With our 90+ degree days becoming more plentiful, paired with fewer inches of winter rains and more expensive water prices, I’ve reduced the amount of gardening I initiate during the summer.  
         Whereas I used to plant second or third batches of tomatoes and beans and cukes and squashes in late June, since our droughty weather for the last 6 or so years, I’ve given up adding anything new now that July is here.  
     The June-planted and sown veggies barely survived in the last several years, much less thrived.  And last year’s couple of 116-degree days wiped out several tomato plants and fruit trees, despite my heavy irrigating and mulching.      
     So what to do in the garden, especially now that I don’t thrive in the heat or bright sun anymore, so my gardening time is an hour or two after 6pm when the sun has crested the hill to my south, and my garden is in shade.  Very pleasant time to be outdoors! And this is just enough time to do any of a selection of activities before my arthritis decides that I’ve done enough for the evening.
 
     Here’re some of my projects.

Trimming Roses.
     The first flush of blooms has finished, so I've trimmed the long branches back to an out-facing leaf to encourage more new shoots and flowers to develop.
 
Repotting My Succulent Collection.  
     I’ve loved cleaning off root zones of old potting soil (saving it for the compost pile layers on top of the green stuff before layering the brown stuff), matching colors and textures and sizes with decorative pots that I’ve collected over the years, and placing them back on my sunny concrete growing area where I can enjoy them from my computer.
     As a side benefit, I’ve ended up with many babies that I’ve either included with the repotted mother plants or potted up separately for sharing later whenever we gardeners can gather again. 
     I must admit that this time around with repotting, I’ve gotten rid of almost all of the prickly ones – they’ve just grown too large to handle easily without getting stabbed, so I’ve passed them along to other gardeners.
     It’ll be another five years or so before the collection grows too much like a jungle again and so I’ll have to repot them.  In the meantime, the plants are enjoying their increased root space and new neighbors!  And I'm loving seeing them thrive and as each comes into bloom.
 
Watering Tomato Plants
     I water my tomatoes using two methods which keep plants happy even during a week or more of 95+ air temperatures before needing to be watered again:
1.  Directly into the sunken basin where they were planted so the water sinks directly down around the root system which grows straight down following the water.  I do have to pull out some of the soil mix that’s “melted” down next to the base of the plants every other time I water, to form a larger basin that will hold more water.  Even when this reveals some of the roots, the next watering will "melt" more of the soil to cover those roots.
​2.  Into the 5-gallon plastic nursery pots that are buried almost up to their rims, allowing the water to release out at the bottom into the soil a good foot down, directly to the root system.   
      While the hose is placed in the nursery pots, I use the couple of minutes that it takes to fill them with water to tuck tomato branches under the rungs of the tomato cages.  This is best done before watering, when the branches are somewhat limp and can be wrangled under the cage rungs.  If I attempt to do this the next day, when the plants are again turgid from the day-before’s watering, the branches tend to break more, especially when they're long and don't bend easily.
     And as of July 1, we’ve begun harvesting – 20 Sungold tomatoes and 3 Celebrity tomatoes.  Finally!
 
Watering and Sowing More Squash Plants
     We’ve been enjoying crookneck squashes for more than a month from the first batch of seeds that I’d sown back in March, with continued watering both at the soil level and in the buried 5-gallon nursery pots between plants that releases the water directly in the deep rootzone.  But, now the harvest from this first planting is slowing down.
     Coming into bearing just in time is the second batch of seeds that I’d sown when the first batch started bearing, so this seems to be good timing to have consecutive bearing without much overlap of too many squashes. 
     Now I’ll sow another batch of seeds.  We’ll see whether they germinate and then thrive and bear in another couple months of this hot summer weather.
 
Watering Fig Trees
     Following those extremely droughty years and loss of several stone-fruit trees, last year I concentrated on planting more varieties of fig trees.  We now have Celeste, Conadria, Kadota, Mission, Panache/Tiger Stripe, Peter’s Honey, Texas Everbearing, Violette de Bordeaux, and an unknown variety from a cutting from a friend’s tree.  
​     We love figs, they produce well even with minimal attention to watering, and each of the varieties bears at a slightly different time and with a distinct flavor, so we’re looking forward to a nice selection of yummies!

​For other July garden task possibilities, see July.   

Despite our best efforts, sometimes bad things happen to our prized tomato plants.  Here's a list of tomato problems and solutions that I've compiled from a variety of sources including the University of California Cooperative Extension, California Department of Agriculture, United States Department of Agriculture, Rodale Press, University of Wisconsin Cooperative Extension, and Washington State Cooperative Extension.
 
YOUNG PLANTS

Symptom:  Wilting and falling over at soil line.
Problem:   Damping off fungus.
Solution:  Use clean soil.  Provide warm, well-drained seedbeds, control excess moisture.

Symptom:  Cut off near soil line.
Problem:  Cutworms or darkling ground beetles.
Solution:  Protect  transplants  with can or paper tubes reaching one inch below  and above soil surface.   Spray with Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt).  At end of season, clean the area to discourage the cutworm from laying its eggs.
 
