Summer Garden Tips!

Here are all the helpful gardening tips for the hot summer Months! 

If you are part of the Wildwood Wonder newsletter, you may have seen some of these tips in the planting guide, and if you are part of the Wildwood Wonder Facebook Group, you've seen some of the photo examples of other suggestions. For this blog post, I've combined all those tips and some extras in one place! Enjoy- Kara 

There is no way around it; June & July are challenging months to garden in! You will be competing with the heat, lack of rain, and pest pressure. This month you will have to use your intuitive gardening skills to judge how your plants are dealing with high temperatures, their watering needs, and, as if it couldn't get any worse, bugs that want to take over! So now that I've created a horror film situation in your mind for this month let me show you how your garden can survive to live into the next season! 

July is a Hot Month, so your planting choices will be limited. Use my July Planting Guide as a place to start! I have listed what you can plant to go ahead and get those seeds started or purchase those plants if you need to. There is nothing wrong with buying garden plants. The goal is to grow your food and get experience! 

Things to gather for June & July: 

Seeds & Plants- listed in the guides 

Items for shade- old bedsheets or shade cloths.

Mulch: Shredded paper, straw, or grass clippings. See past blogs. 

Neem oil & Diatomaceous earth for pests control. 

You will need to use your intuitive Grarding skills to monitor heat, watering, & pest.

Heat: You may need to cover heat-sensitive plants with a light sheet (an old bed sheet will work) or shade cloth. Work in your garden early in the mornings & late in the day; this will cause less heat stress on you and your garden. Intercropping can also take advantage of how much sun a plant likes to have! 

Water: Water will evaporate quickly, so water early in the morning or late in the day. You will get better results by watering low to the ground, soaking the soil so that the water reaches the deeper roots in the soil. Do not overhead water because most of the water will not get the roots and will evaporate in the heat. You will want to mulch around your plants to keep moisture in. You can use shredded paper, grass clipping, or straw. Make sure that you are also drinking plenty of water throughout the day, especially in humid areas! 

Pest: As Plants get stressed with the heat, harmful bugs will take advantage of your vulnerable plants. Walk your gardens every day and check on your plants. Handpick pests off your plants in the morning—bugs like squash bugs and tomato worms. Neem oil is good for aphids. Spray neem oil on plants later in the day after the sun has gone behind the trees. Diatomaceous earth is good for taking care of the creepy crawlies along the ground. Remember, not all bugs are bad! Praying mantises and ladybugs are your friends and will help deal with those plant pests. Also, encourage wild birds into your garden to snack on those yummy bugs too! They are more interested in the creepy crawlers than your veggies.

You Don't Need Expensive Tools: 

Get the Most Out of Your Space: Intercropping is also included in this tip too! 

I hope this give you some ideas to try in your garden!

- Kara