May Garden
Calendar 2011
After a great year for the total amount of rain I would have thought
there would be a better showing of wildflowers. The unusually late
cold snaps have set a lot of plants back or even sent them packing for the
season. The normally spectacular flower locations have plenty of
flowers, its just not eyepopping. The garden is late this season,
many fruit trees blooming late or in some cases blooming and reblooming.
This leaves the trees rather confused and often leads to poor fruit
set. I have waited until now to finally plant my warm season
vegetables. The tomatoes, beans, squash and peppers are just
starting out. The apricots are getting big, though many have dropped
from the overly moist soil. The recent heat wave wiped out the
bok-choi and much of my lettuce. Artichokes are incredible this
year. And so is the rhubarb.
My roses have been spectacular and should be for some time to
come. I am carefully removing the spent blooms to keep the roses
blooming away.
I have been gradually turning on sprinkler systems. Leaving the sprinkler system off as long as possible and taxing the
plants a bit in the early season like this encourages root growth.
This will pay off when the heat really starts this Summer. Not to
mention that it will save a few coins now. Water companies keep
raising rates. While I think that using water in the garden at a
level that is appropriate for our climate, rationing by price makes home
vegetable gardening even more challenging. I have been seeing quite
a lot of salt evidence in our local water supply. Adding soil
sulfur, gypsum or humic acid will help keep the soil from becoming too
alkaline. This is important for a lawn. Most of the weeds in a
lawn only grow because the grass is stressed. Shifting the pH closer
to 7 will help the grass choke out the weeds.
Alpine
Strawberries . . . Pineapple Crush, these little white
strawberries are one of the best flavors on the planet.
May Garden Calendar 2010
Our wildflower season has been and is continuing to be spectacular.
The early explosion of color near the coast is starting to dry out as the
mountain wildflowers are just starting with the first of their blooms.
Above average rainfall, late rains and cool weather has extended the
season significantly.
This season I am getting quite a lot of dieback in the apples and asian
pears. This needs to be cut off before the fungus that causes it can
get back into the main branches or the whole branch will die.
The soil is starting to warm enough for squash, beans, corn and
tomatoes to be planted. The season is wrapping up for greens,
broccoli and peas. I have collected a great mound of compost from
the goat pen. I will topdress with the compost as I plant.
This will not only keep the weeds down but will keep the clay in my soil
from crusting and blocking the water from penetrating to the root zone.
The early blooms are on the roses. The first bloom seems to have
the most intense colors. Maybe I have just been building my
enthusiasm with anticipation. The fragrance
of our rose garden is heady right now. Coastal fog in the mornings
will make a mess of the roses. I have given up on the
fungicides. They are far too potent for damaging my health and not
nearly potent enough to keep the fungus at bay. For my gardens I
have opted for spending more time doing the trimming I can to help the
plants. Opening up the inside of the roses by eliminating blind
shoots will help allow the UV from the sunlight to sear off the fungus
with whatever sun we get. I am convinced that the overall health of
the garden is improved, and there is no question that mine is. As
soon as the sun comes out for a few days the fungus disappears anyways.
Leaving the sprinkler system off as long as possible and taxing the
plants a bit in the early season like this encourages root growth.
This will pay off when the heat really starts this Summer. Not to
mention that it will save a few coins now. Water companies keep
raising rates. While I think that using water in the garden at a
level that is appropriate for our climate, rationing by price makes home
vegetable gardening even more challenging. I have been seeing quite
a lot of salt evidence in our local water supply. Adding soil
sulfur, gypsum or humic acid will help keep the soil from becoming too
alkaline. This is important for a lawn. Most of the weeds in a
lawn only grow because the grass is stressed. Shifting the pH closer
to 7 will help the grass choke out the weeds.
I have been testing and repairing irrigation systems, and running
sections as they are needed, trying to avoid turning automated systems on.
The fruit trees are bearing quite well. Our apple trees are
looking particularly good this year. Apricots, peaches and
nectarines can be damaged by a sudden surge in water. The trees will
often drop much of the fruit or the fruit will split. Historically
apricots were largely dry farmed.
Alpine
Strawberries . . . Pineapple Crush, these little white
strawberries are one of the best flavors on the planet.
May Garden Calendar
2007
Since we have already tasted some heat it is nice that we might get
some decent weather. I have been planting my vegetable patch
like a gardener possessed. The soil is just right, the plants at the
nursery are well grown and the weather can't be beat. Tomatoes are
in, the peppers, squash and cucumbers are looking good. Beans and
corn are just around the corner.
The first bloom is off the roses. I have had some fungal diseases
and like to open up the inside of the plants as I trim off the first round
of flowers. Deadheading will extend the blooming time of many of the
perennials. The weeds are not so bad this year due to the short rain
cycle. It is a good year to make real progress and maybe even clear
them out altogether. . . probably not.
I have been seeing quite a lot of salt evidence in our local water
supply. Adding soil sulfur, gypsum or humic acid will help keep the
soil from becoming too alkaline. This is important for a lawn.
Most of the weeds in a lawn only grow because the grass is too
stressed. Aiming the pH to closer to 7 will help the grass choke out
the weeds.
Sediment coming down the pipes has caused problems with quite a few
sprinkler systems. It is a good idea to run the system at night for efficiency
but to periodically check each station to see that all is well. The
groundwater is dropping fast, and I have had to increase irrigation times
to close to summer levels already.
The fruit trees are bearing quite well due to our deep chill this
winter. Take care not to over-water as many of the trees may drop
their fruit or the fruit will split.
May Garden Calendar 2006
The May weather is
warming. While we are still likely to see fog and maybe even a
sprinkle or two the soil has warmed significantly. I am watching for
signs of plants needing water. It is interesting to see how long
some landscapes will go before needing their first drink. The longer
the plants can wait the deeper they will send their roots. This
allows the plants to be much more resilient once summer arrives and they
really need a drink. Secondarily the chlorine and worse yet
chloramines are toxic to plants. And since it is added to almost
everybody's water supply avoiding using metered water to irrigate as much
as is possible helps the plants.
Many of the plants are flowering. I am
spending a large proportion of my time trimming spent flowers. This
will keep perennials blooming much further into the season. As soon
as they think that they have reproduced they often stop making more
flowers.
It is still a great time for planting, though
there are some issues. I try to avoid planting when the plants are
already flowering. The plants will have additional stress if they
are trying to maintain their flowers when they go into the ground.
The flowers are always the first thing to be sacrificed when things get a
little dry. With drought tolerant plants there are issues with
keeping them too wet. It is a fine line to water enough but not so
much as to rot the plants as the weather warms.
If the weeds are not removed soon they will be
laying seed for next year. It seems as if there is never enough time
nor energy to get all of them. Another layer of mulch is always a
good idea. This can be laid directly on top of annual weeds.
Most will not survive and will rot. Weeds are just nature's mulch
anyways.
This is the premier season for visiting gardens
and wildflowers. Enjoy.
