Gardening: Hot weather makes for early summer chores

Hang on folks, its about to get HOT. This weekend temperatures are predicted to be north of 100 degrees and it’s not even July yet. Here are a few things to consider for the garden.

Check your water systems for leaks and plugged heads. It has been so dry this spring that there isn’t much of a soil moisture reserve to draw from. To check your soil moisture levels, dig 8- to 10-inch deep holes in several places in your garden. If the soil isn’t moist to that level, you probably need to be watering for longer periods. Watering for 30 minutes every couple of days is better than watering 15 minutes every day. Garden and shrub beds need deeper watering than lawns.

For some reason, last winter’s winter wreaked havoc on sprinkler systems. Mine didn’t get blown out early enough and we lost a pipe in the manifold box. Then both of our timers failed. Add to that a few plugged microspray heads and a few hundred dollars we are just now getting our systems up and running. If you call a sprinkler repair company now, be prepared to wait.

The early heat has jump-started the weeds and they are taking over gardens quickly. They are easy to pull right now so get out there in the cool mornings or evenings and get them pulled. Mulch the area immediately with a 2- or 3-inch layer of shredded leaves or pine needles or untreated grass clippings. If you do this now, you won’t have to worry about weeding the rest of the summer. In addition, the mulch will slow evaporation from the soil which will help your watering schedule.

Most of the spring and early summer flowering perennials have finished flowering and it’s time to finish deadheading iris, bulbs, early peonies, bergenia and brunnera. Leave the bulb foliage in place for a few more weeks to help the bulbs build their flowering reserves for next spring. Give perennials a light dose of a low nitrogen fertilizer for their summer growth.

Roses are blooming earlier than usual this year according to the Spokane Rose Society and that means deadheading should be at the top of the garden project list. The varieties that bloom once a year will need to be deadheaded and lightly cleaned up. Tea roses that bloom through the summer will need to be deadheaded regularly to encourage reblooming. Apply a good quality rose fertilizer according to label instructions until early August. Water roses deeply as it gets hot.

Now for some fun. Gardening has been the go-to hobby for the last year and I’d like to see some of your garden projects. So, send me no more than three pictures of your garden and a short description of your project and I’ll start featuring some of them through the rest of the summer. I’ll make a visit to your garden with a photographer, and you get bragging rights for your garden gracing these pages. My email is pat@inlandnwgardening.com.