Lots to do in garden

This spring has certainly not been usual. Plenty of rain, and sometimes too much.! For me, it's shorts and tank top one day, jeans and a sweater the next. Oh well, there's always something that needs tended to no matter the attire.

If you need to leave your gardens for vacation, or a length of time, find someone to water and harvest vegetable and maybe mow your lawn. It makes it appear someone is there and makes for a happier you when you return.

Mulch flowers and vegetables to help with soil crusting, regulate temperatures and conserve moisture. Summer can be brutal some years here in Oklahoma, and mulching saves a ton of work.

This is a good time to fertilize warm-season grasses like Bermuda with one pound of nitrogen per 1,000 square feet. Do not fertilize fescue and other cool-season grasses during the summer.

If you are seeding warm-season grass, it needs to be completed by the end of June to reduce winter kill.

If you grow strawberries like I do, after the harvest is done, it's time for a little maintenance. Thinning older plants is a good idea to make way for the new offshoots the mother plants are sending out. Then keep them watered during the summer hot and dry times.

Vigorous, unwanted limbs should be removed on new trees. Watch for forks in the main trunk and remove the less desirable as soon as it is noticed. Also, watch for shoots around the base and remove those, especially on fruit trees.

Protect your trees from lawnmowers and string trimmers. Either use mulch or aerated covers. Repeated damage can kill branches and jeopardize the long-term health of our trees. A grass-free area with mulch is the most desirable method and provides for the healthiest tree.

In your flower gardens, pinch back leggy annuals to encourage them to bush or fill out. Sometimes it's difficult to force yourself to do this little chore, but the end result is so worth it. More foliage creates more flowers. Don't forget to give them a little nourishment (fertilizer) once in awhile and a good drink on hot dry days.

Where I live, the wind is unrelenting, so the tall perennials need staking (and I never have enough).

In the vegetable garden, if you've been struggling with some things not performing as you would like, it could be the cool days we've been having. Crops like okra, tomatoes and peppers with slow growth right now could be cool soil temperatures. This will change dramatically as the sun stays out and temperatures moderate day to day.

Weeds in the vegetable garden can rob your vegetables of water, light and nutrients. They also can harbor insects that can damage and greatly reduce yields. Mulching, hoeing and hand pulling are the best methods for control. Chemical control in the home garden is difficult because of the diversity of crops grown. Good soil preparation, adequate control of weeds before planting and planting when the soil temperature is warm enough are all good practices for maintaining a minimum amount of labor for weed control. The best weed control in the garden is a sharp hoe and good mulch.

For more information on anything gardening find OSU fact sheets at facts.okstate.edu.

So, happy hoeing (and wear a hat).

Breitenkamp is a member of Garfield County Master Gardeners.

How to Prepare a Garden for LOTS of Rain