Zachary Snipes, Assistant Program Team Leader-Horticulture, Area Horticulture Agent
The summer is upon us, and it is hot and humid in the garden. The joys of spring gardening and the fulfillment of a summer harvest have passed. Most gardens by this time of year are overgrown with weeds, full of dying plants, and void of productive life. This is a critical time for Lowcountry gardeners to take back control of their garden spots.
In the summer, weeds, insects, diseases, and nematodes thrive in our garden spaces if left unchecked. All too often, it’s hot and humid, so we neglect our gardens and vow to attend to them when temperatures cool off.
Pests are rapidly multiplying during these months and will become significant problems in the fall or next spring’s garden.
Weeds thrive in hot conditions and produce tubers, rhizomes, and/or seeds that remain dormant in the soil until conditions are right for germination. A single female pigweed plant can produce upwards of 500,000 (yes, half a million) seeds. Those seeds can lie dormant for decades until conditions are right for them to germinate. Today’s eyesore can become a serious problem for decades to come.
A very similar scenario is happening underground with nematodes as well. Nematodes are microscopic roundworms that invade plant roots and take nutrients and energy from the plant. Unchecked growth from letting gardens go feral during the summer causes exponential population growth and major problems in next year’s garden.
You may be asking yourself, “What should I do instead of letting my garden go?” Below are several management options to keep your garden thriving for years to come.
Remove any non-productive plants. Pull plants and discard them in the trash or burn piles. Plants left in the field serve as a breeding ground for insects, diseases, and nematodes.
Till in weeds and plant debris. The best way to manage pests is to prevent the host from being present. Tillage breaks down plant material, recycling nutrients in the soil. Tillage also keeps weeds from making seeds.
Consider a cover crop. Once a garden has been tilled, sowing a cover crop can add nutrients back into the soil for a fall or spring planting. Some of my summer favorites are cowpeas, soybeans, millet, sorghum Sudan hybrid, buckwheat, and Sunn hemp.
Create a flower patch. Sow easy annuals such as zinnias, cosmos, sunflowers, and buckwheat to fill the space, but add pollinator habitat.
Cover with a silage tarp to smother weeds for the next planting.
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