GENERAL PLANT GROWTH

Symptom:  Tops become weak,  pale, dwarfed, wilt easily, and die prematurely.  Yield is lessened.  Swelling on roots becoming distorted, enlarged, and decayed.
Problem:  Root knot nematode.
Solution:  Plant resistant varieties.   Interplant with marigolds (especially dwarfs) or where marigolds were grown and dug into the soil.
 
Symptom:  Sudden wilting of plant and rapid rotting of roots.
Problem:  Phytophthora  root  rot brought on by excessive watering  and  lack  of drainage.
Solution:  Correct irrigation techniques.
 
Symptom:   Deformed growth or wilt.
Problem:  Numerous  insects sucking sap.   Aphids found on undersides of  leaves  or clustered on new growth.   Whitefly larvae on underside of leaves,  adults fly up when foliage is disturbed.
Solution:  A few insects won't hurt production.  Crush them onto leaves or stem.  Spray with soapy water.  Natural enemies of aphids include ladybug larvae and adults, syrphid fly larvae, lacewing larvae, and parasitic wasps.
 
Symptom:  Slow growth. Leaves paling from top of plant down.  Leaves small and thin, with purple veins.    Stems yellow and rigid.  Flower buds yellow and drop off.
Problem:  Nitrogen deficiency.
Solution:  Apply nitrogen and compost.
 
Symptom:  Slow growth.   Plants tinged purple.   Leaves small and fibrous.   Delayed fruit set.
Problem:  Phosphorous deficiency. 
Solution:  Apply bone meal at planting time, and sidedress six weeks later.
 
Symptom:  Brittle young leaves that curl up and turn yellow away from stems.   Green border on yellowed leaves.
Problem:  Magnesium deficiency.
Solution:  Incorporate dolomitic limestone or a handful of Epsom salts at planting time.
 
Symptom:  Blackened  areas  at growing tip of stunted stem.   Terminal shoots  curl, yellow, and die.
Problem:   Boron deficiency.
Solution:  Apply one teaspoon of borax around base of plant and water in.
 
Symptom:   Yellowed leaves with green veins.
Problem:   Iron deficiency.
Solution:  Add acidic supplement such as leaf mold or manure.
 
Symptom:  Stunted shoot growth,  poor root development, bluish green foliage, leaves flabby and curled upward.  Few or no blossoms.
Problem:  Copper deficiency.
Solution:  Apply manure.
 
Symptom:  Small,  narrow  leaves colored yellow between veins and mottled with  dead areas.  Stems may crack.
Problem:  Zinc deficiency.
Solution:  Apply manure.
 
Symptom:  Very slow growth.   Yellowed areas between veins on leaves.  Few blos­soms, no fruit.
Problem:  Manganese deficiency.
Solution:  Apply manure.
 
LEAVES

Symptom:  Roll upward and are firm and leathery,  but with no yellowing or stunting.  Leaves on the sunny side of staked plants may often curl,  while those  on the shady side do not.
Problem:  Common growth, no harm to plant development or fruit production.  Too much leaf pruning, sucker removal, or overly wet soil may pro­mote.
Solution:  Plant on well-drained soil.   Do not cultivate deeply near the plants, and avoid extremely close pruning.
 
Symptom:  Roll upward and twist, become stiff and leathery, yellowed, stunted. Veins on underside turn purple.
Problem:  Curly top, western yellow blight.  Transmitted by leafhopper from weeds.
Solution:  Use resistant varieties.  Destroy infected plants. 
 
Symptom:  Yellow and green mottling,  crinkled,  and smaller than normal, shoestring appearance.
Problem:  Mosaic  viruses.   Transmitted from weeds and  flowers,  aphids,  cucumber beetles.
Solution:  Wash  hands with soap and water before handling plants.   Do not smoke  or handle  tobacco  before  or while handling  plants.   Remove  and  destroy infected plants.
 
Symptom:  Numerous  small dark brown circular spots on young leaves, becoming bronzed and withered;  older foliage is yellowed.   Dark brown spots or streaks on stems near tips.
Problem:  Spotted wilt.  Spread by thrips from weeds and ornamentals.
Solution:  Keep separate from vulnerable vegetables like lettuce,  celery,  spinach, peppers, and potatoes. 
 
Symptom:  Yellowing,  wilting,  dying  of lower leaves progressively up  the  plant.  Initially,  often  affects only one side of the plant.   Brown streaks  in tissue  of  lower  stem when split lengthwise.   Produce few  fruit  which usually decay and drop before ripening.
Problem:  Verticillium or fusarium wilts.
Solution:  Plant  resistant  varieties.   Use clean  soil.   Avoid  areas  previously planted with toma­toes, peppers, eggplant, potatoes, or cucurbits.  Destroy infected plants.
 
Symptom:  Distorted,  cupped,  or curled,  ragged at edges, curved downward.  Light-colored veins appear parallel.
Problem:  Hormone-type herbicides.
Solution:  Use extreme care when using herbicides.   Plants may outgrow damage if given good cultural care.
 
