This year has been a beautiful spring and only a couple of days with 100 degrees or more so far for the whole year. Looks like cooler for a little while now. All in all, it has been nice weather for your landscape whether new plantings or established plantings.
With summer here and longer days, it gives a lot of time for gardening. Do your planting early in the day or in the evening if possible. Plants will handle the transplant just fine as long as you water them well as soon as they are transplanted, and make sure you give additional water for the first week or two after planting to make sure it is kept well hydrated. Also be sure to mulch to hold the moisture in the ground. Water the new planting well, and then water in with Superthrive mixed in water. This will eliminate any transplant shock that may occur. Keep the plant moist but not soggy while it is getting it’s root system established. If you are using a timed drip system that runs for very short periods, you will need to supplement with a hose periodically. A slow trickle for an hour or two works well about once or twice a week along with the drip system. Mulch well around your trees and shrubs to keep the moisture in the ground. Use 3″ of mulch.
On the subject of watering whether newly planted or established plantings, when there is a spike in temperatures coming, be sure to give extra water. Make sure all shrubs and trees are well watered going into the temperature spike rather than waiting till afterwards. Sometimes the stress on the plant will be too much if too dry. Signs of not enough water will include crisp edges of leaves, wilting in the heat and perhaps shedding some foliage soon after extreme heat. If you see any of these symptoms, you probably should increase the amount of water or mulch or perhaps a combination of the two. If you see any stress on your plants, treat them with Superthrive mixed with water. This product eliminates transplant shock and also revives plants under stress. We do all of our transplanting here at the nursery during the summer months and we use Superthrive on all of our transplants and cuttings that we do.
Crape myrtles are now starting to bloom here and in landscapes. They love the heat. Although crape myrtle is a very drought tolerant plant, it will bloom much nicer with at least one good deep soak a week. Also spray for aphids if you see sticky shiny leaves. Use neem oil or an insecticide or insecticidal soap. Any of these are better sprayed in the evening so that there is no damage to the leaves from the heat of the day.
Vegetable gardens probably need fertilizing about now. If you fertilized when you planted, it’s about time to give the garden another fertilizing and then again sometime in August to keep your plants healthy and productive. Use a vegetable fertilizer for this. Avoid high nitrogen fertilizers as they will cause growth at the expense of production. Organic vegetable fertilizers work well because they feed slowly and there is less chance of burning the plants in warm weather. Mulch your garden too, to hold the moisture in and use less water. If you are experiencing blossom end rot on your tomatoes and squash, add calcium to your soil.
Watch for tomato worms. If you see them, use BT or Monterey Garden Insect Spray to get rid of them. Both are organic controls. Or just pull them off and get rid of them.
Hopefully the weather stays mild for the summer, as it has up to this point for the most part, with last weekend being the exception to that. Get out early and enjoy the cool of the morning and do some gardening. It’s a great way to start the day.
We hope to see you soon,
Jeff
