Watering Plants for Healthy Growth - or what to do if you are not flooding

As I pointed out it rained after I put the plants into the "other Community Garden."  Then it rained the next day and the next, and the next, then on July 15 we received a storm that exceeded the average rainfall for the month.

This week we received 7 to 8 inches of rain.  Five inches fell on June 15.  The locally heavy storm flooded streets where I live so badly it actually made the national news and was mentioned on NPR, most probably because the rain was worst between 4:45 and 5:15 in the midst of rush hour.  Being a Chicago suburb this resulted in stranded motorists on the local freeway.

lots of streets in Elmhurst looked like this.

Last year we had a similar hard rain event, but then it came in late July and was followed by several other heavy rains that eventually resulted in our growing season ending early.

That white sign in the middle  is on the underpass, normally  15 feet from the street, seen here filled with water.

This month at O’Hare Airport  there has been 4.36 inches of rain as of 6/16/15, the average rainfall in the month of June is 3.5 inches, so we are halfway through the month and have exceeded the rainfall for the month and with Tropical storm Bill hitting Texas this week we can expect more rain next week and storms are already predicted for Thursday.

East End Park (near garden plots)

I have not been to the garden.  The roads leading to it were closed this week (Have I mentioned that the City wanted to turn the area around the gardens into flood retention as it already floods terribly?) I suspect there is still some standing water on the gardens, but I guess I do not want to know.  The photo above was taken at the park near the garden plots.

With all this extra water, we have not had to figure out if our hose reaches far enough to allow us to easily water the garden.  We’ve never hooked it up.  But not everyone is having this excess, so I thought I would take a moment to speak about how and when to water your garden. There are a range of factors which determine the best way to water each plant.

Watering your Garden

The Old Farmers Almanac, part of growveg.com, has a short, sweet, informative video on watering your garden. 

Here are the highlights:

You want to encourage plants to produce deeper roots that will seek out water deeper in the soil, however frequent watering causes plants to create shallow roots which are more affected by dry spells. Thorough watering once a week is better than shallow watering every two days.

Seedlings need more water until they can produce their own root systems.

Squashes, cucumbers, beans and peas need a bit more water when they are producing flowers and fruits.

Root vegetable crops like parsnips and carrots need less water as they are the tap root.

Water close to the ground trying to avoid wetting the foliage as this promotes disease.

Never water in the middle of the day as much of the water will quickly evaporate.

Do not be fooled by the dry surface.  Grab a trowel and dig into the soil to see if it is actually wet underneath.  If the soil near the roots still clumps when you squeeze it, put off watering for another day.

Drip irrigation is always best for a garden, but in a community garden this is usually not possible, so instead try deep watering containers

Plastic one pint milk bottles or dry drink mix containers from Aldi make great long time waterers if you poke holes in the bottom and bury them in the ground near plants.  Filled with water, they will slowly drip down into the soil by the roots of plants rather than watering at the surface.

Garden Help Links

So where do you go for help when the garden is not so perfect?

The first place I always go when there is a problem with the garden is the Master Gardener program.  Almost every state has a program of some sort.  Here in Illinois it is run through the Cooperative Extension agency of the University of Illinois.  No matter what state you are in they are a great resource for home growers, since they are run through a local university they will have nailed down growing issues for your area and some solutions to many garden problems.  They are also great for plant identification, when you do not know if something is a weed or plant to keep.

The Uof I master gardeners has a website that I recommend as a resource.  They had tons of articles on all sorts of topics under Hort links on the webpage. They also produce a digital newsletter for Master Gardeners that you do not have to be a Master Gardener to read.  It has book reviews, articles about various Master Gardener program events and other useful information.  The events link has programs that can be used for Master Gardner Continuing Education, but if you are not a beginning gardener, I suggest checking out a few of these, they have wonderful details.  But if you are new to gardening, you may find them over your head, so start with the Hort Links first.

 

courtesy of mikenowak.net

Also in Chicagoland we have Mike Nowak, a radio personality who is a go-to source for gardening info.  His website also has great information and links to even more!  He is doing his show as a podcast presently and the website has links to listen to a wide assortment of recent shows.  You can also catch him regularly and repeated on the GDGD Radio Network available in an app for your phone.  You can find the link to download the App on his website as well.