Symptom:  Irregular greenish-black water-soaked patches on older leaves which enlarge and may show a white, downy growth on surface.  Fruits develop gray, green spot which becomes brown and wrinkled or corrugated; may become mushy.
Problem:  Late blight fungus.
Solution:  Prevalent in mild, moist weather.  Hot, dry weather will slow or stop advance of disease.
 
Symptom:  Dark areas of dead tissue surrounded by yellow on oldest leaves.
Problem:  Anthracnose, a soil-borne fungus disease.
Solution:  Avoid  handling wet plants or planting in poorly-drained soil.   Rotate to new  soil each year.   Remove and destroy infected plants or  plant  parts after harvest.
 
Symptom:  Many  tiny round holes,  leaves may be so riddled that they turn brown and wilt.
Problem:  Flea beetles.
Solution:  A  few holes are not damaging.   Most damage occurs during the first  warm weather of spring, when plants are small.  Apply garlic spray.
 
Symptom:  Eaten or chewed, partially or entirely.
Problem:  Hornworm.
Solution:  If  the  worm is carrying white pupae,  let it be -- it's the victim  of  a parasitic  braconid  wasp  and should be left to nurture a  new  brood  of beneficials.   Remove worms by hand and destroy (sprinkling water on plant will make them wriggle, making them more visible and easy to pick).  Spray with Bt.  Release  trichogramma wasps.  
 
Symptom:  Greasy appearance becoming bronzed and stippled, webbing and "moving dust" on  undersides of leaves or in leaf axils.   Plant appears to dry out from the ground up.  Leaves turn brown and paper-like but do not wilt.
Problem:  Mites.
Solution:  Thrive in hot,  dry weather.  Wash  down plant, especially undersides of leaves.  Use garden  sulfur according to label directions.
 
BLOSSOMS

Symptom:  Lush foliage, but no blossoms and few fruit.
Problem:  Too much nitrogen.
Solution:  Incorporate a balanced fertilizer at planting time.   Do  not  feed  more nitrogen during growing season.
 
Symptom:  Blossom drop.
Problem:  Plant  is  stressed  due to cool night temperatures (below  58 degrees)  or  high daytime temperatures (over 90 degrees),  unusually heavy fruit set, lack of moisture,  poor soil fertility,  too much shade,  certain diseases,  exces­sive nitrogen  ferti­lizer,  insufficient potassium or phosphorous,  or an aphid infestation.
Solution:  Plant in full sun.   Large-sized fruit varieties are very susceptible where summers are hot and  dry.  Choose varieties which produce  small or medium-sized fruits.  Cherry  tomatoes  tolerate  cooler weather and set fruit better  when  air temperatures are in the low 50's.  Blossom set will resume approximately seven  to ten days after temperatures return to cooler  levels.   Readjust irrigation schedule.  Natural enemies of aphids include ladybug larvae and adults, syrphid fly larvae, lacewing larvae, and parasitic wasps.
 
FRUIT

Symptom:  Light-colored cloudy spots with pithy or corky areas just below the skin.
Problem:  Stink bug punctures.
Solution:  Remove  by hand and destroy.   Spray with insecticidal  soap.   Keep  down weedy areas if bugs have been persistent.  Plant smaller sections of crop, rather than large areas.
 
Symptom:  Hole at stem end and fruit hollowed out.
Problem:   Tomato fruitworm.
Solution:  Remove  by  hand  and destroy.   Spray with Bt or  onion/garlic  solution.  Release trichogramma wasps.  After harvest, turn soil to kill pupae.
 
Symptom:  Large holes or completely hollowed out.
Problem:   Slugs.
Solution:  Stake  tomatoes and place mulch or boards under fruit to get them off  the soil.  Harvest frequently.
 
Symptom:  Hollow fruit.
Problem:  Poor pollination caused by low light (dark,  cloudy days), too much nitro­gen,  heavy rainfall,  temperatures that are too high (over 90 degrees) or too low (below 58 degrees), or too much hormone fruit-set spray. 
Solution:  Set  tomatoes  out later in season and modify  environment  with  hotcaps.  Shade in hot weather.  Use less fruit-set spray.
 
Symptom:  Cracks--concentric circles around stem or in lines radiating from center.
Problem:  Sudden, rapid growth during high temperatures (over 90 degrees) and high rain­fall or  heavy irrigation,  especially after a dry spell.   Ripening fruit  and fruit exposed to the sun are most affected.
Solution:  Plant  less-susceptible  varieties.   Keep soil evenly moist  with  proper watering  techniques and mulches.   Do not remove leaves from plants.   Do not irrigate just before harvest.
 
Symptom:  Black mold along growth cracks.
Problem:  Damaged, cracked tissue developing under warm, moist conditions.
Solution:  Prevent fruit cracking (see above).  Handle fruit carefully.
 
Symptom:  Misshapen fruit but with no scars.
Problem:  Inadequate moisture, fruit confined in foliage.
Solution:  Water deeply and more frequently,  especially during hot spells.   Provide trellising, free fruits from binding.
 
