August
2010
Coastal California has had a cool
Summer so far in spite of last weeks heat, the coolest daytime highs in decades, much to the relief of
gardeners dreading the hot stuff. Water use is down in the gardens I
care for, I have finally adjusted the sprinkler
timers to summertime levels a month and a half later than usual. And I have installed a couple of smart
timers that monitor the weather and adjust the length of time that the
sprinklers run to the existing conditions.
We have had morning fog quite
frequently, but this last spate of hot weather had cleared up most of the
fungal issues.
Fungicides seem to be more dangerous to gardeners than they are to the
problems that they are supposed to solve. In fact most of the
fungicides seem pretty impotent and yet they are still dangerous. A
little sunlight goes a long ways and a lot further than the
chemicals. To clean up the roses I remove the blind shoots and other
internal branches. When I cut flowers and removed spent flowers at
this time of year I take long stems. This removes infected foliage
and encourages fresh new growth. Cleaning up fallen leaves under the
roses can help keep the spores of the fungus from floating back up to the
living foliage. Washing down the foliage just as the sun comes out
removes dust and the water droplets focus the sunlight killing off mildew
and rust. A fresh dose of mulch will blanket over the spores and
help reduce the water needs of the plants. Take care to keep the
mulch from stacking up against the canes.
There are loads of summer
flowers blooming. I try to plan a garden for the rest of the
seasons. Spring is easy, in fact it is difficult not to have flowers
in the Spring. Summer is harder, Fall is probably the hardest.
By Winter bulbs and deciduous trees make the show.
I have been working on a number of
hard-scape projects, pathways, planters, walls, and sprinkler
systems. It is difficult to establish plants now. The plants
are trying to set fruit and finish up the flowering for the season.
Root growth starts becoming important to plants as they prepare for the
next winter. I start planting in late September. With drought
tolerant plants in particular, providing enough water to keep them alive
and keeping them dry enough so they don't rot is just too hard, and too
many plants die.
The vegetable patch is producing
fabulously. Basil by the double fistful, pesto by the quart, squash and tomatoes,
peppers, and
eggplant. Beet greens and chard for the salad, it is too hot for
lettuce. Unless you keep it covered it just goes to seed and it gets bitter
so quickly. The fruit trees are making me smile. The Anna
Apple is wrapping up, the Dorsett Golden and Beverly Hills Apples are just
starting up. Plumcots, Burgundy Plums, Elephant Heart Plums and
Santa Rosa Plums. The Asian Pears are fantastic, though a bit prone
to fire blight. I have been making jams and ice cream.
We prepare the fruit portion of the ice cream, and pop in the freezer, 1
cup of puree per freezer baggie. This year has been fantastic for black berries. And there isn't
anything much tastier than blackberry ice cream.
Late in the month plant carrot seeds
under the tomatoes and peas for fall picking.
