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The (Somewhat) Lazy Days of Summer
Greetings!
 Did you notice how spring disappeared in 24 hours? One day
it was too cold and wet to sit on my back porch; the next it was too hot and
muggy. Even after all these years, Midwestern weather never ceases to amaze me.
Now
it's that time of year when I can take a bit of a breather from the garden. The
rush of spring is over. Things have been raked, cut back, weeded, pruned,
weeded again, planted, and mulched. Now it's just maintenance.
To
that end, I keep a lovely trug (an English wooden basket I got as a Mother's
Day present years ago) filled with basic garden supplies on my porch so
whenever I have a moment to garden, I can just grab it and go. It's so pretty
that it looks decorative even when filled with muddy tools and torn up seed
packets.
But
you don't need a fancy trug to get organized. My mom used to use a plastic
gallon ice cream bucket--until I got her a pretty wooden trug for a Mother's Day
present!
Yours in kinda-sorta organized gardening,
 Veronica Lorson Fowler |
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The War on Weeds
 It pains me when I see gardeners using a knife, or worse
yet, a garden fork, to weed their gardens. A knife is slow and a garden fork
doesn't eliminate the weeds as much as it cultivates them, loosening the soil
to help them grow!
So
please, check out our Seven Tips for Spending Less Time Weeding. My
favorite tip is the first one--investing in a good weeding tool. My favorite?
The Asian plow. I'd give up my trowel before I gave up this baby--and that's
not an overstatement.
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Getting Potted
 As we move into summer,
it's more important than ever to take good care of your containers. Click here for some easy tips that will make them look as good as those
showy things you see in garden centers, public gardens, and other places where
the pros are taking care of them.
In
just the past couple of years, I've come to swear adding bloom-booster type fertilizer. to the water
I use to water flowering plants every two to three weeks, as directed on the label. It doesn't cost any more than
other fertilizers, and it really pushes them to bloom better!
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Be a Great Friend
Forward this email to a gardening friend and if they sign up, they'll be emailed a two-for-one coupon to the Reiman Gardens in Ames. (Maybe they'll even take you along!)
Forward this newsletter by clicking on the link in the green bar below. You might want to add a note explaining the two-fer coupon special.
And if you're reading this and you aren't a subscriber, then sign up. Anyone signing up in June will receive the coupon!
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The Dirt on Dirt
 If you've ever looked at six different types of potting soil
and wondered which one to get, you're not alone. It's difficult to know what
you're getting unless you tear open the bag. Some tips:
 Pick up the bag. If it's super heavy, it's probably not good soil. It may well
have sand, peat, and other heavy elements that are less desirable.
Frankly, what I usually do is end up buying a name-brand potting mix. I have to
spend more, but it's worth it. I mean, why buy stuff in which my plants are
going to struggle? In the end, that's a waste of money.
If you're potting up lots of plants and filling large containers, consider
mixing your own potting soil. It takes just minutes and saves moola big time. Click
here for my "recipe."
For more information, click here for a good
on-line article on how to choose the best potting soil.
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More Weeding, Less Valium?
 Researchers have gathered
yet more data to document what gardeners already know--gardening improves
calmness, positive mood, and overall energy--as does other physical activity,
such as walking.
Reported
in the Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, the study noted that the activity had the greatest effect on
those who were most depressed.
So
when you're feeling bad, go out and do a little puttering in the garden. You
will be glad you did--and that's a documented fact!
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Garden Quote:
"Ah, summer, what power
you have to make us suffer and like it."
- Russel Baker
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Your business will reach thousands of avid local gardeners with some of the most reasonable rates around. Click here for advertiser information, which includes a publishing schedule, or email us at info@theiowagardener.com. |
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Sponsored Links
Ted's Garden Center, Cummings
This
one-of-a-kind center has topiary, unusual trellises, interesting garden
art, container "recipes," and more.
Sign up for a make your own cool-looking hummingbird feeder from an empty bottle this Saturday or a class to make fascinating sand concrete castings of rhubarb and hosta on Saturday, June 12.  Gorgeous, natural garden art.
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Garden To-Do List
For a printable version of this list for June, click here.
 Seeds of cucumbers, squash, corn, beans, and melons need warm soil to germinate well. Plant them the last week of May in southern Iowa. In northern Iowa, plant them now.
Weed, weed, weed! Get them now while they're small and
prevent big problems later. Click here for tips on how to wipe out
max weeds in minimum time.
You can divide perennials that bloom in spring now, as needed
or desired. Hold off on dividing those that bloom in late summer or fall. For
them, it's too close to show time!
Deadhead flowers on annuals, perennials, and some shrubs. It keeps
your garden more attractive and in many cases, it will encourage more flowers
longer.
Continue to plant
container-grown or balled-and-burlapped trees, shrubs, and roses now. However,
avoid planting bare-root roses and other bare-root plants. This late in the season,
they'll struggle to get established.
Time to practice tough
love. If a tree or shrub is still struggling with winter damage or overall
sickness, with significant amounts of dead wood, it's almost certainly time to
dig it up or cut it down.
Remove the browning foliage
of tulips and daffodils once it pulls away easily. Until then, the plant is
using it rejuvenate for next year.
Pinch mum buds until the
4th of July. This helps them produce larger, bigger flowers on stronger stems.
Harvest early and often for
the most tender, sweetest produce and to keep plants producing well. Pick zucchini, for example, with the
yellow flower still attached.
Most lettuce by now has
started to bolt, that is, send up tall, elongated stalks. At this point, it
turns bitter. Pull it up and pitch it on your compost heap.
Check out the bulb catalogs
and on-line sources. Ordering now assures the type and quantity you want this
fall, when supplies run low.
Find out how to deal with
moles by clicking here.
Now is a great time to build a raised bed. Click here to find out how.
Check out our month-by-month listing of what to plant when in Iowa.
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