Symptom:  Catfacing -- misshapen,  puckered,  swollen areas; cavities lined with scar tissue.    
Problem:  Incomplete pollination due to 1) weather being too cool or hot, 2) bees not being available,  or  3) overhead irrigation during blossoming that makes blossom cling to itself, resulting in abnormal shaping of the fruit.  Common on early fruit of varieties that produce large-size fruit. 
Solution:  Plant less-susceptible varieties,  including those bearing smaller  fruit.  Encourage bee activity.  Irrigate under foliage.
 
Symptom:  Circular sunken spots on skin which enlarge and darken.
Problem:  Anthracnose.
Solution: Plant  in well-drained soil.   Destroy plants and fruits (don’t compost).
 
Symptom:  Blossom-end  rot – water-soaked  area  on blossom end  which  darkens  and becomes larger, sun­ken, and leathery.
Problem:  Related  to lack of calcium due to  lack of water when plants  have  grown rapidly  during the early part of the season and then are subjected to hot dry  weather when the fruits are in an early stage of  development.   More severe in sandy soils and soils with a high salt content.
Solution:  Plant  less-susceptible  varieties.   Refrain from planting in  very  cool soils.   Calcium is not available to plants at a low soil pH, so incorpor­ate dolomitic limestone at time of transplanting.   The finer the grade of limestone, the faster it breaks down in the soil, and the sooner it raises the  pH and enables the calcium to be utilized.   Keep soil  evenly  moist with  more thorough irrigation.   Stake tomatoes or mulch beneath them  to get fruit off ground.
 
Symptom:  Brown, slightly sunken spots which enlarge, dar­ken, and break open.
Problem:  Soil rot fungus  where fruit are allowed to lie on the soil or are repeat­edly splashed by rain or over­head irrigation.
Solution:  Plant in well-drained soil, stake tomatoes, and mulch beneath them.
 
Symptom:  White or yellow patches on parts of green or ripening fruit which face the sun;  become  blisterlike and form large,  flattened,  grayish-white areas with a dry paperlike surface.
Problem:  Sunscald,  most  frequent during hot dry weather and on plants which  have lost foliage from pruning or disease.
Solution:  Some  varieties  with  little foliage are more tender  and  sunscald  more easily.   Do not remove leaves from plants.  Where fruits are exposed, put a light covering over the clusters to diffuse the direct sunlight.
 

     Tomatoes are blossoming and setting fruit, as are squash and beans and peppers, persimmons, tangerines, oranges and grapefruits; plums and nectarines and peaches and figs are ripening.  The boysenberries are finishing.  The short-fruit (1 inch) mulberries are done fruiting, and I’ve pruned back the branches, but the longer-fruit (3 inch) Pakistan are just turning color. 
 
Tomatoes
     Plants are big and bushy, filling their cages, which proves that they have more than enough nitrogen in the soil.  But they’re also loaded with blossoms and some already-set fruit – especially the cherry tomatoes – so they also have enough phosphorus and potash and micronutrients; and have been well-watered to keep them growing well.
     As our hot temperatures start being consistent, be sure to keep tabs on your deep watering of all of your vegetables, especially for tomatoes.  If you allow too many days between watering deeply, the plant roots will be unable to satisfy the vigorous growth of the plant, and the outermost cells of the plant – the fruits – will die back, creating the dark leathery “blossom end rot”.  This is your cue to water deeply immediately.  You should also remove the affected fruit, so the plant’s energy can transfer to another fruit to ripen it instead.  If the affected fruit is nearly ripe, just cut off the leathery part and eat the still-good part.
 
Squash
     My first batch of yellow-crookneck squash continues to bear, although some of the fruits shrivel and die because they weren’t pollinated; but almost-too-many more get to harvestable size so I have more than enough to eat and supply our neighbors.  Which is good, because my second batch of squash plants that I’d seeded when the first batch started bearing are almost ready to start bearing themselves.  Next year, I’ll allow 3 weeks instead of 2 weeks between new sets of seedings so I don’t have this too-much-squash overlap. 
 
Grapes
     My grape vines that I’d rooted from cuttings 2 years ago are blossoming and setting fruit, so of course I’m visiting them every day and urging them on.  I’ve been amazed at how much new foliage has developed and consider this a two-fold blessing – it shades the grape clusters from too much direct sun, and (perhaps more importantly) shields them from marauding birds and squirrels and whatever other critters might be interested. 
     I’m assuming that if they can’t see the fruit, they won’t know it’s there – we’ll see whether this actually bears out.
     Expect the individual grapes to be smaller than any that you purchase commercially, since those are treated with hormones to make them larger and more marketable.
  I remember reading a tip years ago that recommended trimming out half of the fruit clusters so the remaining berries could utilize all the plant’s energy to grow even larger.  I haven’t had to do this yet because only about half of the blossoms have set fruit, and the berries are pretty well spread out, with lots of space between each one. 
     So I also won’t have to deal with any rot setting in because the little grapes still have so much “breathing” space around them. And, I don’t overhead water so theoretically no moisture will settle between the berries to cause rot problems.
     I’ve debated whether to trim some of the foliage stringers so the energy will redirect back into the fruit clusters.  I’ll remove some of the longer vines, especially those that I’ll want to remove later in the year in anticipation of harder pruning back.
     Lastly, hold back on watering your grapes for the last 2-3 weeks before harvesting the clusters, so the sweet flavors are concentrated instead of "watered down" due to continued irrigation.

