Doggone

July 2019

Pickaway to Garden

 

Doggone

 

By Paul Hang

 

Doggone the year is half over as well as the growing season. You can’t extend the year, but you can extend the growing season if you plant a fall garden. There are over 100 days until the average first frost in mid-October. If you cover your plants for those first frosty nights, you may get a couple more weeks of frost free growing. But doggone it the weather has been so different, what with climate change, who knows what to expect?

 

Speaking of dogs, the dog days of summer are upon us, growling and biting, sometimes snarling, always tagging along, dogging us. Dog days are named for the star Sirius, which is the brightest star, visible in the night sky in winter and in the constellation Canis Major, the Big Dog. Sirius is in conjunction with the Sun from July 3 through August 11. Sirius rises and sets with the sun this time of year. Ancients believed it added heat to the sun. Therefore, they believed, the dog days are the hottest muggiest most uncomfortable days of the year. To stave off these uncomfortable days they sacrificed a brown dog. I wouldn’t recommend it. However, if this heat keeps up, and you own a brown dog, you better hide Fido, or you may find the dog gone.

 

I hesitate to say, but we will lose over half an hour of daylight by the end of the month. We may also begin to experience hints of the coming fall. Some leaves changing, hopefully a cool morning reminding us that summer doesn’t last forever.

 

Have questions? Call the Gardening Helpline 740-474-7534. To read a discussion of problems facing those of us who “grow things,” check out bygl.osu.edu.

 

Things to do in the garden:

 

This is the time to dry herbs. Harvest just before they flower. Pick on a sunny dry day and in the morning. Tie them in small bundles with rubber bands. Hang them upside down in a hot, dry, dark, well ventilated spot in an attic, barn or shed. This is also the time to harvest garlic and hang them or lay them out to dry and cure. Harvest when leaves are turning yellow but there are still one or two green leaves.

 

Weeding, deadheading and watering are high on the list of routine activities. If July turns out to be bone dry as usual, water the equivalent of one inch per week. Mulch to conserve moisture and keep down weeds. If you haven’t mulched yet do so after a soaking thunderstorm or a good watering. Vegetables higher in water content need more water e.g. watermelons, onions vs. green beans.

 

Keep your mower blades sharp; cut your grass long, 3-4 inches is ideal. If you use a pesticide for grubs you are also killing the ones that produce fireflies. Consider organic methods if you have a grub problem.  Kill Japanese beetle scouts before they let their comrades know about your garden. Brush them off into a cup of soapy water or alcohol (not Jim Beam). Repeatedly letting the lawn go dormant and reviving it by watering can kill the grass. Either keep watering or wait for Mother Nature to do it for you. Don’t forget to water your compost heap. It needs to remain moist for fast decomposition.

 

Going on vacation? Water well before you leave. Place container plants in a shady area. They should do fine for a week depending on the weather. If you will be gone longer have someone reliable come over and water regularly. Container plants in the hot sun may need watering daily.

 

If your grafted trees or roses are sprouting below the graft, cut the sprouts off.

Keep picking seed pods off the annuals and clipping spent flowers (deadheading) to encourage bloom all summer. Pinch back mums July 15^th for the last time.

 

Always read the labels on your plants for fertilization. Most woody plants have completed their growth and their buds for next year so fertilizing trees and shrubs after early July is a waste of money and may harm the plant. Keep watering trees and shrubs planted in the past 2-3 years.

 

Consider planting a fall garden this month. Cool weather vegetables can be planted this month to take advantage of the coming cool fall weather. Plants such as cabbage, broccoli, spinach, collards, cauliflower, Brussel sprouts (plant seeds now, seedlings by mid-month), kale, Swiss chard even beets and parsnips thrive in our fall weather. If it is hot and dry, consider starting your plants indoors (except for root crops). Acclimate them to the sun before putting them out in the garden.

 

Other vegetables that grow well in cool weather but should be planted a little later are lettuce planted through August and September, carrots and radishes in September.  Count the days before the average frost, veggies that have that many days to harvest can still be planted. Check the seed packet. There are also some other varieties of vegetables that can overwinter for harvesting in the spring.  Check varieties in seed catalogs or on-line. Order now.