How to Help Your Plants Survive Summer's HeatIn the heat of the summer, there is nothing I like better than relaxing on the deck, drinking a mojito and admiring my garden. However, the long, hot days of summer can make the plants in our landscape look straggly and tired. With a little bit of care, you can revitalize them, enjoy the scenery and some of those mojitos.
The most common stress on our plants is desiccation, or drying out. The dry winds and heat may cause plants to sag and wilt. Spraying or misting the leaves with water will revive most plants. The water will cool the leaves and increase the plant’s efficiency at drawing water up from the soil. If you are going to use your garden hose, be sure to let the water run on the lawn until the water cools so that you’re not spraying hot water on already heat-stressed plants. After giving your plants their shower, check your irrigation system. Make sure your drippers, emitters and sprinklers are not clogged, and that there are no breaks in your lines. Pay close attention to your watering regime. Most plants in your landscape will benefit from less frequent, deeper watering. During the heat of summer, deeply water your plants about twice a week. Deeper soaking encourages deep root growth and allows plants to draw water from deeper in the soil. You also want to reduce the amount of water lost from evaporation. Many people are surprised to learn that water can be wicked up and out of the soil through evaporation. To reduce soil evaporation, cover your soil with an organic mulch, such as wood chips, compost or straw. Put down at least 3 inches of mulch, taking care to pull it back from the plant bases. The mulch will help keep the soil cool and moist, as well as suppress weed growth. Why is it that so many weeds seem to do just fine in the scorching heat, while our landscape plants struggle? You can try hand pulling weeds that aren’t too difficult to remove or abundant. You can also cut them to the ground and try smothering them with a thick layer of mulch. As a last resort, you can spot spray difficult or aggressive weeds with an appropriate herbicide. However, it is very important to use herbicides when temperatures are low and winds are still. Never spray an herbicide in the heat of the day or when it is windy. Herbicides will volatilize, meaning they will go directly from a liquid to gas, in the presence of heat and sunlight. When an herbicide is a gas, it is less likely to make direct contact with plants and more likely to be inhaled by you. Remember to always read and follow the label directions and wear appropriate protective clothing. These same precautions also apply to using insecticides. Spider mites flourish in hot, dry summer weather. We also often see aphids all season long on their favorite plants. Fortunately, it is not necessary to spray insecticides to control spider mites or aphids, as both are easily controlled with water. Simply spraying infested plants with water will remove many of the insects and raise the humidity, thus altering the habitat of the insects. Spraying with water also has the added benefit of cooling off your plants. If you have herbaceous (nonwoody) perennials that aphids seem to especially love, such as milkweed and columbine, you can install a few micro-jet sprayers directed at the plants to discourage pests. Remember, insecticides are nonselective. They will kill all insects, even the beneficial ones. You want a robust population of beneficial insects in your garden for natural pest control, so use insecticides only as a last resort. Deadheading, or removing dry, spent flowers, will instantly make your plants look better. For most flowering plants, you can cut low on the stem, or to the nearest bud. This will encourage a second bloom. Once you’ve deadheaded, weeded, sprayed off the insects, and improved your watering regime, you may be tempted to give your plants some fertilizer. Don’t. Fertilizing in the heat of the summer can stress plants by increasing the salt content of the soil, and encouraging rapid and unsustainable growth. Besides, most woody plants (trees and shrubs) don’t even need fertilizer. With regular applications of organic mulch, most perennials don’t need fertilizer either. What you can do during these hot summer months is notice where you have bare spots in your yard, and create a plan for filling them. For a quick fix, you can temporarily fill them with heat-tolerant annuals, such as cosmos, salvia, lobelia, or alyssum. Herbs such as basil, parsley, and borage also fill in nicely and provide tasty additions to meals. For a long-term solution, consider planting some ornamental grasses when the weather cools down a bit. Ornamental grasses are especially nice because they increase the biodiversity of your garden, typically use less water, and are interesting to look at year-round. Taller varieties can also be used to shade more heat-sensitive perennials. Providing good cultural care, such as proper planting, pruning, mulching and watering, is the best way to help your plants survive summers hot spells. Also, choosing plants that are native, drought-tolerant or adapted to southwestern Montana will reduce maintenance and water requirements. This is a reprint of an article I wrote when I was the commercial horticulture program coordinator for the western area of University of Nevada Cooperative Extension.
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Wellness Wednesday with Coach Audy
This week we focus on SLEEP for our do it or don’t weekly wellness action. As we shift into our summer routines and are experiencing more daylight hours. This week I want you to leave your phone outside of your bedroom when you go to sleep. I KNOW. I KNOW. It’s your alarm. You have emails you don’t want to miss. Etc. I KNOW. But it’s still a distraction. And before you keep making that list longer with all the reasons why you can’t do it, let’s talk about why it’s important. Electronics have shown to suppress the production of melatonin, the sleep hormone. The blue light from the Tv’s, laptops, phone screens, and smart watches keep our brain stimulated and we stay alert, telling ourselves we aren’t tired yet. It causes restless sleep, not the deep sleep required for repair and recovery. PRO TIP. Buy an alarm clock. I use my Alexa device for my alarm. Your phone doesn’t HAVE to be your alarm. Do it or don’t. But comment below your thoughts and if you’re going to give it a try! Prepare to self rescue, no one is coming.Cora joined our gym August, 2020 so she could get rid of her mom bod, and more importantly recover from three surgeries. She has been writing about her journey in Montana Parent Magazine. Cora is a regular in our 9am class and has embraced the mindset that I frequently share with my classes, prepare to self rescue, no one is coming. Cora has discovered her own strength. She can lift heavy things. Do hard shit. This discovery has influenced her outlook on life. Check out her latest #transformationtuesday story in June's issue of Montana Parent magazine. Myth: Six-pack Abs will Make you Happy and Are an Excellent Indicator of Your FitnessWant to make your Coach cry? Let them know that no matter what you're able to do with your amazing body, you're just not happy because you can't see your abdominal muscles. REALLY? Your happiness and self worth are tied up in a myth and ideal that was created by someone else and that will likely change, again, in the next 10 ten years. Here's the cold hard truth, if you want to have visible abs you have to change what you eat, AND it's going to take some serious effort to get that lean. Men need to have about less than 10% body fat and women about less than 15% body fat to have visible abs. Do you know your current body fat percentage? I calculated this for everybody during our Spring Check-ins. I don't know why this particular group of muscles is the cause célèbre for fitness. Why not deltoids, hamstrings, or quadriceps? There are so many amazing muscle groups that, when developed, have so much more functional power. The trend towards visible abs is recent. In the 1980's small thighs and flat bellies were the ideal women's body thanks Suzanna Summers, Jane Fonda and Denise Austin. In the 1990's step-aerobics and TAEBO got us moving and looking more lean and mean. Then in the 2000s flat and small gave way to lean and visible muscles, but not too much. We were told to be "toned" but not bulky. Give me a break. Someday we are going to accept ourselves as we are and celebrate what our bodies can do! So, if you still think 6-pack abs are where it's at, here's a great breakdown from the smart folks at Precision Nutrition of the effort and sacrifices you'll need to make in order to have visible abs. Good luck! |
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