More June Tips

​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.

     Like our last couple of years, we continue to have a stretched-out Spring, with cool temperatures that give us an extended length of time to plant cool-weather-loving vegetables and flowers and vines and trees. 
     Unlike past years, this year’s COVID-19 directives are for staying safe at home and avoiding travel to nonessential destinations. 
     Although many plant nurseries remain open as essential, their online-ordering and curb-pick-up procedures preclude the recreational shopping value that I always look forward to – traveling far and wide to nurseries throughout Southern California, wandering through the nurseries seeing what’s available (especially those items I wouldn’t ordinarily have thought of), choosing the exact plants that I want, and visiting with the staff and other customers. 
     Ah, how our lives change in unforeseen ways!
 
Here are some of my favorite nurseries and botanic gardens that are still open to some degree. Be sure to check their websites before venturing out, however, in case another last-minute change has been made.
 
Nurseries Open With Limited Hours

• Bellefontaine Nursery, Pasadena -- www.bellefontainenursery.com/
• Lincoln Avenue Nursery, Pasadena --http://www.lincolnavenuenursery.com/
• San Gabriel Nursery, San Gabriel -- http://sgnurserynews.com/

              
Nurseries Open for Online Ordering and Curb Pickup

• Armstrong Nurseries -- Anaheim, Claremont, Costa Mesa, Del Mar, Encinitas, Glendora, Huntington Beach, Irvine, La Canada-Flintridge, La Crescenta, Laguna Niguel, La Habra, Long Beach, Mission Valley, Monrovia, Morena, Newport Beach, Pasadena, Rancho Penasquitos, San Juan Capistrano, Santa Monica, Sherman Oaks, Temecula, Thousand Oaks, Torrance, Tustin, Westchester -- www.ArmstrongGarden.com/
• Artemisia Nursery, Northeast Los Angeles by Cal State LA -- https://www.artemisianursery.com/
• California Botanic Garden, Claremont -– www.calbg.org/
• Fig Nursery, Northeast Los Angeles by Highland Park -– www.figearthsupply.com/
• Two Dog Nursery, Central Los Angeles by Larchmont -– www.twodognursery.com  
• Sunset Boulevard Nursery, Echo Park -–  www.sunsetblvdnursery.com/
• Theodore Payne Foundation, Sun Valley -– www.theodorepayne.org
• Tomatomania plants
  • Otto & Sons, Fillmore -- www.shopottoandsons.com
  • Underwood Family Farms, Moorpark -- https://underwoodfamilyfarms.com/moorpark/
  • Somis Farmers Market  -- https://underwoodfamilyfarms.com/somis-farm-market/

 
Botanic Garden Open for Walking Only (no other services)

• Arlington Garden, Pasadena -– www.arlingtongardenpasadena.com/
• Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Garden, Arcadia -– www.arboretum.org/

 
Sharing Your Seedlings, Cuttings and Other Plants
     If you started a batch of seeds before we knew about this COVID-19 business, and now you have billions of seedlings ready for transplanting but can’t drive around sharing them at your garden meetings, here’s a thought:  Put them on your curb so passersby can take them. 
     I suggest that you add a “FREE” sign, label each plant, and provide your name and email address or phone number so takers unfamiliar with gardening or those particular plants can contact you to discuss how to grow them. 
     Might I also suggest that you recommend my www.GardeningInLA.net website so they can become more familiar with gardening in general.   
     This way, we’ll “grow” our neighborhoods one plant at a time!

For more garden tasks, see April.

     March has certainly turned out to be magnificent in the amount of rain we’ve received, making our gardens stand up tall and perky.  Wonderful harvests of bok choy, chard, cilantro, kale, assorted greens, lettuce, parsley, first peas, and spinach make for fantastic salads, soups, stews, stir-fries and whatever other methods of preparation we can imagine!  And, more rain is promised for next week along with continuing cool temperatures. 
     The timings between rains have been especially effective – slight droplets, heavy downpour, light again, and then several days of no rain – enabling the soil to fully absorb the moisture as a marvelous resource for later this summer.
     My Meiwa kumquat even had too much rain, splitting its skin because the cells of the interior flesh expanded more quickly than the cells of the skin.  This is the tell-tale sign of too much water, whether now because of rain or later if we irrigate using too much water after a dry spell.  While it’s generally better to water less frequently and deeply, the splitting is the result of too much of a good thing (water), so adjust your watering pattern to a bit more frequently.
 