Then you can try a local botanical garden or arboretum.  They are always thrilled to help those curious about growing things.  Where I live we have the Chicago Botanic Garden in Glencoe and the Morton Arboretum in Lisle.  

Sensory Garden at the Chicago Botanic Garden

Master gardeners and plant horticulturalists work at the Botanic Garden in the Plant Information Center to help ID plants and insects as well as plant diseases.  You can access them online as well as in person from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. Monday – Friday; Noon – 4 p.m. Saturday & Sunday, but they are closed on holidays. 

Children's Garden At Morton Arboretum

At Morton Arboretum they have a Plant Clinic.  They accept walk-in questions April through October, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Saturday and November through March, it is open from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday. You can also contact them via email through their website. In addition to identification, the plant clinic staff can help visitors choose landscape plants by directing them to specimens in the Arboretum so they can answer the age old question - how big will this get?

Also if you want to share and learn and search using your phone in a social media setting, I have a wonderful somewhat new app you can download called GrowIt!  You can get this for your android or iPhone.  And it is all about local growing connections.  You can connect with gardeners near you.  What are they growing?  Will it grow at your home? It eliminates that wonderful plant you saw on Pinterest that only grows in a subtropical climate because you know the information you are getting and sharing is local to your area or zone.  

As their website says: "Don’t know what flowers to plant in that container on your patio? GrowIt!™ is here to help you out. Find out what people are planting in your area. GrowIt!™ lets you Garden Socially. Whether you want to show off your plants, or find something that will work in your garden; GrowIt!™ has something for every type of gardener."

This app is new and growing and changing and updating and everytime I use it I like it even more.  So if you are on the app say hello to Backyard Patch Herbs and you will be chatting with me!  This is a great way to share all those great garden photos you take with your phone with people who also love garden plants!

Tomato Disease Issues in the Garden

As I have posted in the weekly updates we have several tomato issues in the garden.  I have been researching these issues and have come up with the following information.

GROWTH CRACKS

Growth cracks result from extremely rapid fruit growth. This may be brought on by periods of abundant rain and high temperatures, or can occur when water is suddenly available to the plant through rain or irrigation after a period of drought. Cracks may radiate from the stem end of the fruit or may encircle the fruit. Cracks are often invaded by secondary fungi and bacteria that further rot the fruit.

Maintaining even moisture by watering regularly and mulching the soil around the tomato plant can help reduce growth cracks. Varieties differ in susceptibility to cracking, and variety descriptions may be helpful in choosing a plant less likely to crack.  Heirloom tomatoes are most susceptible to growth cracks.  I still like them even though,due to our heavy rains, we have many growth cracks this year.

BLOSSOM END ROT

Among the problems we have seen with our tomatoes is blossom end rot.  This is very common among Roma tomatoes.   Affected fruit have a tan to black flattened spot at the blossom end of the fruit. Secondary fungi and bacteria can enter the blossom end rot area, resulting in further decay of the fruit. Blossom end rot can appear on fruit in any stage of development, but it is most common when fruit are one-third to one-half grown. The first fruit produced by the plant are often most severely affected. Fruit that develop later in the season on the same plant can be unaffected. I generally, in the past, ignored this problem unless it became so rampant that I did not get enough fruit.  I was warned that some people believed there were calcium problems in the soil of the Community Garden and the cause of blossom end rot is calcium deficiency in the tomato plant. Although blossom end rot means that the plant does not have enough calcium within the developing fruit, it does not mean that there is a lack of calcium in the soil. Often blossom end rot occurs as a result of several cultural or environmental factors that affect the plants ability to take up calcium. Fluctuations in soil moisture, heavy applications of nitrogen fertilizer, and injured roots can all predispose tomato plants to blossom end rot.

