More Dirty Words

 

September 2024

Pickaway to Garden

More Dirty Words

By Paul Hang

Hot enough for you? How about dry? The earth is cracking, splitting like a stretching garment that has shrunk too far on the sitting rear end of its wearer. The soil in our gardens is so dry it looks like dirt. There is a difference. These, and other dirty words, describe the ground under our feet. Coincidently many of them are also four letter words: Dirt, soil, sand, silt, clay. Some are only three letters, hot and dry. All are dirty words.

As I write this in late August, the forecast is for temperatures in the 90’s and a heat index of over 100 degrees. I volunteer for Community Collaborative Rain, Hail, and Snow Network (www.cocorahs.org) for which I daily report the amount of precipitation in my standardized rain gauge. I have reported zero precipitation for the last ten days and a whopping 0.88” for the month. June and July were comparable averaging about 1” per month. According to NOAA’s drought monitor, our county is under exceptional drought. They won’t get any argument from me.

My vegetable garden is a disaster: small tomatoes and peppers and fewer than usual, cucumbers small and few with vines that have disappeared, green beans with little bites all over them. I did have a bumper crop of elderberries and a lot of my native flowers have done pretty good: asters, goldenrods, cup plants. A lot of my shrubs are struggling. A fothergilla got crispy leaves before I noticed and gave it a drink. The jury is still out on its survival.

I have watered, but evidently not enough. I have been lax on fertilization. At my age I don’t “do heat” the way I used to and have stayed inside a lot.  Are all these a sign of things to come? Well I’m not getting any younger so that’s one thing that won’t change. The heat and droughty summers are pretty standard here but the degree of severity promises to continue. Maybe it won’t be this bad every summer but the new normal might lead us to expect more summers like this one.

What’s a body to do? Virtually every plant label says the plant requires a “moist, well-drained soil.” Cracked dry dirt is neither. What we need to do is change our garden dirt to soil. Better yet, change it to loam. Loam is considered to be the best soil texture for plant growth. It consists of mineral amounts of 40% sand, 40% silt and 20% clay. More importantly loam needs the right amount (5%) and forms of organic matter loosening the soil to introduce oxygen and improve its structure, water holding capacity and drainage. Changing the underlying subsoil and particularly the bedrock is pretty impossible. But we can incorporate varied forms of organic matter, spreading compost and using organic mulches on existing beds.

Now is a good time to test your soil. The prescribed amendments will have time to work their way into the soil and be available to the plants for the next growing season. How do you know what your soil is like? Don’t guess soil test. Go to www.ohioline.osu.edu/factsheet/agf-0514 and factsheet/SAG-4. Information on soil testing is also available at the OSU Extension Office as well as the Helpline for general questions at 740- 474-7534. Stay Cool.

Things to do in the garden:

As plants die in the vegetable garden, pull them up. As perennials die back you may leave them for their winter interest and to preserve them for overwintering pollinator eggs, larvae, pupae or cocoons. Dispose of non-diseased plant debris in a "hot" compost heap to kill the seeds. If diseased, bury them or put them in the trash. In the butterfly garden leave the host plants as they are harboring the overwintering eggs and larvae of next year’s butterflies. Those plants that you don’t want to re-seed remove the seed heads before their seeds are scattered. Or, leave them for the birds. Clean up old fruit from around fruit trees.

If you collect, dry, and store seeds for next year, use only heirloom varieties, hybrids will not grow true. Harvest and cure mature winter squash, pumpkins and gourds if they are ready. Leave a two inch stem. Gourds should be finished with growth before you cut them from the vine, store indoors at 60 degrees.

September is the best time to plant grass seed whether you are re-seeding, patching or establishing a new lawn. If you only fertilize your lawn once a year, fall is the best time to do it. Cooler (slows evaporation), wetter fall weather promotes good root growth and your grass will start out next spring healthier. Fertilize in September and then again around Thanksgiving. Read directions for amounts and settings on application equipment. You might also want to consider shrinking your lawn to save on fertilizer and mowing costs.

In those areas in the vegetable garden that are not to be fall planted, plant a cover crop or “green manure” that will be turned in in the spring. Buckwheat, annual rye, sweet clover, winter barley, wheat, soybeans, alfalfa, and hairy vetch make good green manures.

Now is the time to buy and plant spring flowering bulbs. A good rule of thumb is to plant bulbs at a depth about three times the height of the bulb. Most spring flowering bulbs look best planted in groups not in single file. Plant in a triangle, with the point facing the viewer, for most impact. Planting irises and peonies this fall takes advantage of the warm earth. They should be planted about 2 inches deep. If your peonies haven’t bloomed well because of shade from nearby competing trees, now is a good time to move them to a sunnier place in the yard. Once no longer green, cut deciduous peony leaves to the ground and discard.

Watch for yellowing of gladiolus leaves. Dig the corms and hang until the tops turn brown. Then store in a cool, not freezing, well ventilated basement or garage. Do the same with caladium, cannas, and dahlias when their tops turn brown. Fall is a good time to divide Lily of the Valley, primroses, peonies, day lilies, coral-bells and bleeding heart. Adding bulb food and humus will be rewarded in the spring.

You can plant onion seed now for early green onions and bulbs. You can still plant cool season vegetables. It’s not too late to start beets, carrots, kale and lettuce, maybe even bush beans! You can have these for Thanksgiving dinner! This assumes we don’t have a hard freeze. If we do, prepare to cover the plants. If you can find transplants of broccoli, cabbage and cucumbers you can still get a harvest. Order garlic bulbs now for planting later.

Pot up plants of herbs, chives, parsley, rosemary for a sunny window. Bring in houseplants after acclimating them to the indoors. Place them in a protected place for a couple weeks. Check for insects and treat as necessary. Reduce water and fertilizer for houseplants still indoors.