Transplanting Tomato Technique
     I’ve developed a technique for transplanting tomato seedlings that may appear to be drastic, but I assure you that it results in healthier root development of the plant and consequently more color and food.  Instead of digging a hole barely larger than the size of the rootball and then setting the rootball into the hole and watering it in, my technique is much more extensive and fosters lots of new root growth and access to more soil nutrition and water.
Here are the steps:

1. Dig a hole one foot wide and about 9 inches deep, preferably in soil that you’ve already incorporated manure, compost, and perhaps some coffee grounds.
2. Water the tomato seedling in its pot so the soil mix is thoroughly moist.
3. Upturn the container, bracing the tomato stem with your fingers, so it gently falls out of the pot into your hand.
4. Turn the plant upright, and gently massage the potting soil out of the rootball, letting it fall into the hole you dug.
5. Shake the plant in the hole to remove any more of the potting soil than has naturally fallen off.
6. If there’s a plentiful amount of roots hanging down about three inches, rip off any excess below that and toss it into the hole.  You want the plant to have only that nice clump of roots that will easily reach out into the soil.  Any stragglers hanging down further will crumple when you transplant it and have a hard time untangling before they can reach out into the soil.
7. Mix the loose potting soil mix from the rootball and the soil from the hole so it combines together to be a “half-way” mixture of what the plant roots originally grew in and the new soil that you want them to grow into.
8. Scoop out about half of the “half-way” mixture to the sides of the hole.
9. With one hand, let the tomato plant hang into the hole with the roots barely touching the bottom of the hole.
10. With the other hand, scoop the “half-way” mix around the rootball and up a couple of nodes (the joints where some leaves emerge) until the plant almost stands upright by itself.
11. With finger tips and thumb only (not your whole palm or hand), puncture the soil mix around the plant to stablilize it.  Don’t mash the woil in the hole, or you’ll compress it too much.
12. Rearrange remaining “half-way” soil mix into a berm about 6 inches away from the plant stem.  This will be the watering hole for the plant.
13. Water three times:  Fill the hole once, again when it sinks in, and a third time (it’ll sink more slowly this last time).  This makes sure that the entire rootball and surrounding soil is thoroughly moist so roots are in direct contact with the bits of soil and tiny air pores.
14. Repeat this 3-times watering the next day.
15. Place your trellis or cage over the plant and stabilize it with a pole.
16. In a week or so of dry weather, fill the berm with water again.
17. Then, water as dictated by the weather.  A moisture meter  probe (about $9 at Home Depot) will help you determine how frequently to water.

 
When Should I Let Blossoms Set?

1. As the plant grows, remove any blossoms that set.  You want all the plant’s energy to go into developing its new root system, not side-tracking it into developing fruit.
2. When the plant foliage reaches the second rung of the tomato trellis or cage – about 2 feet tall – then you can let blossoms set.  By this time, the plant has established its extensive root system so you can afford to let some of the hormones shift to blossoming and fruiting.
3. When the plant foliage reaches about 3 feet tall, toss a handful of fertilizer (I prefer EB Stone or Whitney Farms) into the watering hole of each plant, and water it in.  You want to provide this additional fertilizer at this time because the blossoming-and-ripening fruit stages take a lot of additional energy.

 
For more garden tips, see March and April.
​

     We are coming to our twice-yearly transition time -- March is from cool-season to warm-season, and September is from warm-season to cool-season.  So, in these two months, it's time to plant something of everything because we don't know what the weather will really do (although, of course, we know that from now on it'll get hotter, but don't know truly when).  It's worth gambling that we'll have enough time for more cool-season stuff to harvest.

If you’re just now finally thinking about getting your garden growing, here are some things to consider.  

Veggies
     Sow beets, carrots, chives, peas, peanuts, radishes, and turnips where they’ll mature.
     Transplant artichoke, asparagus, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, celery, chard, cilantro, jerusalem artichokes, kale, kohlrabi, lavender, leeks, lettuces, marjoram, green onions, bulb onions, oregano, parsley, potatoes, rhubarb, rosemary, sage, shallots, spinaches, strawberries, thyme and turnips.  
     Our evenings are still too cool to take a chance on transplanting basil, cucumber, eggplant, melons, peppers, or squashes.  Even if transplants survive, their growth will be stunted and never really thrive.  Instead, wait at least another month, and the little plants will vigorously make up for lost time.
     Plant mint and tarragon in their own containers, as their roots are very vigorous and will take over garden space.
    For an attractive array of lettuce flavors, textures, and colors, choose varieties from as many as you can find--dark greens, light greens, reds, bronzes; butterhead, looseleaf, romaine, and crisphead.  Replant every three weeks for continuous harvests of young, sweet succulent leaves and heads. Choose varieties that are heat-resistant, bolt-resistant, and less likely to turn bitter when they mature during hot weather.
     Soaking seeds prior to planting--or planting seeds in soil that is too wet--may do more harm than good. When seeds take up water too quickly, their outer coverings cracks. This allows nutrients to leak out, and disease organisms to enter. Beans are especially prone to this problem.
     Be gentle with all seedlings.  Handle the little plants by their root clumps or leaves rather than stems, and never squeeze them tightly. They will grow new leaves and roots, but can't develop new stems.
  Pluck off strawberry blooms through May--or whenever the warm weather has settled in for good--to concentrate the plant's first real burst of fruiting energy into large sweet berries rather than small tart ones. Unless, of course, you're desperately waiting for that very first berry, even if it is tart.

