We're Here!

June 2014

Pickaway to Garden

We’re here!

By Paul Hang

Now that June is here we will enjoy days of 15 hours of daylight. These long days will seem to go on forever but come July we will begin to notice a shortening of the daylight hours. It seems like it has taken forever to get here but summer weather has arrived, even though summer isn’t officially here until June 21, the summer solstice. We were in such a hurry to get here and now here we are. June does seem to bring a feeling of having arrived. It seems as if time has stopped. But soon enough things will change, plants ripen, seed forms. Before we know it it will be July.

The winter was hard on a number of plants. Shrubs have areas that were killed and failed to green up. These areas can be pruned away. Some plants just didn’t make it. I lost a prized Japanese Maple. Roses that survived have begun sprouting from the base. If the buds are coming from above the graft you are OK. If the buds are coming from below the graft you have lost your original plant. What develops won’t be what you want and you might as well replace the plant.

Have you reached for a nice red tomato only to find the bottom blossom end black and rotten? If so your plants probably have blossom end rot. Clever and creative name isn’t it? This condition often happens early in the season. It is caused by a lack of calcium and that is often caused by inconsistent sources of water, either too much or too little but especially by dry conditions. Tomatoes should never be allowed to wilt. Because the blossom end is the farthest from the source of water it is the first to be affected. It is not caused by an organism but once affected the area is susceptible to organisms causing it to rot. Good soil and consistent watering practices can prevent blossom end rot. Tomatoes can grow in a variety of soils but require good drainage and good aeration. The soil should be loose. A slightly acidic soil is best, a PH of 6.0-7.0. It may seem strange but peppers and eggplant are also susceptible to the same condition. In peppers the affected area will appear brown. All three plants are in the same (solanaceous) family which is the nightshades.

June 20 and 21 The Circle of Caring will have their annual Garden Gala. Tickets are available at Goodwin’s, Rhoads Farm Market, Royal Gardens and Engel’s near Ashville or at any of the gardens to be toured,

June also brings the Pickaway County Fair, one of the first in the state. When you visit the fair notice the plantings around the grange building that our local master gardeners, along with a group of young volunteers, have been working on for the past couple years. Demonstration gardens such as these not only serve to beautify the area but to educate the public about the variety of plants and how they perform in the landscape.

 

Things to do in the garden:

First, if you haven’t started a garden it is not too late. Read the seed package to determine how many days the variety takes to maturity. If there is enough time then go ahead and plant the seeds. When choosing plants, choose strong vigorous green ones. Avoid the yellowish leggy specimens. Plants of tomato, peppers, eggplant are the best bet for early June planting.

Some plants that can be planted from seed in early June are: green beans (successive plantings to mid-June can extend the harvest), beets, carrots, Swiss chard, corn (depending on the variety), cucumber, lettuce, lima beans, musk melon, winter and summer squash.

To avoid the wilting of cucumber and melon vines cover the new plants with row cover material until the plants flower. Then remove the cover so that the pollinators can do their work.

Some varieties can be planted later in the summer for a fall garden but more about that in a later column. Mulch vegetables in mid-month after the soil has warmed up, at the same time you can fertilize all vegetables, corn two times, this month.

Weed and thin planted crops. Water deeply (not a little each day) one inch per week all summer. It is best to apply the water to the base of the plants rather than on the foliage. If you must use a sprinkler, water very early in the day so the foliage can dry before night fall. Wet foliage overnight can encourage fungal diseases to develop.

Remove seed heads from perennials. Don’t allow fancy hybrids to ripen and self-sow as their offspring will not come true. Dead head flowers for more blooms. Iris can be divided and replanted after blooming.

You can pinch back mums for bushier growth once they are 4 to 6 inches tall. Continue to pinch back until mid-July.

If your daffodils didn’t bloom well it could be because they are now growing in the shade of trees or shrubs which were small when the bulbs were planted. Or perhaps the daffodils are too crowded. Once the foliage turns yellow you can dig up the bulbs and divide and/or move them.

Fruit trees often shed small fruits in early summer called June Drop. Thin apples to one per cluster and one fruit every four to eight inches. This will cause bigger fruit. Pick up all fallen fruit whether caused by nature or man. Only compost fallen fruit if you have a “hot” heap. Otherwise dispose of the diseased fruit in the trash.

Mow the lawn to about 3 inches, this promotes a healthier plant and shades out weeds and conserves water. The gardening season is well under way and we can be overwhelmed with all there is to do. Take the time to enjoy this leafy month. Gardening is a process to be enjoyed.