1. If you have a favorite tomato plant, “clone” it now to start new plants for a better harvest in autumn by layering or by making cuttings from 18-inch-long stems. Layer by burying a foot or so of the older portion of a long stem, allowing several inches of the leafy tip to keep growing above the soil. Then cut it off the main plant after a month and plant the rooted portion. Or plant an 18-inch cutting now as deep as possible in its new home, allowing no more than three inches of the growing tip to peek above the soil, and keeping it well-irrigated until new growth begins.
2. Plant tomatoes now for autumn harvest, and prepare a garden spot for winter vegetables. Blend in plenty of homemade compost or other organic matter for best results. Begin planting winter garden vegetables before the end of August. These include beets, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbages, carrots, cauliflower, celery, kale, leeks, lettuces, peas, radishes and turnips. By the end of September, you can add bulbs, such as garlic and onions, and also spinach.
3. Still have those nasty giant whiteflies on your hibiscus or other plants? Wash them off the undersides of the leaves two to three times each week with a high-pressure water stream so they give up and go away, at least for a while. It also helps to spread a layer of Worm Gold earthworm castings under the plants. They don’t like it, so they leave.
4. Remember, shade trees can lower the summer temperature of your house by twenty degrees or more. Choose varieties that will grow tall enough to shade the roof. Planting trees on the south and east sides of the house helps to retain morning coolness. Trees that grow on the south and west sides of a house help to keep it cool during the heat of the day.
5. If you are wondering what to plant in your own yard to make it beautiful and more drought-tolerant, try this: as you go out walking or drive around, look for plants that catch your eye, especially where you can see that they get less water. Take a picture of the ones you like. Then go to a nursery and look around for them, or ask the nurseryman to help identify and show you these plants. Now you will be able to obtain plants that you like. Just remember that they will need some extra water to get started, but over the long run, they will use less – and be beautiful when everything else looks dead.
