Enjoying the heat? Your plants need TLC to survive

Late July is the hottest time of the year in our area, with 86 degrees being the highest average daily high temperature. I don’t know about you, but that’s hot enough for me. Anyone who loves the 90s must live in air conditioned comfort wherever they go. Or spends their days neck-deep in the lake.

Keeping all the growing things watered takes a lot of time and persistence. Forget to do it one day and this heat will turn your plants into crispy critters. Speaking of that, here is a list of “hot weather” chores:

• Clear anything blocking sprinkler heads, such as foliage.

• Adjust sprinklers to spray only where needed (not in the street).

• Deep water trees and shrubs (many died last year without it).

• Keep garden veggies and fruit picked as they ripen.

• Wash and refill hummer feeders twice a week.

• Hanging baskets often need water twice a day.

Post Falls residents may need to be reminded there are mandatory hours for running sprinklers in the city limits. This means absolutely no sprinklers should be in use between the hours of noon and 6 p.m. on any day of the week. The only exception to this rule is for those starting a new lawn from sod or seed.

Now is the time to cut back blooming annuals. This includes everything from alyssum to verbenas. A lot of these have become stretched out and gangly. Cut each branch about halfway back. A dose of fertilizer will be appreciated. Once this chore is done, look forward to continuous blooms until the weather turns cold.

We continue to have perennials coming into bloom many weeks earlier than normal. My chrysanthemums, Japanese anemones and asters began blooming in mid-July.

If you have a sudden surge of ambition, now is a great time to dig and divide your hostas. They have a heavy duty root system, so you may want to take a slug of Geritol before you begin. Speaking of “slug,” you’ll probably find those slimey critters hiding under your hosta plants, waiting for darkness. There are many ways to deal with them ranging from scissors to salt. Some baits are toxic to pets.

The worst type of slug we have here is the tiger slug. These things are close relatives to the huge banana slugs. They are one price we pay for having relatively mild winters. They don’t survive in central Montana, where I lived the first half of my life. I knew that cold weather was good for something.

While we’re on the subject of critters, I should remind people that there is no such thing as a “mosquito eater.” Yes, these guys do look like a huge mosquito on steroids, but they are actually not related and don’t eat mosquitoes. Take a close look at one and you’ll see that there are no “hands” to catch the bugs or mouth to eat them. These critters are actually crane flies and their only purpose in life is to land on your lawn and lay eggs. These hatch into grass-damaging caterpillars.

I recently saw a cute garden sign which says, “There’s no business like hoe business.” True enough.

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Elaine Cerny has gardened most of her life, starting in 4-H. She has belonged to garden clubs in three states and is currently serving as secretary for the River City Gardeners Club in Post Falls. Her column appears in The Press every other Sunday from early March until late October.