The Columbian | Serving Clark County, Washington

I find that there are two distinct methods of working in the garden. The first is to begin a specific project with a plan in mind. The second way is by chance, puttering around until you run across a job that needs to be done. Both methods have their place in the maintenance of our gardens.

On the planning level, it helps to have a few basic tasks that are done on a regular basis, specific to the season.

One very simple, logical daily garden chore in the height of spring and summer is deadheading perennials. Deadheading keeps the garden looking fresh, keeps the visual focus on those plants in bloom and often encourages perennials to send out a new flush of bloom.

The time spent deadheading also serves as a time to collect flowers for indoor vases and pots or for friendly gifts. If you have chrysanthemums in your flowerbeds, pinch back flower buds through the month of June. This will encourage the plant to grow bushier and stave off flowering until summer turns to autumn.

As spring turns to summer, we find ourselves with an endless list of garden chores. There is always the need to weed and before the heat of summer comes to stay, we should fertilize perennials and roses. All early spring plant purchases should be planted in the garden at this time along with any late-season annual bedding plants. Healthy plant material removed from the garden should be added to the compost pile.

Broadleaf evergreen shrubs appreciate a shot of fertilizer when they have finished flowering for the season. There are products specifically made for the nutrient requirements of our acid-loving plants, such as azaleas, camellias, and rhododendron. There are good reasons for being specific when fertilizing plants. If you pay attention to a plant’s individual needs, it will thrive in the garden.

Time to water

If you do not have an automatic watering system for the entire garden, begin a hand-watering schedule for annuals, roses and newly planted perennials. Most trees and shrubs need a couple of years to establish themselves before they can be left on their own for watering needs. If you are still putting out new plants, remember to water long and deep. Once a day for a week, once a week for a month and then as needed throughout the season, depending on our rainfall.

Using a hose to water plants by hand is one of my favorite garden tasks. As a child, I used to stand alongside my grandmother in her garden as she watered individual plants. In the midst of a Southern California winter, when it was 75 degrees outside, she would let me pour a bucket of ice at the foot of her hydrangeas to give them the chill they needed to bloom in summer. Our bond grew along with her garden.

At the end of your workday, don’t neglect to give yourself the reward of relaxation. I love to set aside time on clear, warm days to sit back in an outdoor chair with a cup of coffee and a favorite book. We create a garden because it is the perfect place to read, dream, and relax with our thoughts or with a friend. After all the work is done, enjoying the results of our efforts is well deserved.

Chores sprout

Our gardens are living entities, so there will always be a spate of spontaneous chores. There are the individual weeds that come up one at a time, weeks after we have done major scheduled weeding in perennial and shrub borders. The wayward bramble sneaks its way into a planting of ground cover. Obviously, these can be taken care of without scheduling. Get them out when you see them.

Season-specific chores keep us busy through the summer months. Thin apple and pear trees with heavy crops. Mulch perennial beds with compost to suppress weeds and conserve moisture. Plant late season vegetables. Garden centers still have vegetable plant “starts” ready to transplant. I have seen eggplants and tomato plants on nursery shelves with fruit already on the vine.

Use your best judgment to determine whether veggie plants in nurseries and garden centers have been well cared for while in their small pots. If they have suffered from lack of water they will show stress in burnt leaf tips and cracks in the skin on tomato plants. In the garden, pick strawberries as they ripen even if that means eating them one at a time, straight from the bush.

Robb Rosser is a WSU-certified Master Gardener. Reach him at Write2Robb@aol.com.

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