The intensity of the spring season is behind us now, but there are still several things we can attend to in our gardens:

• the best time to establish a new lawn is August to mid-September.  (and coincidently, we have a Fall Lawn Care class coming up September 4th!)
• fertilize cucumbers, summer squash and broccoli to maintain production as you harvest
• mulch to protect ornamentals from drying out.  If needed for new plantings, provide temporary shade.
• make sure camellias have dep watering now to insure flower bud development next spring
• keep picking beans to keep them producing
• clean up and fertilize strawberry beds
• when harvest is over, prune raspberries, boysenberries and other cane berries
• monitor irrigation closely to be sure crops and ornamentals don’t dry out
• deep watering of lawn is more effective than frequent shallow watering
• plant winter cover crops in vacant spaces in vegetable garden
• plant cool season vegetables – kale, Brussels sprouts, peas, cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, spinach, radishes, carrots

And since our summers are so fleeting, make sure to get out and enjoy your garden every chance you get!

Frankly, January is a pretty good month to stay inside and read a gardening book.  Or peruse beautiful seed catalogs and envision the garden of your dreams.   But for those of you who would like some additional suggestions, here are some productive things you could be doing this month:

• If you’ve been keeping a garden journal, this is a good time to pull it out and reflect on the past year.  What went well for you and what did not?  Are there lessons to be learned that you could apply next season?
• Take hardwood cuttings of deciduous ornamental shrubs and trees for propagation.
• Assess which ornamentals need to be replaced this spring – either through cold weather losses or varieties which are not as disease resistant as you would like.
• Clean pruners with rubbing alcohol, and sharpen those and other tools as needed.
• Winter wind is is very drying for plants – place windbreaks around plants that are sensitive to cold, dry winds.
• Stay off lawns as much as possible, as it causes soil compaction and kills turf.
• Don’t forget to occasionally water plantings  that are protected from winter rains under eaves.
• Use dormant sprays of lime sulfur or copper fungicide on roses for general disease control.

Don’t you feel better having a list?  Now, back to that book and comfy chair by the fire!

It’s hard to believe that we are getting so close to the fall season!  It seems like summer was very short this year, after a spring planting season that never seemed to want to start.  Nevertheless, kids will head back to school in a few weeks, the temperatures will gradually lower, and we will see an increasing amount of rainfall as we head into the fall months.  So what does fall mean to a gardener?

Fall is the best time to plant hardy trees, shrubs and perennials.  Fall is the season to plant spring flowering bulbs, cool season vegetable crops, and root crops like onions and garlic.  Fall is the season for maintaining, renovating, or planting lawns.  Fall is the best time of year to control slugs and root weevil.  And fall is a season of harvest.

So while spring may get most of the attention and try to make others believe that it is the most important gardening season, we are really just now heading into the season that is the most important in the life of your garden.  A little bit of effort in fall will bring more benefit than a lot of hard work in spring and summer.  This is the time to start planning your fall planting, because it will be here before you know it!

Come visit us in September for Le Tour des Plants and our Tomato Festival!

The intensity of spring projects has now given way to the slower pace of a warm summer.  Our garden beds are filling out nicely, there is fruit developing on trees, and the veggie beds are earning their keep with daily ripe offerings.  Let’s not forget to sit in the shade of our gardens with a favorite beverage and enjoy the view – and doing that from the comfort of my hammock is MY own personal favorite!   These warm summer days are few here in Oregon, so we should savor them while they are here.

That is not to say that there aren’t a few seasonally-appropriate tasks that we should keep track of.  Here are a few things to be aware of  in the next month:

• If you are watering your lawn (some folks choose to let it dry out during the summer), remember that deep watering less frequently is better than frequent sparse watering; also, aeration of the lawn will allow water to soak more deeply.
• Keep staking tomatoes as they climb higher and higher; pick off any diseased leaves and thin out foliage for better air circulation and light penetration.
• Remember that all hanging baskets need special attention during hot weather - water daily; during extreme heat waves it can be a good idea to take down hanging baskets and put them in a shady spot on the ground, where it is cooler.  Dark pots especially absorb lots of heat and can be very damaging to roots.
• Water in the early morning for the least evaporation, and remember to water deeply and infrequently. 
• Midsummer is a great time to think ahead for fall vegetables – bush beans, peas, lettuces, spinach, radishes, carrots, and all the brassicas (cauliflower, broccoli, kale, etc.).  Don’t forget we have a great class coming up August 2 at noon on getting  a fall garden going. Call to register!
• Fungal diseases may appear on lupine, hollyhock, delphiniums, zinnias, and roses – they will look like they are dusted with powder, or in the case of roses, have red rusty or dark spots.  Pick off diseased leaves and clean up fallen leaves to prevent spreading, and apply fungicide if necessary.
• Fungal disease in the veggie garden (usually appearing on zuchini, melons, winter squash, and cucumbers), where we often want as few chemicals as possible, it is important to keep diseased leaves picked up.  Increase air flow through plants, and support off the ground.  If needed, treat with Bonide’s Tomato and Vegetable 3-in-1, which contains Neem Oil.
• Use fine mesh netting to protect your blueberry crop from birds – we have a netting that is very unobtrusive and does the trick.
• Keep up with the weeding – once a weed has produced mature seeds, your work will multiply!
• Mulching will keep moisture in the soil and keep it cool.  Just an inch does the trick.

Keep an eye on these things, and your garden will thrive.  But the best summer advice here is in that first paragraph – cool beverages and a hammock!

If you have never been on a local garden tour, I encourage you to take advantage of one this year. It is so interesting to poke around someone’s backyard, seeing how they live and use their garden spaces. You take away tons of inspirational tidbits.

Metro hosts the popular Gardens of Natural Delights tour. This year’s program features four geographically focused mini-tours. Each event will showcase three organic home gardens plus a public demonstration garden with seminars and free resources. You will see incredible edibles, a naturescape and a small four-season blossom bonanza at the first tour, scheduled in the Hillsboro area.

The dates of the tours are:

• March 23 in Hillsboro area, registration opens March 23
• June 13 in Gresham area; registration opens May 4
• June 28 on Oregon City area; registration opens May 18
• July 19 in Lake Oswego area; registration opens June 8

You may register for up to two tours at a time. Call Metro to register or for more information: 503-234-3000. Grab a friend and make a day of it – you’ll be glad you did!

Here are a few friendly reminders of good things to do in the garden during the month of March.   The more we can stay ahead of things now, the easier time we will have later when everything is growing like crazy!

• time to finish pruning roses, if it is not already done.
• get plans ready for a vegetable garden; if soil is dry enough, plant cool season veggies such as peas, lettuce, cabbage, onions, kale, chard.
• prune spring-flowering shrubs (forsythia, quince, witchhazel, for example) right after they are finished blooming.
• divide daylilies and hostas.
• plant berries: strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, currants, gooseberries.
• fertilize existing cane berries with fertilizer (1-2 cups of EB Stone Fruit Tree Food) or manure
• top dress vegetable garden space and landscape areas with compost
• thatch and renovate lawns if needed
• protect new emerging growth from slugs – bait with Sluggo, which is safe for pets and birds.
• fertilize rhododendrons, camellias, and azaleas with acid-type fertilizer, such as EB Stone Azalea, Camellia, and Gardenia Food.