Pay some attention now to what is going on in your newly planted gardens and you won't have to work so hard later in the season when the fish are running. That is a fair deal! It makes sense even if you are not a fisherman.
For starters, get those gardens in. If you wait any longer, you will be fighting the back end of the season. Things won't bloom or fruit in time. Worse, if you haven't already purchased your stock, you will find that the pickings are becoming slim. (One more reminder that if you buy nursery stock from indoors, it still must be hardened off despite the late date).
Next, it is really important that you stay on top of the weeds, at least until your plants get established and can outgrow the weeds. We are in the height of the equisetum season and chickweed is catching up fast. The chickweed in particular will overcome your seedlings.
You cannot kill equisetum. You should never be using Roundup anyhow, but don't even try on this stuff. You can pick it back at the soil level and it won't come back this year. It is easy to do. Buck up. A weed eater works great. Try to put the cuttings someplace out of the garden; they produce spores.
Chickweed is easy to pull by hand when it is young, as it is now, and you should be able to get the roots. It is easy to hoe, but you have to remove the cuttings from the garden so the former doesn't sporulate and the latter doesn't simply re-root.
What may be a bigger problem are the grasses that get into garden beds. It is best to try and get the roots of these, but that can be pretty destructive to the soil structure. Get what you can gently, and then mulch with the appropriate type of mulch. Bad problem? Deeper mulch. Brown for perennials and green for gardens. Straw may be better than grass clippings for those annuals and veggies as it shouldn't have seeds in it, grass or dandelion.
Incidentally, get yourself a great pair of gloves to do weeding. The kind I suggest are the ones with the "paint" on the palms. Roses, raspberries, even devil's club are no problem working around when your hands are well protected. And they need to be well protected when you are weeding.
OK, did you set up your watering system yet? Is it a hassle every time you go out to do the chore? This is one area of your life that should be simple. Use timers, shutoff valves where you need them and quick-connect couplings, and make sure things don't leak. Do it now, and stop wasting time. Also, make sure you have hoses that can reach everything that needs to be watered.
This is the time to tend to what needs thinning, such as lettuces, carrots and beets. The latter because what you planted was a seedpod with several seeds in it. You know what needs room. You have been buying groceries and you know how big things get. Give your plants room.
By the same token, this may be the last call to get things planted closer together. If you had die-off in the perennial beds or some of the annuals and vegetables you planted this year did not make it, now is the time to fill those holes in the garden. With annuals, I put things a lot closer than called for normally. If I have to thin out later, I will.
Finally, don't forget to clean up. Nothing will make your gardens and yard look better. Plastic pots, cell pots and cardboard flats need to be sorted, cleaned and, if not recyclable, dumped. And I don't mean dumped in the yard. Spring planting is over. Clean up the mess.
Jeffs Alaska Garden Calendar
Alaska Botanical Garden gala: Get tickets today. Do not wait. This is about as much fun as you can have in a garden and this is the Alaska Botanical Garden in the height of summer. The annual Midsummer Gala is from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. June 25. It is a fundraiser, but it is also a fundraiser. Child care is available. Buy your tickets this week, since they go fast. See you there!