Droughty Landscaping
     Consider landscaping with plants that thrive under conditions of drought and neglect. Flowering annuals include alyssum, cosmos, gazania, geranium, helichrysum, marigold, morning glory, phlox, portulaca, thunbergia, verbena, vinca, and zinnia. Shrubs include Australian fuchsias, ceanothus, coffee berries, cotoneasters, pineapple guavas, manzanitas, and rockroses, and verbenas (an especially good ground cover). 
   Many beautiful flowering shrubs are naturally drought- resistant and can help birds and small animals survive next winter by providing food and habitat. Dwarf pomegranate, pyracantha, and barberry are excellent choices for fall and winter color.
    Perennials with great tolerance for drought include achillea, anaphalis, artemisia, asclepias, coreopsis, daylily, dianthus, echinopsis, eryngium, gaillardia, lavandula, potentilla, salvia, santolina, sedum sempervivum, stachys, thyme, and veronica.

Spreading The Wealth
     Divide and replant perennials that are crowded or that had sparse bloom last season. These include agapanthus, Japanese anemone, aster, coral bells, Michaelmas and Shasta daisies, daylily, fountain grass, iceplant, ivy, lantana, phlox, verbena, and yarrow. 
     Water the area the day before to ease digging up the entire root systems. When you separate the clumps, make sure each has a good portion of root system.
    Root cuttings of dianthus, dusty miller, euryops, felicia, fuchsias, geraniums, iceplant, lavenders, marguerites, mums, saxifrages, sedums, and succulents. Bury three or four nodes in soil amended with humus.

Bulbs
     Plant summer-blooming bulbs, corms, and tubers--including acidanthera, agapanthus, tuberous begonias, caladiums, calla lilies, canna lilies, dahlias, gladiolus, hemerocallis, tuberous iris, ixias, tigridias, tuberoses, and watsonias. Repeat plantings through May for continuous bloom through the summer. 
     If you still have some unplanted spring-blooming bulbs that are still firm and solid, plant them immediately in rich soil. They'll probably not bloom this year, but they'll send up foliage to develop further and then bloom next year. If not planted now, they'll shrivel away to nothing.

Watering
    Teach your plants to grow deeply for moisture. In spring, for average soils, water deeply only every two to three weeks. By the time that summer's heat arrives, plant feeder roots will be growing deeply for moisture, and the plants won't need watering more frequently than once a week during very hot spells.
  One inch of irrigated water will soak down to different depths, depending on how heavy your soil is: 12 inches deep in sandy soil, nine inches deep in loamy soil, but only three inches deep in clay soil. Plant root zones generally reach from 2 to 12 inches down. 
     Clay soil, because it is so compact, can be watered a little each day for two or three days to allow absorption down that far, rather than a lot of runoff by watering once for a long time. Clay soil will retain this moisture for a much longer period than sandy soil, which is very porous. Soil with a lot of organic matter in it is the best--it holds lots of water like a wrung-out sponge that allows air in for best plant root growth.

More Monthly Tips
For more gardening tips, see March .

     The flowering pear trees on my route to the post office started blooming three weeks ago and are now losing their last petals.  Usually – if any timing can be considered usual in the gardening world – these trees begin blooming in mid- to late-February.  So, there’re a good month ahead of themselves.  Since January and February are typically – again, that usualness – our rainiest months, perhaps we’ve be blessed with as much as we’re going to get this winter.  Either way, we may have begun our march on to warmer and dryer weather.  Consequently, our Spring garden tasks need to move into a higher gear.  Here’re some ways to proceed.
   
Harvesting
     I’m giving up the idea of transplanting the batch of cool-season bok choy and other “oriental” greens that I’d scattered and that came up months ago, in favor of harvesting them in place.   The patch looks jumbled and unruly, but of course this has no effect on the greens’ flavors.   I snip off the top several nodes’ worth of foliage, leaving the bottommost ones to develop new shoots from each of the remaining nodes. 
     Luckily, these greens continue to be sweet and tender even as they develop their flowers and put up their seed stalks – called “bolting” – so I can harvest as long as there are leaves to pick.
     The lettuces and spinaches continue growing nicely.  Hopefully the warm days but cool evenings will keep them putting out just leaves so I can continue harvesting sweetly-tasting greens for much longer.  When nighttime temperatures rise much more, they too will put up their seed stalks and turn the leaves bitter.
 
