Spring is winding down and summer’s just around the corner. Here’s the last burst of garden chores to get done this month before serious heat sets in.
Planting Nursery Plants
Continue to plant warm-season annual flowers and vegetables (tomatoes, peppers, marigolds, and the like) as long as you have enough time for them to beat the summer heat. (However, in hot desert areas, for example, that means no later than late February.) If in doubt, give a quick call to the garden center nearest you.
- If you haven’t already, plant seeds for corn, green beans, melons, squash, cucumbers, okra, sweet potatoes and other heat-lovers.
- Keep up with watering. Even highly drought-tolerant plants can need irrigation. Water large cacti, for example, once a month and agave and yuccas every three weeks.
- Prune winter- and spring-flowering trees and shrubs once they stop blooming.
- Limit pruning of desert legume trees such as palo verde and mesquite, just removing dead or very small limbs as necessary. Heavy pruning, to stimulate new growth which will be stressed by oncoming heat, should wait until later in the summer.
admin Articles
What to expect with the transition from winter to summer lawns:
When nighttime, low temperatures in the Valley remain above 60 degrees, the Bermuda grass, which has been dormant all winter, begins to grow. As daytime temperatures exceed 90 degrees, the rye grass will begin to recede. It is during this transition period where both types of grass compete for space and water. The transition from Rye grass to Bermuda grass is a gradual process that lasts from the beginning of April through the end of May. All the grass in the common areas should be primarily Bermuda grass by the beginning of June.
You can expect to see changes in the turf areas throughout the transition period. The irrigation watering times will be monitored closely to encourage the Bermuda grass to grow instead of the Rye. We gradually lower the decks of our mowers from 2” down to 1.25”. Lowering the mower heights does not hurt the Bermuda, but will serve to force the Rye to die off. As the Rye grass dies off, the turf may appear off color or yellow and there may even be some distinct areas that appear dry. This is a temporary condition that improves as the Bermuda grass fills in. In some areas where the Rye grass dies off it forms a thick mat. This is easily removed with a verticutting machine as necessary.
The Bermuda should be actively growing at the beginning of May. At this point the water will be increased and we will apply an appropriate warm weather fertilizer to promote healthy turf.
admin Articles
