Rodd's Seeds of Wisdom Horticultural tips and tricks from Rodd Moesel

Summer has arrived on the calendar and in our daily temperatures. This is the season professional horticulturists finally get to do a little planting in their own yards as they are usually too busy helping others garden all through spring. Over the years we have gotten lots of experience at finally planting our flowerbeds and container gardens in late June, July and even August. I have learned that you can succeed at most summer plantings as long as you stay on top of the watering. Plants, particularly new planting,s can stress very easily when we are this hot, dry and windy. Most plants love the ample and intense sunshine and can grow right through this heat as long as they do not get too dry and suffer root loss or foliage burn from getting too dry. Some plants actually thrive in the hot dry weather like zinnias, marigolds, periwinkle, penta, sweet potatoes, cannas, okra, melons and many tropicals like hibiscus, oleanders and dipladena.

If you are planting at this time of year be prepared to water in your new plantings within hours of planting. If you are planting small bedding plants without a large soil ball or much root system you may need to water daily or every other day until they get rooted into their new home as long as temperatures are in the nineties or triple digits. Plants with larger soil balls like six inch pots, one or two gallons may need to be watered every two or three days depending on exposure and soil type. Larger trees and shrubs may have enough soil and a well enough established root system to only need water once or twice a week until well established. Almost all plants need the equivalent of one inch of rain per week and at this time of year tender plants and newly planted plants need more than that to deal with the extreme evaporation, transpiration and intense, drying heat. Folks accuse me of being a broken record on the value of mulching but as much as mulching helps to protect plants in the winter, it helps even more in the summer to reduce soil surface evaporation, to keep the soil cooler and thus the plant roots happier and to reduce and suppress weed population. Mulching one to two inches of pecan hulls, pine straw, cocoa hulls, cotton seed hulls or shredded or chipped cedar, cypress, fir, oak or pine bark will often reduce watering by half or more and reduce the wild swings of drought stress on your plants.

Many of your blooming plants will produce even more flowers if you “deadhead” them regularly. Crops like geraniums and roses will keep directing energy to the old flowers to form seeds if you don’t cut them off after the pretty flowers are finished. By “deadheading” or cutting off the old flowers the plants will redirect that energy into more flowers for you to enjoy. If branching type annuals get too tall you can pinch or cut them back to force out new branches just below where you cut the plants back. This is a really effective technique on coleus, impatiens, begonias and many other plants that get too tall and leggy.

We hope you enjoy the 4th of July weekend! We are grateful to those leaders who created our country and gave us freedom to choose our occupation, our hobbies and even the crop we will grow or at least attempt to grow. Please take time to visit your local parks and botanical gardens as part of your holiday celebrations.

Summer temperatures have arrived and the warm season crops like sweet potatoes, okra, periwinkle and many of the tropical plants are loving it and putting on a burst of growth. These warm, even hot temperatures can be a little more challenging for the non tropical humans and plants. Some areas of the state have enjoyed some June tropical rains with these higher temperatures while others have missed out on the rains. Your plants will dry out much quicker and more often as these temperatures rise and as the hot wind blows. We see hot air blowers in restrooms to dry our hands; this is the same dehydration effect many of our plants experience as the hot dry summer winds blow across their exposed leaves, stems and the soil they call home. You can reduce this water evaporation from the soil by mulching the soil with a good layer of bark, hulls or straw mulch. Watering is the most important summer gardening practice and can be a life or death issue for new plantings or plants that are especially thirsty or heavy drinkers. Watch your vegetables and flowers for signs of heat or water stress that are cries for human help, like wilting foliage or a pale tone of grayish green instead of the usual more intense green that plant usually exhibits. Most new or thirsty plants need the equivalent of one to two inches of rainfall per week in our hot Oklahoma weather. If your trees, shrubs and flowers are not getting this regular dose of water from natural rain they need you to help out with hand watering, overhead sprinklers, soaker hoses or drip irrigation to provide their life saving water needs.

You can still plant most all container grown annuals, perennials, shrubs and trees as long as you are prepared to provide regular watering for these new plantings. I have spent the better part of the last two weekends and many late evenings the last several weeks preparing and planting several new flowerbeds. A little over two months of the growing season are gone but we still have over four and a half months to enjoy before the normal November freeze wraps up the season. There is still a great selection at most of our local nurseries and garden centers and since the crowds have thinned out you can often get more personal attention and garden counseling or advice to help you select the best plant material for your soil type, light exposure and growing style. With camera phones so common, take a picture or pictures of the area you are planting and your nurseryman can help you make the best selection for your garden spot. If you see something you like at a local park or while visiting friends, take a picture or two and show that to your local nurseryman for help and advice.

