December 1, 2023

Helen Chesnut explains how the primary half of August has at all times labored effectively

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Q. Since shifting to the coast, I’m delving into the cultivation of fall and winter greens. Particularly, I’d prefer to know one of the best timing for sowing lettuces to reap throughout chilly climate seasons.

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A. The primary half of August has at all times labored effectively in my backyard, which is partly shaded from morning solar. In additional open, totally sunny and earlier gardens, the seeding may very well be accomplished a bit later.

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Seed packets and catalogue descriptions point out varieties fitted to chilly season harvesting. Typically the variability title signifies its suitability. For fall and winter lettuces, West Coast Seeds recommends Rouge d’hiver, a romaine whose title means “pink of winter,” and Winter Density, an award profitable darkish inexperienced romaine lettuce.

Seed into an area that might be handy to cowl with plastic tunnelling during times of utmost chilly and/or heavy snow. Skinny the vegetation effectively to provide every lettuce house to develop correctly.

Transplants of lettuces for late summer season planting are generally obtainable at native backyard centres.

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Q. The flowering dogwood tree we planted in a sunny web site final yr has begun to look very careworn this summer season, with wilted and discoloured leaves. How can we revive it?

A. Although flowering dogwoods (Cornus florida) can, theoretically, be grown in solar or shade, they’re inclined to warmth stress the place they’re uncovered to the most well liked summer season afternoon solar.

A tree partly shade or mild shade has some safety from warmth stress, which has change into an issue for a lot of vegetation within the scorching summers of current years.

One other widespread explanation for misery in flowering dogwoods is over-watering. This usually occurs to timber throughout the vary of an automated watering system. As soon as a tree is effectively established, that’s after no less than one yr in a backyard, it wants a sluggish, deep watering simply as soon as every week.

Following a deep watering with a beneficiant layer of a nourishing compost over the basis space helps to spice up a tree’s well being.

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