Cop hold of these gardeners tips designed for the upcoming Cop26 summit on the climate
21.07.2023 - 22:37 / awaytogarden.com
IT WASN’T ONE OF THOSE “KA-POW!” YEARS in the garden, visually (well, unless you were my dear old rhubarb, above). In fact at many moments it was more “ka-bam!” (as in things crashing and burning, rather than showing off in bursts of glory).
I’d lost 23 big shrubs and three trees in late 2011, in a freakish 18-inch October snow, so between that and the far-too-early, way-too-dry season of 2012, it was a challenge at times. But this is where my strong interest in the “why” of gardening—the science, and the miracles—comes in, so in the absence of big, colorful lilacs and the like, I set about looking for beauty in the details, in simpler, often-smaller things.
A slideshow of the 2012 garden:Click the first thumbnail to start the slides; navigate using the arrows on your keyboard, or the ones beside each caption. (Note: If you are zoomed in too much, or on a tiny device, you won’t see the captions beneath each image.)
CategoriesNature slideshows.Cop hold of these gardeners tips designed for the upcoming Cop26 summit on the climate
The Elizabethan Tower where Vita had her study. Credit: Shutterstock
Marion Brenner
Buying new clothing is exciting. So exciting, in fact, that you probably want to put on your new pieces and show them off as soon as possible, right? But when you do, there’s probably a small part of you wondering, “Wait, should I have washed this first?”
Part of Tom Massey's
As you drink your recommended 6 to 8, 8-ounce glasses of water per day, don’t forget that your vegetable garden should also never be short of water this summer. Did you know that water makes up 80 to 90 % of vegetable and fruit weight? Water affects yield, fruit size, and quality. It also prevents a variety of disorders such as toughness, off-flavor, cracking, blossom-end rot, and misshapen fruit.
When I started this series of K.I.S.S. gardening advice, I hoped to inspire those who didn’t know where to begin gardening and those who may have lost joy in their gardening pursuits. After all, there are plenty of things to worry about these days, and gardening should not be one of them. Gardening should provide a respite and an escape from our screen technology culture. So let’s take the advice of Willie Nelson’s boy, Lukas, and “Turn off the news and build a garden.”
Like the journalist I was trained to be, I’m always editing the garden, and good thing, since by August in a dry year like this one has been, it needs another round. Gaps in the perennial beds (preferable with a little fresh mulch applied) will look better than a hosta that’s had it, or an anemic-looking bleeding heart.Focal points: weeds and water. Every weed pulled now is a hundred (a million?) you don’t have to deal with later. Don’t let them go to seed. Make a pass through each bed each week, since weeds are not just unsightly but steal moisture, nutrients and light from desired plants. Too many to handle in a particular area? Smother them with cardboard and mulch, like this.If your garden is dry, don’t waste water on lawns, which will bounce back from brown when cooler, moister days return—or on washing down paths and patios. Sweep instead! Target water offerings to the most precious subjects, particularly recently planted things and the vegetable garden.
I KNOW, I KNOW: Why can’t it just last; why does it all have to start to flop and fade and fall apart? The spring garden, that is. June is the month when spring turns to summer—often well before the official moment (June 20 at 7:09 PM Eastern Daylight Time in 2012). Remember those gorgeous lilacs, rhododendron, flowering bulbs? Beautiful memories, yes, but also big brown messes everywhere. Uh-oh, get ready for another cleanup! Shall we tackle it together, one thing at a time (in print, and in podcast version)?
First, though, I recommend a long, hard look. I walked around outside the last week of June with a pad and pen–and a critical eye. In the flurry of spring prep, planting and pruning, I’d been working around some problems rather than tackling them properly.Where perennials or even worse, shrubs, are bulging out of the beds and drooping onto the lawn, it’s time for a decision. (And no, the decision cannot be “mow around them and deal with it later,” which is what I always do in a few spots in spring.) Time to either reduce the plants by division or pruning, or make the bed bigger, easing passage around its perimeter. I’m doing some of each (but waiting for fall weather for the divisions if it stays hot and relatively dry here).NOW, ONWARD! JULY STARTS OUT as Throw In the Trowel Month here, with June’s cutbacks s
LOST ANYTHING IN THE GARDEN LATELY (besides your mind)? That’s the question Forum member Boodely poses in the Urgent Garden Question Forum this week, and I’m confessing to eyeglasses, every manner of tool and more. (Usually my MIA items turn up when I turn the compost heap.) Lost anything in your garden? On the very practical side comes a twist on the groundcover question, which usually includes the words “for shade.” Not this time.
Maybe it’s Mercury retrograde that has me (a Gemini—one of the signs most heavily influenced by the antics of Mercury) plum tuckered out; maybe it was just this strange season of lots of wet and no heat. Maybe it’s the book I’m 200ish pages into writing that needs to be 300. But don’t worry; I’ll make it to the finish line on all fronts. I’ve been on an amazing new diet with my sister and my best friend that’s making a big difference. Onward; but first a little walk together, yes?Click on the first thumbnail to start the show, then toggle from slide to slide using the arrows next to each caption. Enjoy.Categoriesannuals & perennials bulbs edible plants slideshowsTagsMargaret Roachmargaret roach garden