With the warmer temperatures, we are starting to see a lot more pest issues. If you have a specific disease or insect problem, get a picture or grab a sample and take it in a paper bag or bottle with breathing holes to your nurseryman to diagnose and suggest several remedies to address the problem. Our fungus or disease problems usually go away as the weather gets drier and the insect problems can explode as we get hotter. We have had enough rain this year that the weeds, like most of our desired plants, are growing well this year. The best control is hand pulling and then mulching to reduce future weed problems. You can also help control weeds by hoeing but have to be careful not to hoe the good guys along with the weeds. There are some pre and some post emergent weed killers you can use in vegetable and flower beds but you must read and follow the label directions to make sure you don’t also kill your good plants. A farm friend recently told me that weeds are a lot like sin. They can look really good at first but soon they have taken over everything else in your garden or life. May your garden and life be beautiful and bountiful and your weeds be few.

Memorial Day is now in the rear view mirror and most schools are out for the summer so we are psychologically in summer mode even if the calendar does not officially go there for another three weeks. We have been blessed with periodic rains and moderate weather so far this growing season so we have not had to go into full watering mode to save our gardens. In fact, Mother Nature has done most of the watering and we have only had to step in a few times with supplemental or hand watering to keep from stressing our desired plant material. This is likely to change as the days get longer and the sun gets even brighter. Our yards will likely need us to help with more “fill in” watering as we get hotter and drier. So far we are enjoying one of our best gardening seasons in years on most plant material but we are only six weeks into our normal thirty-two week growing season. Shoppers are not as thick at the local nurseries and garden centers now but most still have a great selection of vegetables, flowering annuals and perennials, container grown shrubs and trees that you can plant and enjoy this year while we still have eighty percent of the 2016 growing season in front of us. The early bird gardeners this year have gotten a lot of help from natural rainfall and mild temperatures so most of their plantings are already rooted in and looking great. Those planting now may not get as much help from rains and may need to spend a little more time watering but they can still have a great gardening season and the thrill of picking their own fresh tomatoes and peppers or the beauty of their own fresh flowers.

Remember that plants in hanging baskets or decorative containers will usually dry out quicker and more often than plants grown in ground beds and may require extra watering. Be aware that planting in flower beds under your roof overhang, under thick tree or shrub canopies or in containers under porches or patios may receive limited rainfall and will need to be watered whether it rains or not. One of the joys of gardening is to be observant and learn how various plants grow and respond to different soil, water, day length and weather conditions and then to use our experiences and common sense to garden even wiser in the future. Observation and learning really enhance the joy of gardening. These experiences help us learn to move plants to sunnier or shadier areas, to more protected or less protected spots, to better drained or less drained areas, to use bigger growing containers and how and when to feed, water and spray our plants. Our knowledge and experience continues to grow and evolve just as our plants grow and evolve. Gardening is a partnership between the plants you select and plant, the weather and conditions nature serves up and our role as planters and caretakers.

Assuming the sun rises and shines each day the next most important issue for planting or gardening success is usually water. Sometime nature provides too much by way of floods or standing water and we have limited ways to deal with an overabundance of water except for creating well drained soil over time by the addition of sphagnum peat moss, compost or other organic matter. A shortage of rain or water is the challenge Oklahoma gardeners are more likely to face and we humans can really help with this challenge. We can hand water, use overhead sprinklers, soaker hoses, and automatic sprinklers or install drip irrigation, the most efficient way to supplement watering between rains. Most established plants need water equivalent to 1 to 2 inches of rain per week. New plantings often require more until they are well rooted into their new home.

Mulch the soil under new and existing plantings with a blanket of 1 to 2 inches of cottonseed hulls, pine straw, pecan hulls, cocoa hulls or pine, oak, cypress, cedar or fir bark shredded or chipped in different sizes and colors to reduce watering by half and weeding by even more.

This is still a great time to plant so finish planting the containers and flowerbeds you want to enjoy this year and then take time to observe, learn and enjoy your yard.

This spring has been off to a strong and happy start for most Oklahoma gardeners, nurseries and garden centers. After several years of intense drought and then heavy rains through much of the planting season last year we are finally enjoying a more “normal” weather year in 2016 which is allowing more spring planting and lots of gardening success. Even this week we have received several nice rains across many areas of the state and moderate, even almost cool late May weather. If you have already planted vegetables or flowers they are likely off to a good start and doing well. If you haven’t planted yet or want to plant more, the weather conditions are near perfect with some moisture in the soil and still moderate temperatures. Many gardeners tell me everything is growing well, even the weeds, which may be one of the biggest garden challenges so far this year. There are several key ways to deal with the weeds, pull them out by hand or hoe and scrape them out of the areas you do not want them growing. There are pre-emergent herbicides you can apply, some you can use over the top of desired plants to kill weeds or grasses before they germinate. There are a few choices of post-emergent herbicides including some you can apply over the top of desirable plants to help control or kill weeds and grasses that have already germinated. Make sure to read the directions carefully as a post-emergent killer may also kill desirable ornamental grasses as it is unable to identify between what you think are good or bad grasses. There are similar concerns with broadleaf herbicides. Never use Roundup or glyphosate over any green desirable plants as it will kill anything green it comes in contact with. As amazing as Roundup is to clear an area for a new flowerbed or to clean up fence rows or along sidewalks it can be deadly to your desirable green plants if it gets on them.

