season plants too. Water well, and mulch.
◼️ The milder weather and frequent rains have summer annuals and tropical flowers growing well. Many gardeners are reporting larger than normal plants with tons of color. Keep that trend going by watering when it gets dry. Also fertilize, and they should continue to bloom for several more months.
◼️ Weeds are growing as well as our plants this season. Poison ivy and Virginia creeper are everywhere, and even though they are perennial natives, we don't want them. They are aggressive. Try to limit their spread.
◼️ Annual weeds that are taking over include chambers bitters and mulberry weed. Both set copious amounts of seeds — even as young plants — so monitor your garden to keep them in check. Spot-spraying with an herbicide is doable, but if you can pull them out roots and all, or hoe them out, you will prevent inadvertant herbicide damage to other plants nearby.
SASSAFRAS TREE
Sassafras albidum is a small native tree steeped in folklore. For years, sassafras has been used as a flavoring in root beer and sassafras tea. And it was used in pioneer medicines.
The small, yellowish-green flowers appear in the spring.
The plant will grow well in full sun to partial shade. It is difficult to transplant from the wild, as it forms a strong tap root.
There are separate male and female trees. Female plants can produce a small berry.
The leaves on sassafras are unusual in that there can be three leaf shapes on one tree — an oval leaf, a mitten-shaped leaf and a three-lobed leaf.
All parts of the plant are aromatic.
Read Janet Carson's blog at arkansasonline.com/planitjanet.