Cool-Season Seeding and Transplanting
     I’ve always found it wise to plant more of these greens, either by seeds or transplants, as my Fall-sown and -planted plants begin to bolt.   The older plants have gone through the “cold” of winter and so are bolting now.  But the newer plants will continue growing their tender leaves until the weather gets too hot and then they’ll bolt.  So, with this new group I can continue harvesting for perhaps another month or two beyond the first batch.
     But, because we don’t know what the weather will do – that part is definitely a certainty – putting in another batch of seeds and plants is a guess and hope that we’ll get enough of the new food value to have made the effort worth it.
 
Hold Off On Warm-Season Seeding and Transplanting
     Tomatoes are the ONLY – emphasis ONLY – warm-season plants that will thrive if planted now. Every other warm-season vegetable – including bean, cucumber, eggplant, melon, pumpkin and squash -- has been “forced” in warm greenhouses in the hopes of enticing eager gardeners to purchase.  Until nighttime temperatures are closer to 55 or 60 degrees, they’ll just “pout” in the soil and never really recuperate once the soil has warmed.  Better to wait a month to purchase and plant them.
 
Fruit Trees Are Blooming
     The sap has begun to move in fruit trees, pushing the buds to sprout leaves and blossoms.  Cut only branches that you really must for walking space or other reasons.
     Fig trees may have baby figs – called “bebra” crop – as well as new leaves emerging.  These are developing on last-year’s brown branch growth and will ripen in a couple of months but be a smallish crop.  The main crop will set in a couple of months on this year’s green branch growth and ripen in July and August. 
     I’d felt bad a couple of weeks ago when I trimmed a lot of long branches off of my mulberry tree, since I could already see some of the blossoms and was worried that I’d reduce my ultimate crop.  No fear, now that I see how very many ripening fruits are on the tree.  Whew!
     The same thing may occur to you as you see all the blossoms and then tiny fruits on your fruit trees.  So, don’t remove any of the blossoms – even on the clusters on apple trees – in favor of waiting until the tiny fruits are the size of a dime before you thin them.  That’s when you’ll see how many fruits you do indeed have to contend with, and how much space you need to allow each fruit to develop into full size.
 
February Garden Tasks
     For more garden tasks to consider this month, go to February Monthly Tasks.
 

With daytime temperatures in the mid-70s, nighttime temperatures in the low-50’s, sunny but low-intensity sunlight, and soil that’s thoroughly moistened but well drained from those glorious rainstorms, this is the perfect environment for planting our new gardens for spring and summer.  Seeds, seedlings, perennial vegetables, deciduous bareroot fruit trees and roses, rooting cuttings and separating divisions are all methods that are ideal to start now because the mild weather will enable them to thrive.
 
Seeds
     So many greens and other cool-season crops include broccoli, bok choy, cabbage, cauliflower, chard, chives, cilantro/coriander, kale, leeks, leaf and heading lettuces, mustards, green and bulb onions, parsley, peas, radishes, and savoy spinaches.
     Flowers to sow include alyssum, bachelor's button (cornflower), calendulas, candytuft, celosia (cockscomb), coreopsis, dianthus, four-o-clocks, hollyhocks, larkspur, lunaria (honesty, money plant, silver dollar plant), pansies, California and Iceland and Shirley poppies, salvias, snapdragons, stocks, sweet peas, sweet William, and native wildflowers.
 
Seedlings
     I always purchase whatever seedlings are in the nurseries for a 6-week jump start of the same seeds I’ll sow.  Then I’m guaranteed something to eat as early as possible from planting the purchased seedlings (usually of pretty basic varieties), and then lots more from the plants I’ve seeded (of more specialized varieties).
 
Perennial Vegetables and Fruits
     The big three perennials to establish in their own beds are artichoke, asparagus, and rhubarb.  They’re all heavy feeders, so need lots of manure and compost every year at this time.
     Other perennials to get into the ground include grapes, berry vines, and strawberries.
     Pruning cane berries gets rid of dead canes that bore last summer and then died, and energizes new canes that’ll produce on second-year wood.
     Pruning grapes limits new growth to fruiting wood, and cuttings can be rooted for plants to giveaway.
 
Deciduous Bareroot Fruit Trees and Roses
     Like seeds, planting bareroot fruit trees and roses adapt more quickly and healthfully when planted now in cool weather, catching up to and surpassing already-leafed-out plants.  So, if you have the choice of the specific varieties you want, go for the bareroot ones. 
     Pruning existing fruit trees now before they blossom out keeps their spring growth within reaching harvest height and limits the amount of fruit that’ll set to what you can manage to use, stressing the tree less so it’ll remain healthy.
     Pruning roses gets rid of twiggy branches and redirects new growth outward for a healthier plant.
 
Rooting Cuttings
     Grapes and mini-roses that are grown on their own roots are good bets for rooting to create more plants for your own garden or for friends.
 
Separating Divisions
     Dividing crowded plant root systems are another excellent way to take advantage of multiplying strong plants.  These include agapanthus, amaryllis, asters, chrysanthemums, coreopsis, daylilies, dianthus, gaillardias, gazanias, rudbeckia, statice and violets.
 
More Detailed Monthly Garden Tips
     For more info on all these topics, see January and February tips.