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Dig In: Garden checklist for week of June 9


Straw mulch retains soil moisture and keeps roots cool during hot weather. (Photos: Kathy Morrison)
Help your garden cope with triple-digit heat



The heat is on! After several days of relatively mild temperatures, triple-digit highs are in the immediate forecast – about 15 degrees above normal for mid-June.

Is your garden ready?

Help your tomatoes and other veggies cope with these tips:

* Generally, tomatoes need deep watering two to three times a week, but don't let them dry out completely. That can encourage blossom-end rot. On average, each tomato plant needs about five gallons a week.


Tomato flowers may not set fruit during triple-digit days.
* One consequence of hot weather: Tomatoes may drop their flowers without setting fruit. Tomato pollen loses its fertility over 95 degrees.

* Mulch, mulch, mulch! This “blanket” keeps moisture in the soil longer and helps your plants cope during hot weather. Mulch can help reduce heat stress.

* Avoid pot “hot feet.” Place a 1-inch-thick board under container plants sitting on pavement. This little cushion helps insulate them from radiated heat.

* Feed camellias, azaleas and other acid-loving plants. Make sure to water first.

* Let the grass grow longer. Set the mower blades high to reduce stress on your lawn during summer heat. To cut down on evaporation, water your lawn deeply during the wee hours of the morning, between 2 and 8 a.m.

* From seed, plant corn, pumpkins, radishes, squash and sunflowers.

* Plant basil transplants to go with your tomatoes.

* Transplant summer annuals such as petunias, marigolds and zinnias. They’ll help attract pollinators to your summer vegetables.

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Garden Checklist for week of June 8

Get out early to enjoy those nice mornings. There’s plenty to keep gardeners busy:

* Warm weather brings rapid growth in the vegetable garden, with tomatoes and squash enjoying the heat. Deep-water, then feed with a balanced fertilizer. Bone meal or rock phosphate can spur the bloom cycle and help set fruit.

* Generally, tomatoes need deep watering two to three times a week, but don’t let them dry out completely. Inconsistent soil moisture can encourage blossom-end rot.

* It’s not too late to transplant tomatoes, peppers or eggplant.

* From seed, plant corn, melons, pumpkins, radishes, squash and sunflowers.

* Plant basil to go with your tomatoes.

* Transplant summer annuals such as petunias, marigolds and zinnias.

* It’s also a good time to transplant perennial flowers including astilbe, columbine, coneflowers, coreopsis, dahlias, rudbeckia, salvia and verbena.

* Feed camellias, azaleas and other acid-loving plants. Mulch to conserve moisture and reduce heat stress.

* Cut back Shasta daisies after flowering to encourage a second bloom in the fall.

* Trim off dead flowers from rose bushes to keep them blooming through the summer. Roses also benefit from deep watering and feeding now. A top dressing of aged compost will keep them happy. It feeds as well as keeps roots moist.

* Pinch back chrysanthemums for bushier plants with many more flowers in September.

* Tie up vines and stake tall plants such as gladiolus and lilies. That gives their heavy flowers some support.

* Dig and divide crowded bulbs after the tops have died down.

* Feed summer flowers with a slow-release fertilizer.

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