1. Vegetable Garden: The timing always feels a bit strange, but this
is actually the month to renew your vegetable garden for the fall har-
vest season. From seed, plant snap and lima beans, sweet corn, Swiss
chard, cucumbers, summer and winter squash (my favorite), black-
eyed peas, okra, cantaloupe, pumpkin and watermelon. For trans-
plants, it’s the right time for tomatoes and peppers.
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2. Tomatoes: Be sure to plant determinate varieties with reputations
for heat survival. (Spot the clues in their names.) My favorites are
surefire, solar fire, solar flare, celebrity, heatwave, sunmaster, and
BHN444 (healthy surprise).
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3. Water: After the crazy rains of this year, it's a little hard to predict
the type of weather that's coming our way this month. In the event
that we return to more normal weather patterns, your plants will need
water to survive. Not just a splash on the surface… but a profound
watering. This will give them a more established root system and a
better reservoir to draw from. Try to water on a 4 to 5 day schedule.
Don’t run automatic sprinkler systems during the day. (Loss to evap-
oration is too great.) And if it rains, just sit back and enjoy watching
your garden grow . . . all by itself.
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4. Mulch: Keep all flowerbeds, vegetable gardens and trees mulched.
This will conserve water, cool the root zone and generally relieve
heat stress.
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5. Mow High: Choose the highest setting for your mower. Longer
grass blades will help shade the roots and conserve water.
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6. Survive! Want to avoid heatstroke? Three rules for central Texas
gardeners: a. Wear effective sunscreen and a large brimmed hat. b.
Garden early in the morning. c. Drink gallons upon gallons of water.
Happy gardening everyone!
