We thought it was bad enough that we were limited to a few minutes of water once or twice a week.  Now comes the notice that the Metropolitan Water District will be doing repair work on a pipeline leak from September 6-20 and requests residents in the affected areas to eliminate all outdoor watering during that time.  [For more information on who’s affected and the specific new restrictions, go to https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2022-08-15/pipeline-leak-prompts-watering-ban-in-parts-of-l-a-county] 
​     With the heat promising to continue at least another two months of blistering sun, this feels pretty desperate for our gardens.  But with my tomatoes finishing up their harvests (since I didn’t plant successive plants in May in expectation of the extreme heat now), and beans and squash and cucumbers already done some time ago, I was looking forward to preparing my soil for cool-season crops and getting seeds started.  Now with this added water ban, I will hold off on the seeds and plants but can proceed with the soil prep.
 
Holding Off On Seeds and Plants
     Between the heat probably continuing through at least October and into November (as in past years), and the complete lack of irrigation water through the end of September (and who knows what we’ll be allowed following that) – it feels unwise to start seeds or plant seedlings before mid-November (if we’re lucky) since we won’t be able to provide them with the water they’ll need to get fully established, especially during hot weather. Best to wait for cooler weather so seeds and plants will more successfully thrive.
 
Preparing Soil for Cool-Season Crops
     Because neither pulling up dead summer-bearing plants nor incorporating amendments require water, those two tasks seem to be what we can manage at this point.  This is a good thing to accomplish, especially if your summer crops seemed less than vigorous, demonstrating the need for more nutrition to break down in the soil for the new cool-season crops.
 
Plan the Layout of Your Cool-Season Garden

• Consider which new crops should follow spring and summer ones.  Follow heavy feeders with light feeders, and vice versa.
• Heavy feeders include beets, broccoli, cabbage, celery, collards, corn, cucumbers, eggplant, endive, escarole, kale, kohlrabi, lettuce, okra, parsley, pumpkins, radishes, rhubarb, spinach, squash, and tomatoes.
• Light feeders include carrots, chard, garlic, leeks, mustard, onions, parsnips, peppers, potatoes, rutabaga, shallots, sweet potatoes, and turnips.
• Some vegetables are more tolerant of salty areas in the garden. If an area has received repeated applications of manure or other concentrated fertilizers, the salt content may be high. Asparagus, beets, kale, and spinach do well under these conditions, but celery, green beans, radishes, strawberries and most fruits cannot tolerate it. Other vegetables and cantaloupes, figs, and grapes are generally of medium tolerance.

 
On the Positive Side
     This warm weather is an excellent time to make cuttings of succulents.

• Cut 3-6” sections
• Let them dry for a couple of days to form dry callouses over the cut edges
• Pot them up in potting soil or garden soil
• Water once to “melt” the soil closely around the calloused edges to foster new roots
• Place pots into filtered light (just a bit of direct sun during the day)
• Water once more before September 6
• After September 20, water them once every two or three weeks, just to barely moisten the soil.
• By late November, they should have rooted nicely and can be transplanted.

 
For more task possibilities - hedged by the heat and lack of water - see September

     It’s just too hot to plant, for both me as a person and also for the plants.  Anything over 85 degrees is too much.  For me, it’s my comfort-level cut-off point, but for the plants it bodes a struggle-to-survive issue.  Even if you enjoy working outdoors in the warmth, the plants have more important concerns like reconnecting and extending their roots into the new soil so they can absorb water and nutrients – before they keel over due to the heat even if their rootballs are kept sufficiently moistened.  For a week or two, they’re still depending on their original root systems and subject to whatever new bright sun and heat may characterize their new homes, differing from their coddling shade and everyday watering at the nursery.  This more-than-85-degree weather makes that process difficult.  So, if you can, put off the planting tasks until temperatures lower.  If you can’t put it off, then be very solicitous to prepare soil,  water well, and shelter from late-afternoon direct sun.
 
     So, what to do in the garden, instead of planting? 
 
Keep Harvesting
Continue to keep vine vegetables (especially beans, cucumbers, squash, and tomatoes) picked, whether or not you will use the harvest that day. If many fruits are allowed to overmature on the plant, production will slow and then cease because the plant “thinks” it’s accomplished its reproductive job.
 
Reinvigorate Veggies
Prune vegetable plants of their leaves that have become ragged from age, disease, or insect attacks. Then water plants well. Healthy new leaves will appear, and blossoms once the temperatures go below 85 degrees so fruit set will begin again. This is especially the case with beans, cucumbers, and squash.
 
Encourage New Strawberry Plants
Allow strawberries to root their runners after they've set their last crop. Strong new plants will be ready to transplant by October or November, which is the best time to establish new plants so plants bear well next Spring.
 
Last Fertilizing of Summer Crops
Fertilize tasseling corn and other vegetables that are setting fruit – including beans, cucumbers, eggplants, tomatoes, squash -- for increased yields. Plants appreciate this extra boost in food to use immediately in maturing their fruits. But during our extra-hot weather, be sure to water the plants well before incorporating fertilizer so it won't "burn" the roots.
 
Propagate Cuttings

• Trim and propagate some of the maturing stem cuttings of plants like brugsmania and begonia and woody herbs that are actively growing through the summer.  Prime cuttings are those that are sturdy and partly but not fully mature.  Not too tender, and not too hard.  For most plants, the best place to make the cutting is where the stem color is transitioning between the new green foliage and the tannish-brown firmer wood.
• See my 10/29/16 Propagating Begonias From Cuttings blog for specific steps to take.

 
Wait to Start Cool-Season Seeds
One thing to NOT do while it’s still so hot – consistently over 85 degrees – is to start seeds.  Hold off on starting both your first cool-season seeds and also your last crops of warm-season seeds, unless you can accomplish the task indoors in temperatures that are much lower than that.  If you tried to start them outdoors in the heat, the natural hormones in many types of seeds will result in unsuccessful germination because they’re programmed to not germinate until temperatures are more desirable.  Starting them indoors in cooler temperatures is a possibility you may want to pursue.
 
For more tasks to consider, see August Tips