12 Early-Summer Chores: What To Do in the Garden Now
https://www.almanac.com/12-early-summer-chores-what-do-garden-now
LOTS to do right now. Do it early and stay out of the heat when you can! :) For starters:
Harvest Garlic Scapes
Cut the garlic scapes! Mine started to twirl every year right at the time of the solstice. By cutting them off as soon as possible, the plant will direct its energy into making bigger bulbs. Plus, the scapes are a delicious early summer treat in any recipe that calls for green onions or garlic. They make a great pesto, too, even without basil.
Prune Spring-Flowering Shrubs
Prune spring-blooming shrubs such as forsythia, lilacs, weigela, viburnums, daphne, quince, and deutzia by mid-July at the latest. If you do it any later, you will cut off next spring’s blossoms. See when to prune shrubs.
Perform the Chelsea Chop
Do the Chelsea Chop! To keep fall bloomers like asters, mums, and phlox shorter and more full and inspire them to produce double the number of flowers, cut the plants back by half. Doing it before the 4th of July will give the plants time to form new growth and extra blossoms. (See my article on Chelsea Chop for more info.)
Fertilize Shrubs and Perennials
Fertilize. By the 4th of July, give shrubs and perennials the last side-dressing of compost, rotten manure, or fertilizer. This will give any new growth time to harden off before frost.
Replace Early Vegetable Crops
Most spring vegetables, such as bok choy, radishes, peas, lettuce, and spinach, have been harvested by early July. Pull them out and make room for some new plants. In most areas, there is still time to plant more beans, summer squashes, and cukes. Seeds should germinate fast in the warm soil. Check your first frost date and add an extra two weeks for fruits to mature since light and heat will start to wane as fall approaches.
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What a truly MARVELOUS picture! Thanks for posting.
I LOVE THAT!!!!
Wow, a picture of abundance we enjoy in America. Thanks for your dedication to this thread, Diana. That to do summary is sooo timely. Happy Independence Day everyone. So lucky to have been born in the USA!
Wow! Get 30 or 40 loaves of sliced Italian bread, some local goat cheese and roasted garlic, and its Bruchetta for the a small town or your Church!
Well I still haven’t gotten a tomato out of my garden yet because as you know I’m running super late again this year after the fire. But I have some really good looking tomatoes on the vine and you should see how many watermelon and cantaloupe are on the trellis system I have set up. I don’t know if you remember but my watermelon and cantaloupe are just amazing I have really good dirt for melons.
I grew cucumbers again this year but I’m just eating them I’m not going to make any pickles because I have so many left out from last year and I think the fire killed my okra seeds that I let fall in the okra garden bed because I only had one volunteer this year and I usually have more volunteers than I can deal with but luckily I harvested seeds last year. I scattered seeds and raked them in and watered it and 48 hours later I had all my okra starts popping up so that was fantastic.
My jalapenos and poblanos are doing well they’re just starting to set fruit.
I purchased two arbaquino olive trees from one of my seed sources online and going to eventually move them into Giant clay pots probably next year. Right now I am up potted into larger plastic pots.
I am hoping that I’ll have olives growing in 2 years
Wow— that veggie flag is awesome! Happy 4th, everybody!