The only totally safe way to remove weeds is to hand pull them, but you must be wise enough to only pull the weeds and not the plants you want to keep and cultivate. After you weed you can dramatically reduce future weed pressure by mulching the top of the soil in your garden, flowerbeds, and decorative containers with a blanket of a couple of inches of one of the many mulches of bark, straw, or hulls. A top dress of these mulches will not only reduce weed pressure but will drastically reduce your watering needs, will cool the soil and roots when we face the full heat of July and August and will result in healthier, happier plants.

We have seen limited pest problems so far this year but are likely to face more insect pressure from aphids, thrips and worms as the temperatures warm up. The cooler, wetter weather is leading to a few fungus and disease problems on lawns, vegetables and flowers, especially those in wet or shady areas that may not be well drained. Take a sample of insect or disease problems to your local garden center or nursery and they can help identify the problem and advise you of your choices to address the challenge.

We still have two new flowerbeds I plan to plant and several where we plan to add significant new plant material to go with the shrubs and perennials that are already in those beds. We are only a little over a month into this growing season so it is still a great time to add new flowerbeds or add new plants to your existing plantings. Container gardening continues to grow in popularity and you can get in on the fun whether you only have an apartment balcony, a small patio at a condo or big porch at your home. Some people use container gardens to grow their fresh vegetables, others for color annuals that are easier to reach without having to get down on your knees in a flowerbed. Other folks use tropicals or a family heirloom type plant and then try to save or over winter them in their garage or a hobby greenhouse.

Get in on the gardening fun and give yourself a good reason to be outside in the healthy sun shine and fresh air enjoying the wonders of nature by planting more beautiful plants to feed your soul and stomach from your own yard.

Tomorrow is Mother’s Day, a special holiday to celebrate the very special ladies in our life that have earned the honor of the mother title. Whether it is your birth mother, grandmother, wife, daughter, daughter in law or another important lady in your life that has helped “mother” you over the years, flowers and plants are often part of the celebration and memories. It seems appropriate that Mother’s Day falls on our calendar in early spring when plants and new life are leafing out and blooming all around us. I suspect this timing and the love, affection and respect we have for our mothers helped lead to the popularity of the term Mother Nature to designate the wonders of the natural or biological world around us.

Many mothers love and appreciate fresh flowers as part of the holiday celebration whether it is a beautiful spring bouquet, a vase of their favorite flower or the traditional stunning rose flowers in their favorite color. It can be as simple and special as a bouquet of wild flowers or special flowers from your own yard, the yard where they grew up or another special place. This is often how kiddos first begin to honor their all important mothers.

Many folks give an actual rose bush in addition or to cut roses so that plant becomes a living memory of Mother’s Day and you can cut and enjoy roses from that bush for years to come. If your mom loves crape myrtle, lilacs, azaleas, a special tree, shrub or some other kind of plant consider giving that to her as a living gift that will build on the memories of this year. Think how many of your memories of grandma or great grandmother revolve around their trademark plants whether it was iris, daylilies, dahlias, grapes, blackberries or some other plant and start building your own memories and traditions as you honor the important mothers in your life.

My mom recently fell and broke her pelvis and is in a rehab center for another week, so we will take her some beautiful cut roses off the gorgeous rose bushes in her yard that she is missing right now and will try to help keep up on her watering and weeding until she gets home. Mom’s always appreciate help making new flowerbeds, planting new container gardens and help trimming trees and shrubs and other garden and landscape projects.

After the recent rains, most all of our trees, shrubs, vegetables and flowers are lush, vibrant green and producing lots of new growth. Nighttime temperatures are now warm enough where you can plant even the “warm blooded” crops like caladium, vinca or periwinkle, sweet potatoes and okra. It is pretty much prime season to plant just about anything that is container grown where the roots are well established in soil. Take advantage of the nice spring weather and longer days to add more trees and shrubs to your landscape. If you haven’t already planted your vegetable garden now is still a great time to plant tomatoes, sweet and hot peppers, eggplant, melons, summer squash and many types of herbs. There are literally hundreds of great choices in annual flowering plants to plant now to add color to your yard through the full growing season. Add perennial flowers for seasonal color and to be a key building block in your gardens that will come back year after year.

Happy Mother’s Day to my mom and thank you to all the other wonderful mothers that shape our families, our communities and our country every single day. Nothing would be possible without the love and blessings of all you sweet and caring Mothers.