This is the time of peak flowers and rapidly growing veggies along with weeds and bugs.  It’s the best of gardening and time to enjoy all our work coming into fruition. We also have work to do. Regular weeding, watching for inevitable pests (bugs & critters) but also early harvests have begun, and succession plantings can start.

Weeds are simply taking advantage of our good preparations and space.  They are not really “bad” plants but are just unwanted volunteers in the wrong place.  Weeds compete with our plants for soil nutrients, water, and space so need to be controlled.  They will never be completely removed; we just do the best we can.  Remove weeds as young and small as possible. Get them by the roots to avoid regrowth and add them (without seeds) to your compost or mulch.

Harvesting is the satisfying part of gardening.  Garlic scapes were clipped off in June to eat  and promote larger bulbs and now we need to enjoy the salad greens, lettuces, radishes, kale, early broccoli, herbs, and flowers. As plants are harvested (or lost to pests and age) new space becomes available for replanting.

Succession planting is simply re-planting to replace one that finished so we can make full use of our space over time.  We have a very limited growing season, but you can still get multiple harvests of certain fast-growing plants if you time them right.  For example, if you plant leaf lettuce or mesclun seeds every week you should harvest fresh greens every week all summer and into the fall.  I’ve found that a short row (3-4 ft. long) of different salad greens every week produces a good supply for fresh salads into November.  If you lose a plant or two to pests, breakage, or harvest, it’s easy to put in a quick growing replacement like a few radishes, lettuce, beets, spinach, etc.

Late crops of carrots, turnips and beets can also follow (in the same place) the harvests of early salad greens.  After the garlic is harvested in late July there is time to plant fall broccoli and cauliflower plants started from seeds before 4^th of July in that emptied place.

Bush beans planted every 2 weeks provide a good extension of harvests too. Too much zucchini is a common problem, but if you plant one hill of 3-4 plants now and another hill in early July that will spread the harvest out so it can be enjoyed over time. The same works for herbs such as dill and cilantro that tend to mature early before we can use them in pickles and salsas. There’s some very good information and specific planting recommendation online here. 

Pest Alerts.  The earlier dry weather limited outbreaks of slugs & snails and most plant diseases but recent rain showers are bringing them out.  Preventative applications of an iron phosphate product (Sluggo, etc.) will reduce surprise damage to flowers and vegetables.  Keep a close eye on potatoes and beans for pests that can be hand removed before they get too far along.

Natural controls for many pests include lady beetles and wasps that we should always protect and encourage with small blossom flowers.  Birds are constantly foraging for insects and are a major pest controller. Small numbers of bugs can be finger squished, or sprayed with insecticidal soap or neem oil, if you prefer.

Lawn thoughts.  If your higher mowing is working, you might notice more white clover blossoms appearing. Good for bees, good for the soil (clover adds Nitrogen), and good for you!  Avoid mowing the clover blossoms once or twice and there will be free seeds to spread that clover even more.  Clover seeds can be purchased too, and the benefits are significant.  Excess grass clippings after delayed mowing (my favorite practice!) and drying makes excellent garden mulch and a great compost ingredient.

Questions or suggestions?  Contact Jim at Mounthollygardener@gmail.com