Blossom end rot, M. Grabowski

The amount of calcium salt available to the plant decreases rapidly in the presence of excessive salts such as potassium, magnesium, ammonium, and sodium. Extreme fluctuation in moisture can also reduce the availability of calcium salts needed by the plant. Heavy applications of nitrogen fertilizers and abundant rain cause rapid and luxuriant plant growth and predispose the fruit to blossom-end rot, especially during periods of dry, hot weather.

Blossom-end rot can be minimized by maintaining a uniform supply of moisture through regular watering and soil mulches, applying fertilizer according to the results of a soil test, and avoiding root injury by not cultivating within 1 foot of the base of the plant.

Although we have blossom end rot on a few plants it is not wide spread and can be linked to the heavy rains we had so is not unexpected.  I just pick the damaged fruit and dispose of it.

VERTICILLIUM WILT

Probably verticillium wilt

However among the plants we have other symptoms such as spotted and dying leaves.  So my first thought was we might have Verticillium wilt.  This is a common fungus and I have seen it before in my herbs and my maple trees. The fungi causing this disease overwinter in the soil as mycelium or on plant debris as microsclerotia. The fungi infect a susceptible host through wounds in the roots caused by cultivation, nematodes (microscopic worms), or the formation of secondary roots. This disease is considered a cool-weather disease, developing between 65° and 83°F.  Since we had a very cool start to the season I thought this was a great disease to start with in my research.

verticillium wilt

Diseased plants often have only a portion of the plant wilting, such as one or two stems rather than the whole plant, but it will be a whole section of a plant, not a few leaves or branches.  The look of my tomato plants is a bit different than what is expected in Verticillium wilt.  However, my search here took we to other fungal diseases that lay dormant in the soil and that was when I discovered early blight.

EARLY BLIGHT

Early blight is a common tomato disease caused by the fungus Alternaria solani. It can affect almost all parts of the tomato plants, including the leaves, stems and fruits. The plants may not die, but they will be weakened and will set fewer tomatoes than normal. Early blight generally attacks older plants, but it can also occur on seedlings. Stressed plants or plants in poor health are especially susceptible. Early blight is also a problem with potatoes.

Symptoms: Dark spots with concentric rings develop on older leaves first. The surrounding leaf area may turn yellow. Affected leaves may die prematurely, exposing the fruits to sun scald.

Early Blight fungus overwinters in plant residue and is soil-borne. It can also come in on transplants. Remove affected plants and thoroughly clean fall garden debris. Wet weather and stressed plants increase likelihood of attack. Copper and/or sulfur sprays can prevent further development of the fungus. 

The best treatment for this is to rotate crops.  It can take 4 to 6 years to work out of the soil.  And it comes from infected plant material not being removed as well as coming in on seedlings and compost materials imported from other locations.  In other words all the ways people grow plants in a community garden increases the potential for this disease to be present.  There are no good ways to treat for this fungus in a home garden so the best treatment is disease resistant plants.  

Here is a list of some resistant plants: 

Aunt Ginny's Purple - Heirloom, indeterminate, beefsteak (16 oz.) 
Big Rainbow - Heirloom, indeterminate, bi-color beefsteak (16 oz.) 
Black Plum - Heirloom, indeterminate, plum (2 in.) 
Juliet - Hybrid, indeterminate, cherry (1 ounce) 
Legend - Open-pollinated, determinate, beefsteak (14-16 ounces) 
Manyel - Heirloom, indeterminate, yellow globe (8-10 ounces) 
Matt’s Wild Cherry - Heirloom, indeterminate, cherry (1/2 inch) 
Mountain Supreme - Hybrid, determinate, globe (6-8 oz.) 
Mountain Fresh Plus - Hybrid, determinate, globe (12 ounces) 
Old Brooks - Heirloom, indeterminate, globe (6-8 ounces) 
Tigerella (aka Mr. Stripey) - Heirloom, indeterminate, globe (4-6 oz.) 
Tommy Toe - Heirloom, indeterminate, cherry (1 inch)

Resources:

        Identifying Diseases of Vegetables, by MacNab, Sherf and Springer, Penn State, 1983 

   University of Minnesota Extension service website 

         http://www.extension.umn.edu/garden/yard-garden/vegetables/#tomatoes

Texas A&M Agrilife Extension website
      http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/vegetable/problem-solvers/tomato-problem-solver/

Weekly update of the Community Patch

I visit the garden almost daily.  Mostly to water it if it does not rain, but also to see if it needs anything.  Do I have bug or rodent issues?  Do the weeds need taming?  Things like that.

