Q: What should I be doing in the garden now that the heat is on? –R. O., Hatfield
A: We gardeners always see what still needs to be done in our plots, pots, and perennial beds. We have been planting seedlings with hope, battling weeds with warrior-like intensity, and wondering at the tenacity of mint for months. What I suggest you do now, R.O., is pull up an outdoor chair, prop up your feet on a stool or overturned bucket, sit, take a deep breath, let it out, and smile at all you have accomplished no matter how large or small. Accompany with iced cold tea or lemonade.
Next, give the back a break and pick up a pen or stylus instead. Have you started your garden journal yet? A quiet respite during the heat of these hazy summer days is a great time to take pause and think back on how you started your garden this spring. Jot down what you remember about when you did what and how you did it. What worked, what definitely did not work (there’s always something!), and what would you do differently next year?
Take photos. Zoom in on your flowers and become awed at their intricate beauty. Have lilies? How do they get so gorgeous? Turn over leaves on your milkweed, fennel, or dill. See any tiny creamy white Monarch eggs on the milkweed or pale yellow Black Swallowtail eggs on the fennel or dill? Admire the silvery leaved purply stemmed beauty of Japanese painted ferns. Find one of David Austin’s Gertrude Jekyll roses in bloom and breath in deeply.
Start planning for fall bulbs. Are your catalogs showing up yet in your mailbox, whether traditional or online? So, what are you going to get? Alliums are always fabulous, no matter the height. They make a great, strong vertical accent and the ball-shaped varieties lend a unique form to the garden. Plus, pollinators love them. Daffodils are always good options as deer do not like them and their trumpets so cheerily announce spring each year. Select naturalizing ones for future repeat performances.
If you really must do something in the garden right now: water — deeply! Be aware of any town watering restrictions in place before you do so. If possible, early morning and early evening are best watering times for plants. Give yourself a mist while you are at it after a hot day.
To determine your need for supplemental watering – that’s water in addition to what nature provides – buy an inexpensive rain gauge and monitor the rainfall quantity. Recently planted perennials, trees, shrubs, and annuals especially need 1 inch of rain each week. If it rains less than 1 inch in a week, water to help make up the difference. Check flower container gardens daily. If the top 1 to 2 inches are dry, water them until water runs out the bottom of the pot. In this hot weather, water those in sun each day. Soak hanging baskets in a tub if they have dried out.
Thanks for asking a (local) master gardener, R.O.
Have a gardening dilemma? Please send questions, along with your name/initials and community, to the Western Massachusetts Master Gardener Association at AskAMasterGardener@wmmga.org. One question will be answered per week. wmmga.org