Whether you are getting a late start, already reaping delicious rewards or thinking about fall, here are some tips to help you get your garden on organically.
Veggies: Ride the tail of summer planting
Worried you have waited too long start a vegetable garden this year? Don’t despair. If you haven’t dug a bed yet, you still have time to prep your soil and sow seeds or plant transplants to grow organic produce in your yard.
In fact, it’s not too late to transplant cucumbers, zucchinis and even short-season varieties of tomatoes for late summer harvest. Every day matters – September and October weather could give you a bonus harvest that will make you glad you scurried now.
Through July you can also seed a variety of vegetables for fall harvest, including radishes, carrots and broccoli, plus a variety of lettuces and other salad greens, and even herbs like cilantro and dill. Read the seed packets and get those seeds in the soil!
Bugs: Monitor for pests
As your flowers and edibles kick into gear, a few pests might take notice of your success. As much as you might want to eliminate every bug you see, remember: Using pesticides can disrupt the ecological balance in your garden by killing good bugs. To maintain a functional habitat in your yard, you actually need a small amount of pests to feed the predators.
To keep your pests from getting out of your control, keep an eye on things. Check the undersides of leaves on more sensitive plants for aphids – and when you see any, simply wipe them away with your thumb.
And, yes, you must kill the slugs. If you are seeing more slug damage than you and your plants can live with, grab a pair of scissors and a flashlight—you’ll find a lot more at night. Hint: look under rocks.
Water: Quench your garden’s thirst without breaking the bank
The key to conserving water in your garden is healthy soil. As you settle into the dry season, make sure you’ve added proper soil amendments like a good compost to keep your plants healthy and help your soil retain moisture.
Many veggies, as well as shrubs, trees and other established plants, need a quarter to a half inch of water a week. Lawns, newly established landscapes and some veggies and fruits could need as much as an inch, with amounts doubling during hot spells. Make sure you’re watering only when it’s necessary. Just stick your finger in the dirt. If the soil is moist a couple of inches below the surface, then your garden isn’t thirsty yet.
Plan for fall: Renovate the lawn, plant more natives
As July turns into August, it’s also time to start planning for fall. Maybe you are ready to renovate the lawn, or you just want to expand your perennial garden with more native plants that attract birds, butterflies and other wildlife. Over the next month or so, price out what you’d like to do and make a plan.