Here is the garden just after planting:

Here is the garden as of May 26th:

Here is is on May 31st.  Just in 4 days you can see it got more growth.

You can tell some things have gotten bigger and that I planted a few more seeds since the first weekend.  But progress is slow at first (the real reason I do not take a progress picture everyday!)

I think from now on I will take a picture on Sunday and update the blog shortly after that. The best news on this particular day is that the greens seeds (lettuces) that I planted on the first weekend have germinated.  Here is a close up.  In the next few days I will need to thin the plants to the correct spacing, but for now I will just enjoy the fact that germination has occurred!

Micro Greens Mild Mix (from Botanical Interest Seeds)

Black Beauty Zucchini (Botanical Interest) only 4 days to be this big

Sunflower Teddy Bear  (Baker Creek Heirloom seeds)
These took two weeks to germinate but at a two foot high sunflower!

Problems in the Garden

The bummer item on the list this week is that there are cucumber beetles in the garden.  This particular insect can winter over in the soil so its emergence just days after I planted the garden is unfortunate but not surprising.  I used the Organic method of squashing them whenever I saw them as the first line of defense, but they still did some major damage to the the leaves of the cucumber plants.  They have also attacked the acorn squash. I more radical method will be to steep tobacco leaves and mix the tincture with water and dish soap and spray the leaves.  I am preparing that solution now.

Here you can see the damage close up.

I think the stress of the warm weather and the long time in the too small pots reduced the plants ability to resist and repel the insects, so I will have to help them fight back.

What is a Cucumber Beetle?
Cucumber beetle is a common name given to members of two genera of beetles, Diabrotica and Acalymma, both in the family Chrysomelidae. The adults can be found on cucumbers and a variety of other plants. Many are notorious pests of agricultural crops. The larvae of several cucumber beetles are known as corn rootworms.

Cucumber Beetle

At one point last year, I thought they were artistic!  (This image is on a greeting card I made from a photo I took of Black-eyed Susan.)

Some well-known pests include the western corn rootworm (D. virgifera virgifera), the spotted cucumber beetle and its larva, the striped cucumber beetle (A. vittatum), and the western striped cucumber beetle(A. trivittatum). These should not be confused with the Colorado Potato Beetle which also has stripes. 

Potato bug (not what I have!)

The insects live about eight weeks, during which time both larva and adult feed on plants. Adults will attack the tender young growth of stems and leaves, and the buds and petals on mature specimens. They also carry and spread the bacterial wilt organism Erwinia tracheiphila and the cucumber mosaic virus. Eggs are laid in clusters on the undersides of host leaves and hatch into larvae ¹⁄₂ inch (13 mm) long. The larvae often tunnel into the soil to attack roots.

Cucumber beetles can overwinter in crop fields or in compost or trash piles. Eradication efforts may include manual removal, clearing cultivated areas of litter, debris, and infested plants, and application of pyrethrin-containing insecticides such as Cyfluthrin or non-systemic organphosphate insectsides such as Malathion.

How to Identify Cucumber Beetles

Adults are about ¼ inch long and have a yellow and black striped abdomen and a dark colored head and antennae. Look for holes and yellowing and wilting leaves. Crop yield will be low; and plants will produce yellow and stunted fruits. The larvae are worm-like, white, dark-headed, a have three pairs of legs on the thorax.

Often, the Cucumber Beetles alone will not kill the plants or cause major damage, but the spread of disease will. Adult cucumber beetles overwinter in weeds, garden debris and woody areas. The diseases they carry can also overwinter internally, and can be passed onto plants the next spring through fecal matter.

