Garden almanac, This week's garden questions

In the Garden this Week

In the garden this week, many people are wondering why their vegetables, like tomatoes and melons, have not set much fruit. Also, why are they not ripening evenly? Why are the melons not sweet? Why do I have hollow areas in my cucumber? Do not take it personally because when it gets above 90 degrees, things do not go the way you want them to. Plants do not set fruit well, the taste may be different from what you expect, and even if the soil is moist, water uptake is reduced. It will cool down next week.


Early blight in tomatoes is prevalent now. A fungicide spray to protect the affected leaves helps. Also, remove the affected leaves to reduce the spread of the disease. See what varieties are more susceptible and try resistant varieties like Defiant.


Another fungus coming into play is powdery mildew. This fungus looks like someone sprinkled talcum powder on the leaves. You see it especially on lilacs and plants in the shade. Sometimes a good spray with water from the hose will wash a lot of it off. Use a fungicide in the garden and flowerbed since these plants are more prone to suffering from reduced photosynthesis and reduced vigor.


Someone took a picture of a “pretty spider” and wanted to identify it. After coming to again, I realized it is a juvenile black widow. After a couple of molts, it will get the famous hourglass on its abdomen. She discovered it in an unused, older storage shed.


Sometimes you get twin fruit like tomatoes and squash. This is just flower biology, and you can still use it.

Postrate Spurge
Purslane


Weeds popping up this week are purslane and prostate spurge. Hoe these out to prevent seeds. With purslane, remove them because the segments will root down again.

Garden almanac

🐞 The Garden this Week (August 12)

There are a few pests making the rounds in gardens and flowerbeds in the garden this week.

First up — flea beetles. These tiny black beetles hop when disturbed, and they leave little holes in plant leaves that look like they’ve been hit with buckshot (called the shothole effect). If they get bad, you can knock them back with Malathion, Sevin, or insecticidal oils.

Then we’ve got carrot rootworms. These little troublemakers tunnel through carrots, leaving a mess inside. Unfortunately, if they’re already there, there’s not much you can do. A soil drench with Malathion or Sevin might help, and for the future, crop rotation is your best friend.

Squash bugs are also out and about. These grayish bugs suck the juices right out of your plants, causing wilting and twisted leaves. Since they like to gather around the base of plants, a well-timed spray of Malathion can work—if the damage isn’t too far gone.

Leaf-cutting bees

I found out that Leaf-cutter bees like Vinca flower petals. Notice the round cuts in the petals. They are really not a pest, so do not worry about them.

Over in the sweet corn patch, rust has been spotted. You’ll see orange-red spots on the leaves. Once it’s there, there’s nothing to be done, but the good news is it won’t affect the ears if you’re close to harvest.

Wild violets growing around my shrubs

🌿 Lawn Care Notes
As the weather starts to cool, it’s a perfect time to reseed any dead patches in your lawn. Rake the bare spots down to the dirt, toss in some seed, and keep it watered. Some folks add white clover to fill in stubborn spots where grass struggles, while others go all-in with a clover lawn—it’s tough, needs less mowing and fertilizer, and it’s great for pollinators. I let wild violets grow in my lawn. They thrive in shady spots around shrubs where grass just won’t take, and they make a beautiful groundcover.

🌸 A Weed to Watch
All those white, trumpet-shaped flowers popping up in lawns right now? That’s field bindweed. The best time to spray for it is late September into October, when perennial weeds start sending nutrients from their leaves down to their roots for winter storage, making treatments much more effective.

Real Estate (Farm & Ranch Land)

In the Garden this Week (Aug. 6)

In the garden this week, there are very few insects that eat the tomato fruit itself, but the tomato fruit worm is one. This brownish worm, also called the corn earworm, burrows through the fruit. Remove and throw away any infected fruits. Insecticides do not work well with these insects.

Keep your garden and flowerbed weed free. This is usually the time we forget or give up, but those weeds do not. Remember, one crabgrass plant can produce 100s of seeds. Also, give the plants plenty of water to get through the hot parts of August. Most of the plants, like melons and cucumbers, require the most water during the fruiting process.

August is the best time to dig and divide iris. Rinse off the rhizomes and cut the foliage to around 6 inches. Replant and water until they are established.

Giant Flowering Allium
Siberian Squill
Foxtail Lily

This is the time to order your spring blooming bulbs like daffodils and tulips for early spring bloom. If you have not tried giant alliums (flowering onions), give them a chance. They grow up to 3 feet with giant purple flower heads. Foxtail lilies grow up to 6 feet with yellowish upright blooms. One of the earliest bloomers is the Siberian Squill. It blooms with the crocus, with a height of 6 inches, with blue flowers.

If you have space left in the garden and seeds you have left, like radish, lettuce, spinach, or kale, this is the time to plant for a September harvest. They can be grown in a shady area of the garden.

Greenhouse still offers shrubs and trees for fall planting. Fall is a great time to plant these because the temperatures are cooler, resulting in less stress on the plant. Plant by mid-September to get the roots starting to grow before the soil freezes. It is good practice to place a straw or hay mulch over the soil after the soil freezes to prevent heaving.