The summer gardening season may be winding down, but many gardeners may be busy preparing for planting this fall and next spring.
In this week’s edition of Gardentalk, Master Gardener Ed Buyarski advises gardeners to finish harvesting late season vegetables and begin cleaning up garden beds and planters, especially if they will be used for planting garlic in October.
Vegetables like carrots and beets could stay in your garden if they are still growing, but old lettuce and Swiss chard should come out before they become prime habitat for slugs.
For those harvesting potatoes and vegetables from the cabbage family, put the discarded plants and roots out in the garbage to be taken to the landfill.
Do not put the remains in your compost or your garden may be overrun with a root maggot infestation next year.
For those planting garlic, line the bottom of your planter with spawned out salmon or another compost of your choice. Break the bulbs apart into individual cloves and plant the cloves six inches apart and two inches deep. Don’t forget to plant the garlic clove with the pointy end up. Cover with soil, seaweed and a layer of clear plastic for the winter.
Gardentalk is a weekly feature that airs every Thursday morning on KTOO’s Morning Edition program during the spring and summer. You can sign up for the podcast or ask your own question for gardening help by going to the Gardentalk archive page.
