Alaska News

Jeff Lowenfels: Fire-wise gardening

This is a bunny rabbit column. You know, one where I hop all around? There are just too many questions to answer for me to dwell on a specific topic.

Let's start with what the professionals call "fire-wise" gardening. This is something about which all Alaskans need to think for a few minutes this week given the fires raging in the state and the prospects of warmer and drier weather to come.

How does your yard stack up? Do you have hoses that reach all parts of it? Do you have a chain saw in case you get stuck in your driveway? You can (and should) do a Web search on fire-wise gardening. You will find all manner of information about what to plant and where. And, along with fireworks, it's time to lay off burning weeds until all danger is past.

All of a sudden the idea of a lawn doesn't sound so bad. It is a barrier that helps protect your dwelling. Just make sure it is well watered if there is a fire in the area. A neatly trimmed lawn will char but it won't provide much by way of fuel for a fire.

Spruce trees are a big problem. They shouldn't be right up against the house. At the very least trim branches that are too close, even those on deciduous trees. Obviously debris and firewood piles should not be located up against the walls of the house or outbuildings.

Mugho pines are not great foundation plants. Their needles are full of volatiles and they accumulate under the branches along with all manner of flammable debris. If you need a foundation planting, make it a cotoneaster or lilacs.

Speaking of lilacs, this is the beginning of their season. The No. 1 reason why there are few or no flowers on an Alaska lilac is moose browse. Sometime since last August, moose got to your plants and nibbled off the tasty buds that would have been this summer's flowers. This is particularly evident on tall lilacs; flowers form only above the 12- or 13-foot mark where moose don't normally reach.

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In order to ensure flowers next year you might want to consider using a moose repellent starting now. (Plantskydd is everyone's current favorite.) Keep those moose away all year long, not just in the winter. It makes sense, doesn't it, particularly when the buds for next year form right after this year's flowers?

Next, in order to get fruit, you have to have flowers, and in order to have flowers develop, you need to have ample water. I am thinking of raspberries right now. This is the time for water if you want a great harvest and we have not had enough water. Make sure yours are getting ample water so that you will have a good harvest. If your strawberries are ever bearing or later bearing, make sure they have enough water as well. Both plants are ripe, if you will pardon the pun, for mulching, which will adsorb and then hold moisture.

The same advice goes for vegetables. It has been unusually dry for Alaska this summer and if you don't water, you are going to have puny crops. The big problem is that you can't just start watering next month and expect any results.

Dry times are good times to catch slugs, actually. Your nighttime beer or yeast/water traps may be the best chance for them to get hydrated, albeit for the last time. Just remember the Lowenfels' rule: Place traps outside the garden so you don't attract slugs into it. Slugs will travel quite a distance to get that beer.

When we don't get lots and lots of rain, people get lazy about staking their taller plants. Peonies are blooming now and for the next month or so, and if you are a betting person, you will bet it is going to rain sometime during this period. Heavy flowers drop to the ground and that is that. Delphiniums, malva, tall hollyhocks and the like all should be staked, carefully, so that they won't snap in rains and winds.

It has been unusually warm. When temperatures start get above 90 degrees or so, plants start to shut down. This means your outdoor greenhouse may actually be slowing the growth of your plants and not helping things. And you have to make sure your tomato and pepper flowers are getting pollinated. What self-respecting bee would want to fly in 90 degrees when there are cooler venues about? Make sure your fan or ventilation system is up to the increased heat we are experiencing.

Ouch! I often see mints planted in gardens and when I do, I shudder to think of the future years. Mints spread. They really spread. And they do so mostly by underground roots. No matter how much you like mint, it is absolutely essential that roots be contained and restrained lest the plants become pernicious weeds. Keep yours in pots and bury the pots in the garden. However, make sure roots don't grow out of the bottom of the pot. It is also a good idea to remove flowers before they go to seed. Still, there are those roots.

Finally, do you know where your houseplants are this summer? Make sure you don't ignore your winter friends. They need watering in the summer, too.

Jeff’s Alaska Garden Calendar

Coyote Garden Tour: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, July 25, and noon to 5 p.m. Sunday, July 26. Les Brake's heralded garden! Call 495-6525. It's up in Willow. Well worth the trip

Willow Garden Club: Dan Hinkley, best known for establishing Heronswood Nursery, will share stores of his most recent adventure searching for rare plants in China, Vietnam and Myanmar. 1:30 p.m. Aug. 1 in the Willow Community Center, Mile 69.5 Parks Highway. For tickets, visit willowgardenclub.blogspot.com.

Chickweed: It is in flower. Pick it and get rid of it!

Jeff Lowenfels

Jeff Lowenfels has written a weekly gardening column for the ADN for more than 45 years. His columns won the 2022 gold medal at the Garden Communicators International conference. He is the author of a series of books on organic gardening available at Amazon and elsewhere. He co-hosts the "Teaming With Microbes" podcast.

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