Planting & Sowing:
The heat of the summer is approaching, bringing with it plenty of vibrant color for the garden! Choose from long blooming perennial favorites like echinaceas, salvias, rudbeckias, shasta daisies and more to keep the garden blooming with color all summer long. We’ve also got a great selection of gallon annuals, perfect for summer color and visits from butterflies and hummingbirds! Right now is an excellent time to sow buckwheat as a cover crop, as well as perennial flowers and herbs that prefer warm germination temperatures (for example, chives).
It’s a great time to start planning and planting your fall & overwintering vegetables: broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, lettuces, kales, and more. Fresh selection is arriving every week! Come visit us soon to see our selection of veggies, herbs, and shrubs! Check out this handy list of what can be planted right now.
We’ve got a great selection of culinary herbs for planting- learn more about how to plant and grow Healthy Herbs!
Fertilizing:
Grow your best summer veggies! This time of year, plants like cucurbits (members of the gourd family such as melon, pumpkin, squash, and cucumber) could use a little nitrogen and potassium boost to ensure healthy supportive plant growth after flowering. While growth studies show that phosphorus is important for flowering and fruiting, it’s most effective when applied before planting.
Prevention & Maintenance:
Keep your fruit trees healthy and free from pests and disease with this Month to Month Schedule. Consider cultural controls first, then physical and biological controls. Choose the least toxic options such as (insecticidal soaps, horticultural oils, botanical insecticides, organic & synthetic pesticides) and use them judiciously.
Growing tomatoes? Ensure they are trellised properly to support the fruit. Check out information on Growing Tomatoes for tips on harvesting, and some common problems to keep an eye out for.
Pests:
Now that you’ve got all your plants in the ground and growing, you aren’t the only one dreaming of a feast! These common pests can really discourage your best efforts in the garden. Learn how to identify, prevent, and manage them. A great way to prevent and treat pests in the garden is to encourage beneficial insects.
If you’ve got berries ripening on the vine, consider protecting them with bird netting so hungry birds don’t devour your entire crop!
Waterwise Gardening Tips:
Placing mulch around the base of your plants can help with reducing water evaporation. Always be sure to water down at the soil level rather than overhead so you can get right to the plant’s roots. Water deeply and infrequently. Soaker hoses are a very useful tool during the hot summer months to conserve water. There are a lot of great waterwise landscape plants that you can plant as well! Check out this great Waterwise Plant List.
Wildfire Awareness/Firescaping:
In 2020, over a half million acres of Oregon land burned due to wildfires, and every summer there are new wildfires that we both dread and come to expect. In a time of feeling powerless against natural disasters, it can be reassuring to know that we can do something to protect ourselves. One way to feel empowered is to utilize defensible space and fire mitigation practices in your landscaping. Read here to learn more about planning for fire mitigation, firescaping, and some valuable resources on this subject.
