The bloom pageant of early summer has now reached its peak. Soon the growth cycle that is initiated about midsummer will begin. Buds on trees, shrubs, vines and fruit trees will become vegetative (producing shoots) or fruitful (producing flowers). Some growth can be influenced by culture, some cannot. Cutting back the long green shoots of wisteria to three leaves will spur the formation of flower buds, as will summer-pruning of fruit trees. Espaliered fruit trees should be pruned by cutting back the spring shoots to three leaves. Another way of influencing the cycle is to cease feeding fruit trees and to reduce the supply of moisture. Overfeeding at this stage leads to vegetative growth. On the other hand, rhododendrons and azaleas, especially newly planted ones, are benefited by watering, so that they may make full use of nutrients in developing flower buds.
Vegetables and flowers will need both feeding and watering. Midsummer brings a slowing up of available plant nutrients unless the soil was well supplied at the beginning of the season with plenty of organic matter. The moisture will be all but depleted. Unless rain is plentiful you will have to water. Watering means soaking the soil. Early morning or evening is the best time for watering, as there is less surface evaporation. Conserve soil moisture by covering all exposed soil surfaces with a mulch. Weeds make a good mulch so long as they are not ripening seeds. Sawdust is excellent but before applying it give an application of 5-10-5 fertilizer or one of the dried manures.
Feeding
Liquid feeding is the most efficient and least expensive method. Use a high-analysis fertilizer such as 15.30-15 or 13-26-13. Follow directions carefully.
Very little and often is the rule. If it is overdone it is not only wasted but it may make many crops and plants soft and prone to disease. Fertilizers such as 5-10-5 are best applied dry; these low-analysis fertilizers do not mix readily with water. Apply in a 3-inch band around single tomato or cabbage plants and pole beans. Apply on either side of root crops and closely spaced crops such as lettuce or celery. One pound should cover 20 running feet. An important factor is an adequate amount of moisture in the soil. Rake or scratch the fertilizer in and apply water. Do not allow fertilizer to touch foliage.
Peas are about finished in the warmer sections but still bearing farther north. Depending upon the region, replant this area with late cabbage, corn or winter celery. The fertilizer and manure given the peas will, with an additional application of any all-purpose fertilizer such as 5-10.5 be ample for another substantial crop. Get in main crops of beets, carrots and rutabagas. Continue sowings of snap beans, lettuce and radishes. Endive and Chinese cabbage may be sown in the cooler regions, but it’s too soon for the warmer sections. These like cool weather. Chihli is an excellent variety of Chinese cabbage. Sow where it is to mature. as it does not transplant easily. Keep tomato plants tied up and see that the soil for these is well supplied with moisture. Maintain a mulch but avoid overfeeding.
Summer Operations
In sections where gardeners enjoy a long fall, late annuals – zinnias, cosmos, Phlox drummondi, candytuft and alyssum – sown now will provide autumn bloom. Divide clumps of bearded iris. If you wait until August to do this, you will run the risk of checking basal buds which will be forming for next year’s bloom. Plants divided now will proceed with normal development. Replenish the soil with organic matter and add lime or a good dressing of bonemeal. Prune climbing and rambler roses, removing the canes which flowered and tying in the new ones for next year. Do not prune climbing hybrid teas, perpetuals or polyanthas. These are pruned in the spring before flowering.
If you want young strawberry plants, sink 2-inch pots filled with soil in the ground near the plants. Set a young runner plant in each pot, holding each in place with a hairpin. When fully rooted the new plants may be severed from the mother plant and planted out in a new bed.
Eradicate lawn weeds and others with 2,4-D but keep it away from other plants. Poison ivy is best eliminated with Ammate, a trade name for ammonium sulfamate. If the ivy is growing on a tree trunk detach it before applying Ammate.
Insects, Disease
Step up the campaign against black-spot of roses, mildew and other diseases and against the various insect pests. Sulphur dust or any of the better fungicides will hold the diseases in check if applied systematically, especially before or after a rain or during foggy weather. All-purpose dusts or sprays designed to control both insects and disease are convenient and easy to use. If you use the dusting method, it is best to wear a respirator; many cases of irritation to throat and nostrils from dusts are reported every year.
Few plants give more results per unit cost than perennials, yet I often wonder if we get from perennials the returns they are capable of. Seeds sown this month have a long season for development. Many of the new introductions – marked improvements over the old-time species and varieties – offer the gardener the rare and unusual. The many new strains and varieties of columbine are so different and contain such beautiful flowers that no comparison between these and the old-time kinds is possible. The long-spurred Scott Elliott hybrids run through a dozen lovely colors. The longissima hybrids are a result of the crossing of the Scott Elliott hybrids with the species longissima. Chrysantha is a tall golden yellow; Clematiflora has flowers like clematis blossoms. The new Jaetchau is a variety of Chrysantha and there are many others worth trying.
Perennial scabiosa and the Russell lupine are not successful where the summers are hot and humid. But in the more northerly sections they should be things of beauty.
Culture
Good seed from a reliable concern is the first step; proper soil conditioning is the second. The ideal spot for sowing is a coldframe. By shading the glass, moisture and temperature can be controlled. But conditions comparable to those in a coldframe can be simulated to a large extent by preparing a 5-foot wide bed, breaking down the soil to a fine texture and mixing some well decayed compost, leafmold or peatmoss into the top 3 inches. Scatter 1 heaping teaspoon of superphosphate per square yard before the final raking. Draw 1/2-inch deep drills across the bed and fill several times with water. Sow seeds when all water has subsided, covering them 1/2 to 1/4 inch deep with fine soil. Drive 18-inch stakes around the bed. Surround the bed with burlap or cheesecloth and make a canopy, resting it on wire or string attached to the stakes. The cheesecloth may be left on after germination because the light can penetrate it. The burlap must be removed at the time. of germination, although it may serve to provide some shade during the hot part of the day. A light covering of hay could be substituted for the above materials; the seedlings will come up through the hay covering.
Allow the true leaves to show well before transplanting, in order to insure an adequate root system which will survive the warm temperatures of this season. Transplant to well prepared soil. Transplanting to rows 6″ x 9″ will allow for better culture until fall, when the plants may be set in the places where they are to flower or left until spring.
