All the Dirt on Gardening

Here we are in July with the heat index well over 100 degrees daily. Even if you get up at 6 am to go out to the garden like we do, it is already 80 degrees and too hot to do much in the way of digging. Imagine how your garden plants are doing in the heat and mostly dry conditions. This is not the time to dig plants, prune plants, or divide them. The best, simple rule of thumb is to do all of those things right after flowering, in the cooler temperatures of the fall or in late-winter/early spring just as the plants are breaking dormancy. If you dig up the roots of a plant now or even give it a hard pruning, you stand the chance of losing it because it is so hard for them to recover in summer's conditions. So, just remember (memorize) 'prune after bloom' and remember that that includes any other action that disrupts your plants at the roots. For now, just be compassionate: mulch the roots so they stay as cool as possible and deep water very early in the morning s...

If you have the energy for a do-it-yourself project, a small patio can be easy to do in time for summer guests and entertaining. In a corner of the yard that gets shade, we laid concrete cinder blocks and sprayed a brick colored stain on them to give them a better look. It's big enough for a table and 4 chairs where you can relax with coffee in the morning or a book in the afternoon. The photo was taken this morning during a break in the rain. Did you plant the 2007 plant of the year, Nepeta , last year? We planted a row Nepeta Walker's Low from Bluestone Perennials last year in the front of our driveway garden. This week it is blooming its head off. The scent brings honeybees, butterflies and other pollinators into the garden. We need the pollinators for our fruit and vegetables beds. The pinkish purple flowers in the center of the picture, behind the Nepeta are Dame's Rocket. Last year we had one, this year there are four. Also blooming in that bed are two type...