Hot Summer Garden

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. . . and other garden ramblings.

I have a new meaning for the words shade garden -- gardening in the shade.

I’ve been following the shade around the garden. The little time I’ve spent in the garden is planned to take advantage of the shade. Last week 90 to 100 degree heat and high humidity put this new meaning on shade gardening. Fortunately I have a lot of mature trees.

Morning Glories in Round Rock (Texas) reported a heat index 117 in her blog on June 30. I thought of her as the sweat dripped off my nose with the gnats and mosquitoes buzzed in my ears. I can’t even imagine what a heat index of 117 feels like.

We’ve also had some wild storms. The wind and rain turned the crepe myrtle into weeping crepe myrtle.

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The cosmos leans against the pussy willow. I’ve cut some of the broken stems and propped up some others.

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I picked some great sweet peppers (‘Early Sensation). The seeds were planted on March 11. On my May 13th post, “Seed Challenge”, the plants were ready for the garden. I cooked up a pot of old-fashioned stuffed peppers last week – five months from seed to stomach.

I got some exciting news from Carol at May Dreams Garden this week. I won a CobraHead Weeder. The good folks at CobraHead LLC gave one to everyone who entered. Very generous indeed and just in time for fall weeding.

I’ve been having trouble with the link to Doug Green’s Garden (blog). Does the link at the right work for anyone? Please leave a comment. I’ll change the link if anyone else is having trouble. I can’t seem to get it working. Here’s the link to Doug’s Simple Gift Farm website - http://www.simplegiftsfarm.com/. You may be able access his blog there. Doug will also release a new propagation ebook this week. It’s a winner.

Fortunately, we’re having some better weather this week with temperatures in the 80’s and lower humidity. I’ll be a happier gardener this week.

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Shade Garden

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My shade garden is mediocre at best. Under a French lilac in front of 70 ft. hemlocks, the hostas get smaller each year. Asters, silver mound, mums and numerous annuals have met their demise. Planting bulbs is as bad as digging through a tangle of bureaucracy. The root mass is quite thick. The daffodils, columbine and Japanese anemone seem to hold their own. Astilbe survives in a low spot that gets a little more water.

Two years ago I started thinking seriously about this garden. Did I want a garden survive or thrive? This happened the same year that I decided to be more environmentally aware. I have never used a lot of chemical fertilizers, pesticides or herbicides. I decided to use even less or none. The plants would have to survive or thrive on their own with only organic methods. I have soaker hoses in all the beds. They were not turned on this year.

I did a soil test in the shade garden last fall. pH is near optimum neutral at 6.8. The soil is below optimum in phosphate and potash and way above optimum in magnesium and calcium. I admit I added phosphate and potash. I easily slipped back into my “only a little” mode. I don’t know if I would do that today and risk chemicals washing into streams.

Then, in a V8 moment, I started doing what my grandmother knew to be right - if you want a good garden, improve the soil. I’ve added mulch twice each year. I’ve sprinkled compost tea in the area several times. My only fertilizer is fish emulsion. I’ll add compost in spring. This is an ongoing, never-ending job.

I have had the privilege of reading a preview of Doug Green’s “Shade Gardening” ebook. It is a clear, succinct and no-holds-barred book about what it takes to have a thriving shade garden – good soil, light, water.

Now I have to decide how much I want to fight Mother Nature. Plants need light (even in a shade garden), good soil and water. None of these is readily available under most trees. I believe there is enough light under the lilac for shade plants. I’m doing my best to improve the soil.

But, by Doug’s calculations, I will need about 3 inches of water a week. I’m not sure that I’m willing to do that. I may have to let this garden just survive.

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