How to Control Cucumber Beetles

• Inspect newly planted cucurbit plants for the presence of this beetle; be watchful when plants are seedlings.
• Cover seedlings with row covers, though you must remove during blossoming time several hours each day to allow pollination.
• If you till your garden in the late fall, you will expose cucumber beetles hiding there to harsh winter conditions and reduce their populations next year. Tilling has the added benefit of making the soil easier to work in the spring.
• Where cucumber beetles are a problem, let the beetles come out of hiding and plant late. They have a knack for finding vulnerable seedlings. When yours are up and growing, the cucumber beetles will be gone, fooled into thinking you don't have any cucumbers in your garden.
• Few insecticides can be used on cucurbit plants because they are very sensitive. They would need to be used when plants are beginning to emerge through the soil. Please contact your local cooperative extension for a list of approved insecticides for your area.
• Natural predators include soldier beetles, braconid wasps, some nematodes, and soldier beetles.

Populate more Plants by Layering

I have a 20 x 20 community garden.  I purchased a number of plants, but being on a budget I wanted more plants than I could buy.  Several ways to handle this are to grow from seed, make cuttings from existing plants, or layer existing plants to create 'children.'

Italian Oregano  (Origanum x majoricum)

When I was planting the oregano I noticed that it had gotten a little leggy.  The late start to the season this year meant that plants stayed in small pots on the patio waiting to be planted far longer than normal.  In the case of the oregano instead of a compact low growing plant you normally see, it had long branches.  I decided I could use this "stretching," as it is called to my advantage by taking the legs or branches of the plant and rooting them to create new plants.  This technique is called layering.

Layering

Layering is taking the branch of an existing plant and without cutting it from the mother plant, bury it in soil and allow it to create a new root system.  Later you cut it from the mother plant and have a new plant you can transplant to another location in the garden.  The oregano with its long branches was perfect for this.  I planted the plant at an angle so the long branches laid along the soil.  I chose two longer healthy branches to use for layer and trimmed off the other long branches.  I used the clippings to make spaghetti sauce with that night.

You need a sharp knife or blade to do layering and sometimes a device to hold the branch down against the soil.  I keep my clippers very sharp for cutting herbs so this was the perfect tool to use for this task.  I made a slit in the bottom side of the branch.  The slit was then laid in the dirt and covered with soil.

Because the soil is rich and dense and the plant was placed at an angle to begin with, I did not need anything to hold the branch down in the soil.  However, if you are using an established plant and bending the branch down to the soil against its desire to reach toward the sun, a bit of help will be needed to hold the plant down.  A bent paperclip or hairpin work wonders.

I chose to layer two different branches on this oregano plant.  Once the soil was in place I gently watered it, being careful not to wash away the soil covering my cut area.   I then trimmed all the reaming long branches to keep the plant bushy and to give these two longer branches less competition for nutrients.  Still connected to the mother plant, these branches will get extra food from that plant until they develop a root system of their own.  This should take about 2 weeks.  It is important to keep the soil moist to encourage the root growth.

You can see the two branches lying in the soil and the mother plant, now trimmed.  In a week I will revisit this so you can see the signs it is working.

More about Italian Oregano

• 
  
  Light: Full sun to part shade
  Type: Perennial in zones 5 to 10
  Planting time: Spring, fall
  Features: Strongly aromatic and flavorful, dark green leaves, small white flowers
  Soil: Moist but well drained, pH 6.5 to 8
  Plant spacing: 12 to 18 inches apart
  Plant size: 12 to 18 inches tall
  Garden use: Herb garden, containers
        Plant use: Major ingredient in Italian cuisine
• 
  
• Savor classic Italian cuisine with the flavorful leaves of this oregano. An easy-growing plant for the garden or container, Italian oregano hails from the Mediterranean region. It thrives with lower humidity and well-drained soil. In the garden, use this oregano as an edging plant. Plants spread when happy, rooting along the stems. Harvest leaves or stems anytime during the growing season. Flavor is most intense just before plants flower. Trim plants often to keep flower formation at bay.

How to plant nursery plants

Most of the plants I placed in the garden came from a nursery.  I also have some winter sown seedlings that I will plant next week so i will talk about those then.  I also am going to grow some plants from seed.  That discussion will be in a day or so.

For today we are going to talk about how to give a nursery plant a good home so it will thrive in your garden.

