​With our blissfully pleasant temperatures in the 70s and 80s for months on end, we can easily fall victim to assuming these ideal conditions will continue and our garden plants will be just as happy as we gardeners are.  But, given that we’re moving toward the end of May, our summer’s heat will shortly be upon us.  Unless we change our activities to match the plants’ upcoming needs, now-happy plants will become stressed-out plants. And we gardeners will be disappointed in not getting the vegetables and flowers that we'd planned on.
     The critical elements to accomplish now for summer success include planting, fertilizing, watering, and mulching.
 
Planting
     Make your choices and get them into the ground or containers by the end of this month.  They’ll need several weeks to get acclimated to their new homes and environment as they begin to make new roots to establish themselves, so hopefully blasts of summer heat will wait until the later part of June. 
      Three planting tricks will help plants get established more quickly:

1. Dig planting holes at least a foot wider and deeper than the plant containers, and massage the rootballs to loosen the existing roots and incorporate some of the planting mix into the soil.
2. Create a berm around the edge of the dug-up soil as a watering basin to direct water down to the roots.
3. Place a piece of cardboard or plastic on the south side of the plant to shade the plant from mid- to late-afternoon direct sun for at least a week, until the plant stays perky throughout the day.  

 
Fertilizing
     For tomatoes and other vegetable and berry plants that are starting to bloom,  water in a timed-release fertilizer to provide nutrition for the extra-hard work the plant will have to accomplish over the next several months of blossoming and setting and maturing fruits.  
     Ornamental plants appreciate the extra nutrition as well.
 
Watering
     Water deeply and less frequently to assure that the water sinks down to below the plants’ rootzones to keep them well-hydrated during our blasts of summer heat.  A stick or shovel inserted the day after watering will alert you to how deeply the water actually went – so you can adjust the length of time you water to make sure it goes deeply enough each time you water. 
     Depth guidelines depend on the genetics of the vegetable you’re growing.  For summer vegetables, these are:

• 1 foot deep = celery, chard, lettuce
• 2 feet deep = bean, carrot, cucumber, eggplant, pepper, squash
• 3 feet deep = melon, pumpkin, tomato

     Frequency guidelines depend on your soil, the amount of foliage, and the air temperature.

• Soil - Start with once a week for loam soil, twice a week for sandy soil, and once every two weeks for clay soil
• Foliage - More frequently for tomato plants that are 5’ tall with lots of foliage
• Temperature – More frequently when temperatures are above 95 degrees; even more when above 100 degrees.

     The problem with watering too frequently is that the water stays within the top several inches of the soil, so plant roots stay there as well.  Then, when we get our several-days-long blasts of summer heat, those top several inches of soil are too hot for the roots, and there are no roots further down in the cooler soil, so the plants stress out or actually die.
 
Mulching
     Organic mulch provides five benefits to the garden by providing shade:

1. Conserves soil moisture – irrigation water doesn’t evaporate as quickly, so roots stay hydrated.
2. Moderates soil temperature – soil doesn’t suffer swings in heat and cold and wind, so seeds and seedlings and plants can grow without these stresses.
3. Keeps weeds from germinating; any that do are easy to pull – Weed seeds that require light to germinate are foiled.  Any that do germinate grow very spindly stems up through the mulch to reach the light, so are easily removed.
4. Lessens erosion – The force of the drops of rain and irrigation is broken by hitting the mulch, and water seeps gently into the soil, so downbursts can’t sweep away bare soil.  
5. Enrichens soil nutrition and texture as the mulch decomposes and feeds beneficial microorganisms – At the junction of the mulch and the soil surface, the mulch gradually breaks down, becoming perpetually slow-release fertilizer that dissolves further into the soil.

 
For more tasks and opportunities, see May Monthly Tips

In these COVID-19 times, with Stay-At-Home mandates, lots of folks are considering gardening as a keep-from-going-crazy-with-all-this-free-time activity.  As “novel” as this activity is for them, it can be a delightful adventure for adults and kids alike, literally discovering where our food comes from and how to grow something as simple as lettuce.  And, growing it yourself makes it infinitely more exciting to eat it!  It can be as small-scale as one container on a windowsill indoors or patio outdoors, or extending to several raised beds in the yard.  So, how to get started?  

