Five things to do in the garden this week:
Fruits. Two years ago, I planted Anna and an Ein Shemer apple trees in the same hole since they do an excellent job of pollinating each other. Today, I have more than 50 fruits on each tree. The critters that ate my peaches, cherries, and strawberries have left the apples alone. Fruits with soft flesh are more appetizing to my nocturnal garden visitors than the hard-textured apples. Certain practices that make apples crispier include: deep watering on a regular schedule; applying a foliar spray of calcium nitrate several times during the growing season; reducing watering three weeks before harvest to prevent fruit softening; after harvest, immediately place apples in the refrigerator.
Vegetables. An advantage to planting most cucumber varieties, especially Persian cucumbers, is that they are parthenocarpic, meaning that flowers do not require pollination for fruit to form. This also means that the cucumbers produced are seedless. So if you are in an area with little bee activity, plant cucumbers of this kind. It is of interest to note that English cucumbers behave parthenocarpically when grown in greenhouses and are tasty and seedless as a result. However, if they are grown outdoors and flowers are pollinated by bees, English cucumbers are full of seeds and inedible due to their bitterness.
Herbs. Wood betony (Betonica officinalis) is a member of the mint family, although the fragrance of its leaves, when crushed, is not as pleasantly minty as you might expect. Its virtue lies in brewing these leaves along with the leaves of lemon balm (Melissa officinalis) into a tea. This tea is recommended for calming nerves and coping with anxiety. Aside from its mental health benefits, wood betony is an attractive ornamental on account of its violet flower spikes — rising two feet from its clumping growth — that are in bloom from now until the fall.
Flowers. My Serbian bellflower (Campanula poscharskyana) is blooming its head off. It only gets a small amount of afternoon sun, but that’s all the light it needs to floristically splurge. Bellflowers are meant for viewing close up since their blooms are not at all shrill, and their beauty, notwithstanding their shape, does not ring out, but is whispered instead. When planted over a large expanse, Serbian bellflower becomes invisible. It needs to be seen up close, in small to medium-sized flower beds next to an entry, along a walkway, adjacent to steps, or in pots, to be appreciated. It demands sun protection as much as any other ground cover, yet eschews deep shade.
Have you ever wondered if pistachio, walnut, or pecan shells could be useful in the garden? If you have heavy soil, incorporating them into it with a shovel would definitely improve drainage, even if it would take many years for the shells to decompose. If you wish to crush the shells, making them more suitable for your compost pile or for mulch, the easiest technique is to put them in a bag that is then smashed with a hammer. There is also Corona’s cast-iron corn and grain mill, costing around 60 dollars, that will do the job. Where pistachio shells are concerned, soak them in water for 24 hours to remove salt before smashing or grinding for garden use. Salt is deleterious to plant growth.