These are the plants.  I obtained them from four places.  A couple I acquired at the Home Depot.  These are in peat pots from Bonny Plants.  I got basil and lemon balm on a whim when i was searching for a new patio pot.  Most came from the Herb and scented plant sale at the Oak Park Conservatory.  The Herb sale is their big fund raiser, although they do not have many herbs anymore I still support the sale and there are a few items you can only get there which I return each year for.  Several of my tomato plants, a few herbs and the cucumbers all came from the Conservatory.  I stopped at the Good Earth Nursery on my way home from the herb sale and got a few heirloom tomatoes, root celery, and a couple more herbs plants.  Luurs Garden Shoppe, which is my local nursery, less than two miles from the apartment is where I always get my potting soil, compost and other supplies like that, I picked up several thyme plants from them.  They stock an amazing selection of perennials and I cannot wait to shop there when I finally move out of the apartment!  I also won 4 broccoli plants at the garden club meeting in April.

So first things first.  The soil must be ready to be worked.

I laid out the garden with the plants still in their pots to make sure there was space.  I referred to notes, plant stakes and my own research to determine plant spacing.  Once I knew where I was placing the plants then I could dig holes.  Never take the plants out of the pots and leave them laying on the ground with bare roots.  They will dry out so quickly in the sun and the stress to the plant can be catastrophic.  All plants suffer from transplant shock adding dry roots to that and you can kill some less hardy plants.

Using a trowel or shovel, I like a hand shovel, dig a hole that is twice the size of the root ball of the plant you are planting..  This is my ergonomic shovel and I can dig with this all day without straining my wrist.  I admit this is an older tool, I have had it for years using it in my herb garden.   Use a ruler to measure over from the center of the hole to make the next hole when planting multiple plants. 

Toss a handful of compost into the bottom of the hole and water the hole liberally. This is a pepper plant so I just added some mushroom compost.  Organic materials like peat moss, composted grass clippings or plant material would also be perfect.  You just want to give them a bit of a food boost.

Then plant the plant, firming the soil around the plant with your hands enough to keep the plant upright and  the soil from washing away from the plant when it rains or the plant is watered, but not so firm that you press out all the air pockets around the plant.  Remember plants breathe from the roots so spaces in the soil for air are needed. Water the plant well after planting, then move to the next plant.  This is a bush cucumber.  

I place the plant tags that came with the plants in the soil near them.  I will eventually replace these with a larger, easier-to-read tag, but for now, it will keep them identified and allow me to remember what is what.  If it did not have a nursery tag, I wrote the name of the plant on a Popsicle stick and put that in the ground instead.

I put a top dressing of peat moss around the plants as a first layer of mulch to help the soil hold moisture.  I may add more mulch later.  I am waiting to see how the soil sheds water and if I need mulch for weed control. There is a lot of "unknown" in a Community Garden the first year.  In your own yard you will have a better grasp of the soil needs and quirks.

That is it, there is no other technique needed to plant these vegetables and herbs.  Just keep in mind that certain plants, like squash, are grown in a hill rather than on flat ground.  You mound up the dirt and place the plant in the center of the hill or if growing from seed you place three seeds in a hill and thin to one plant once they germinate and grow.

Here are  three planted hills of Zucchini.  I am growing that from seed.

Next time I will demonstrate layering.

.

Choosing What to Plant in your Garden Patch

This is harder than you might think to decide what to plant. In my previous post I listed a number of plants that I bought, but I admit that I am using years of experience about how many and what types for my garden.  Even though I have never done this type of garden, I have gardened before now.

If you are starting small, you have to limit yourself to a handful of plants. If you are growing vegetables start with what you like to eat and what you can't find fresh locally. Corn takes a lot of space and remains in the garden a long time before it's ready to be eaten. If you have corn farms nearby, you might want to use your small garden for vegetables that give a longer harvest, like tomatoes, lettuce and beans. My husbands said - NO corn in the garden for just this reason.  He said , if you want corn go to the farmer's market, they always have it and it is good.

