'Something's got to be wrong with this plant - look at its leaves!'

Back to the mail bag, if that is what you can call a computer inbox. My, how times have changed. I actually used to get snail mail questions.

This time of year I always get a lot of "What is wrong with my xyz plant? Look at its leaves!" Dutifully attached to the email is a picture with a tomato or a squash plant with blotchy or yellow leaves. (Well, usually. Sometimes I will get a description, but no picture. Please do send one if you have a query.)

Anyhow, one of the things I learned while researching "Teaming With Nutrients" is that it is awfully hard, if not impossible, to determine what is wrong with a plant based on the symptoms shown on its leaves. You can make some educated guesses, however, especially based on the conditions in which the plant is growing, its behavior and what is going on with its surrounding plants.

For tomato questions a great place is to check out the Cornell University's plant pathology key for tomato diseases. Similarly if you have cucurbit (squash, etc.) problems, there is a key for them as well. You might just want to check them out even if you don't have problems. And, by all means, bookmark them so you have these references if your plants do develop some sort of problem.

Next, is now the time to thatch? Yes, but only if you need to. Thatch is a buildup of grass stems that don't easily decay. Think thatch roof. When it gets over an inch or so thick it can impact how a lawn grows. Most people have mulching mowers and if you don't use heavy nitrogen  lawn foods, you probably don't have a thatch problem. You will have some dead grass blades and maybe even a thin layer of thatch, which is normal.

How do you know if yours is too thick? Compare a slice of your lawn with photos of bad thatch found on the internet. These show about inch or two of thick stems woven between plants. Then ask yourself if your lawn is yellow or green. If you are satisfied with its color, relax. If you are not, you can rent a thatching machine or buy a thatching rake and pull it all up. It is a lot of work. You may want to just start by pulling a leaf rake through your lawn and see how much work you really want to do.

Instead, and if you are worried about thatch but don't want to thatch your lawn, consider plug aeration. It will open up your lawn and improve drainage and mitigate any problems caused by real thatch. In the meantime, go organic and stop feeding your lawn and you will never have a thatch problem.

Next, should I cut back my clematis? No. Most clematis grow back each year from the dead wood. If you cut yours back you won't get new growth.

Should I cut back my lilies? You surely can. I like to let mine go to seed because I find the seed pods interesting, but there is nothing wrong with cutting them back. In fact, some folks claim this makes for better flowers the following year because energy and nutrients are not wasted on making seeds.

Should I continue to hill my potatoes? Yes, keep covering the stems except for the top few inches. New potatoes are forming all the time and need the dark to do so. The later ones will be small, but so what. They will taste just fine.

Finally, is it too late to start a compost pile? Absolutely not. You may even get some useable compost if you do so and if you turn it frequently. It takes a combination of grass clippings, leaves, ground sticks, paper and the like that is in a pile at least 3 cubic feet big. You do not need a sunny spot as it is the metabolism of the microbes that do the heating. The hardest part is figuring how to get the right ratio of nitrogen to carbon. Use a compost calculator like this www.klickitatcounty.org/solidwaste/fileshtml/organics/compostcalc.htm to do the thinking for you. You just put what you have into the formula and push a button.

Jeff’s Alaska Garden Calendar

One great plant sale: The Master Gardeners' annual plant sale is Saturday, Aug. 13, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., in the Cooperative Extension Service parking lot, at 16th between A and C streets (1675 C Street). Mostly perennials that can be planted now for next year, plus garden art, free classes, free soil pH testing and so much more. Hopefully there will be a petition to sign to keep CES in Anchorage! Support CES in Anchorage.

Pot recycling day is coming: The annual ALPAR/Alaska Botanical Garden pot recycling day is Aug. 20 at the Alaska  Botanical Garden from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. (or daily at Faltz Nursery). (No early drop offs. Cameras are watching.) Sort all plastic garden pots, trays and cell packs into two groups: 1: No. 2 HDPE pots and trays;  2: No. 5 PP and No. 6 PS and unmarked pots, cell packs and trays.

Harvest: If you don't want your veggies, there are plenty of people to whom you could donate them.

Mowing: This is a great time of year to put a pattern into your lawn. I love circles these days!

Photo Contest: The deadline for Alaska Botanical Garden's 2016 photo contest is Friday, Aug. 12. More information is available at http://alaskabg.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Contest-Rules-Timeline-ABG-Photo-Contest-06Apr16.pdf.