1. Where is the best soil and sun exposure? 
You can't just dig a hole, plop a plant in, and expect to get lots of flowers and fruit. If you plan to grow foliage-only plants like lettuce, cilantro, parsley, you’ll need a location that receives at least 6 hours of direct sun.  For plants that will flower and ripen fruit like tomatoes and squash, the location must receive at least 8 hours of direct sun every day since it's doing all that extra work to blossom and set and mature the fruit.

2. Soil is basic. 
Soil is the beginning, middle, and end of successful gardening. It doesn't just prop up the plants! Clay soil can be dense and full of nutrients but not well draining.  Sandy soil drains well but doesn’t have much nutrition.  Loam soil is a combination of both.  All soils can be improved by adding organic matter -- in clay soil, it provides more air pores; and in sandy soil it provides more absorption.  Dig in manure and compost to a depth of at least 12 inches.  If you have access to coffee grounds (Starbucks and Peet's, etc., may provide for free!), add them too since they offer across-the-board nutrition.

3. Grow only plants proven to do well in your micro-climate.
Whether your garden space is along the coast, inland, or in the mountains or desert, check with local nurseries and neighbors to choose varieties that will do best there. If the plant description indicates that plants should have full sun, this means different things along the coast or inland.  Along the coast, the moisture in the "marine layer" cools things down and it may frequently be foggy. Inland, plants may need some protection from the late afternoon sun beating down. 

4. Choose the healthiest plants you can find. 
Make sure that you choose types of plants according to the upcoming season – in late Spring, choose plants that want summer’s heat; in Fall, choose plants that thrive in Winter's coolness.  

5. Transplant properly.  
Ruffle the rootball slightly to loosen up the outer roots, and rough up the sides of the planting hole so roots don't meet a "brick wall." Plant most plants at the same depth that they were in their containers.  Tomatoes are the only plants that also develop "adventitious" roots all along the portion of the stem that is underground, so plant them deeply, up to the top set of leaves, to encourage an extensive root system and consequently more vigorous plant producing more food. 

6. Wait until the soil has warmed sufficiently in Spring. 
While you may want to have the first ripe tomato on the block, don't transplant summer vegetable seedlings into the ground until the soil has warmed above 60 degrees Fahrenheit. Peppers, especially, will "pout" and never really thrive when transplanted too early.  

7. Grow plants up trellises.
Trellises enable the greatest use of the soil, fertilizer, and water in your garden beds since you can grow plants more closely, with the foliage growing up instead of shading more growing space. And harvesting is much easier.  Tomatoes come in "determinant" (they grow only to a determined height, bear all their fruit and then die) or "indeterminate" (they keep growing and bearing fruit until killed by frost), so give them support as soon as you plant them, rather than waiting until they get too big and flop over. 

8.  Fertilize when planting and when blossoming.
Before transplanting, incorporate a complete slow-release fertilizer (like 5-5-5) into the root area along with manure and compost. As plants grow, use a good organic fertilizer, like fish emulsion (yes, it will be stinky for a day or two, but some new versions  don't smell so strongly). When fruiting plants like tomatoes start blooming, give them another feeding to encourage lots of blossoms and fruit. 

9. Water properly.
Watering frequency changes according to the weather.  Always water deeply to "teach" the roots to grow deeply. Then the plants will thrive during hot spells instead of dying because their roots were so close to the surface from shallow watering.  Also, plants like to have their leaves (including the undersides) rinsed every once in a while during hot weather. But, fungi and other diseases can get a good start within only six hours of wet-and-warm conditions, so make sure that foliage dries off by sunset. Soaker hoses and other "dribblers" help release water slowly so it's absorbed into the soil to keep root systems hydrated. 

10. Mulch, mulch, mulch
Keep replenishing a two-to-four-inch thick layer of organic matter on top of the soil throughout the gardening year to moderate soil temperature, hold in moisture, lessen evaporation, prevent weeds from sprouting, and ultimately break down into the soil. Smaller mulch pieces offer more protection and break down more quickly. But, for moist organic mulch like fresh grass clippings, lay down a thin layer so it doesn’t dry into an impervious layer. 

For specific month-to-month task possibilities for you and your garden, see Monthly Tips.