Late Summer Garden Maintenance

Tips on how to maintain your garden as summer comes to a close.

As the summer winds down in many parts of the country the warm temperatures remain, and all that heat can wreak havoc in the garden. Summer annuals and drought tolerant perennials will survive, but cool season crops don't like the heat.
When the temperature stays warm into fall, keep an eye on your vegetable garden.

Watch for herbs and lettuces that begin to bolt, in other words, sends up shoots trying to set seed, it's time to cut the lettuce or herb way down.
Harvest peas before they get overripe. If you're growing peas to shell, harvest them when they are nice and plump. If, however, you're growing peas for their juicy sweet pods, pick them when they're nice and thin.

Broccoli reacts to the heat by turning yellow and trying to flower. Harvest it before it starts flowering. Then continue to let it grow and you'll get little broccoli heads off the sides.

Carrots and onions thrive in the heat. Because they're underground, it's important that you let the foliage grow because it actually feeds the vegetable below.

Tomatoes also thrive in the heat, but if overnight lows get too warm, the flowers will fall off and the plant will not be able to set fruit. But don't worry; when the temperature cools once again, the plant will start blooming. And to ensure pollination, anytime you're out in the garden on a still day, just shake up your tomato plants a bit to help spread pollen.

And keep the water coming but in the grounds not on the leaves, Wilted vegetables are rarely as tasty.

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