Flower gardens can be even harder. Start with what colors you like. Rather than basing your dream on a photograph from a magazine, take a look at what your neighbors are growing successfully. They may even be able to give you a division or two.  The Men's Garden Club of Villa Park is having their plant sale May 9 & 10 and many of the plants available have come from local gardens so not only can you find out how they did, but you know they grow here!

Probably should not start with this!

Take a walk around a couple of garden centers and read the plant labels. Then play with combining the plants that strike your eye until you find a combination of 3-5 plants that pleases you. Make sure all the plants have the same growing requirements (Sun, water, pH...) and that none of them are going to require more care than you can give them.

Keep the variety of plants limited. It makes a better composition to have more plants of less varieties than to have one of this and one of that.

Let the planting begin

Sometimes you have to plant when you have the time, even if that's high noon on a Saturday. But the ideal time to plant is on a still, overcast day. The point is, stress your new plants as little as possible. Here are a few easy steps to follow:

·                        Water the plants in their pots the day before you intend to plant.

·                        Don't remove all the plants from their pots and leave them sitting in the sun for the roots to dry out.

·                        If the roots are densely packed or growing in a circle, tease them apart so they will stretch out and grow into the surrounding soil.

roots

·                        Bury the plant to the depth it was in the pot. Too deep and the stem will rot. Too high and the roots will dry out.

·                        Don't press down hard on the plants as you cover them. Watering will settle them into the ground.

·                        Water your newly planted garden as soon as it is planted and make sure it gets at least one inch of water per week. You may have to water more often in hot dry summers. Let your plants tell you how much water they need. Some wilting in noonday sun is normal. Wilting in the evening is stress.

·         

      Mulching

      You hear a lot about mulching, but it really does make a major difference in a garden. Mulch conserves water, blocks weeds and cools the soil. Organic mulches like shredded or chipped bark, compost mulch from old leaves and grass, or event straw, will also improve the soil quality.

      Plastic mulches are nice in a vegetable garden to heat the soil around warm season crops like tomatoes, peppers, melons and squash.  Whatever mulch you choose, apply it soon after planting, before new weeds sprout. Apply a 2-4 inch thick layer of mulch, avoiding direct contact with the plant stems. Piling mulch around the stem can lead to rotting and can provide cover for munching mice and voles.

·         

K

      Keeping a Record

      Keep a record of what you have planted or better yet, keep the labels that came with your plants. This will help answer any questions about what the plant may need if it starts looking poorly and will remind you next year of what you liked and what didn't work. It also helps to take pictures and label them. You'll remember color combinations and favorite plants.

·        You can start a garden journal (check out one of my early posts for two types which will work great.) With a garden journal you can record how plants perform, when flowers are in bloom, how large a harvest was and all kinds of information that will help you make a better garden next year.

Hopefully when you were selecting plants you did some background checking and didn't select too many prima donnas. All plants are going to require some maintenance. The idea that perennial plants require less maintenance than annuals is wrong.  Choose a few good gardening books and read up on the plants you choose, so you have less surprises.

It may happen that one of your choices isn't happy and dies.  That is a fact of gardening life and not a sign you cannot do this.  Move on and replace it with something else.  I love to grow thyme.  Thyme dies.  Plants you have had flourishing for multiple years, just die. Each year I choose a new variety of thyme to grow, just in case one of my long-term residents, takes a bad turn.  This year, I will be trying several new plants!!

Water Needs

At the very least your plants will require an inch of water a week.  If it rains regularly, good for you and your garden!  If not, don't let your plants get drought stressed.  Once a plant is stressed it will never recover fully in this growing season.

My first challenge of the Community plot was an email informing me that the water is not turned on at the garden and that they will be repairing leaks and that the water may not be fully functional for some time.  I think this means I will need to bring filled watering cans when I plant later this week.I shudder to think about filled watering cans in my car!!

Enjoy the Garden

You've heard the saying "Stop and smell the roses"? Gardeners can be the worst at taking that advice. We're so busy with our heads down at soil level, pinching, pruning and pulling every weed, that we often don't appreciate what we've created until someone else tells us.

Step back and enjoy what you've accomplished.

Come back Friday and Saturday for the details of my garden planting for this year!