IT’S MID-MID-SUMMER (AUG. 1-10), a benchmark for you and the garden. Mid-mid of any season as a critical period.
Work done then will yield the full benefit of the particular season, along with taking advantage of all the remaining growing days of that season.
Mid-mid is the time of year when even the experienced gardener looks out over the plants, sees most things coming into their zenith and, with content, admires the garden. It is this contentment, if not followed immediately by lots of work, that signals the demise of many plants.
We garden in cycles of the seasons. This is how plants grow. It is now six weeks or more since your plants, through your care, have been responding to summer.
Earlier this year, fertilizers were spread, soil cultivated, beds weeded and edged. The temperatures were cooler; rain and dew were more abundant. The plants weren’t as close, being smaller or just pruned. Air was flowing between the plants and sun was filtering down to the ground.
Now, these plants have used up these advantages. They are crowded; old leaves are on the ground. Dead and dying blooms are everywhere (unfortunately many times they are covered over by new leaves, so no one can see them), hardening off the growing tips.
Old flowers and leaves are also one of the prime areas for molds, mildews and insects.
Leaves and stems are also in their prime at mid-mid-summer, growing out in every direction. They are leaning on other plants, crossing over themselves or just plain falling over from their growth.
It is all these reasons that you find it hard to do the needed jobs. Things just look too good to visualize chopping lots of it away, but we must.
Deadhead and pinch: This is an ongoing process, but never so crucial as now. Removing the flower before it withers and dies off benefits the plant immensely. It reduces habitat for pests.
The removal of the flower triggers that plant to produce more flowers, since it’s sole purpose is to make seed. On that same note, the plant keeps its energies focused on growing more flowers and does not waste it on seed production.
Pinching differs from deadheading in that it removes the growth tip (it may or may not have flowers). This causes the plant to form new branches. The more branches, the more bloom. The greater number of branches, the thicker the hedge, the larger the plant and even more production of certain crops.
Lastly, pinching plants reshapes them and is used to reduce tall plants to a more compact form. This reduces wind and weather damage.
Leaf strip: An extremely valuable chore is the removal of old, damaged or large leaves from the plant. Now is the time of year to attack your plants. Strip away those large leaves that lay on the ground, blocking air movement and light.
Stripping all dead leaves along with those yellowed or damaged leaves combined with deadheading can effectively remove 80 percent or more of the areas diseases and bugs can flourish or breed.
Cultivating: Tilling the soil regularly is most beneficial to plant health. Soil is a composite of air, water, microbes, organisms, minerals and decayed matter.
Cultivating enhances these components by breaking up the surface crust, allowing easy transfer of air and water which aids the living and decaying aspects of the soil. Tilling this time of year gets the water down into the soil, not running over it.
But, please, because of summer sun, only cultivate the top surface lightly to prevent damage to the roots.
Weed: Weeds are one of the common ways diseases or insects get introduced to plants. Weeds also suck up water and nutrients. They are also aggressive and shade out many plants.
So, go look out over your plants. It’s midsummer — enjoy your success. But get your tools out because now is the time to labor.
Your summer plants have another two months to go. So … stay well all!
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Andrew May is a freelance writer and ornamental horticulturist who dreams of having Clallam and Jefferson counties nationally recognized as “Flower Peninsula USA.” Send him questions c/o Peninsula Daily News, P.O. Box 1330, Port Angeles, WA 98362, or email news@peninsuladailynews.com (subject line: Andrew May).
