Is much gardening getting done this summer? Not much, I'd say, thanks to miserably hot and humid weather that has dominated the Piedmont since early June. That's a long time to be without the stimulation of planting and tending. We are at midsummer, with some tasks undone and others close to their starting point. Here's what you need to be doing and thinking about.
It's division time
Dig and divide tall bearded irises (the most typical garden iris). This is always a July job, but it will be done late this year, thanks to the weather. Tall bearded irises require division of their rhizomes, those fat, horizontal roots, every four or five years for good bloom. Digging up the clumps is easier than digging daffodils because the rhizomes grow at ground level. Just sink a shovel under the clump. Set it on a tarp or sheets of newspaper. Then remove and discard the old rhizomes in the center that don't have any foliage.
What is left should be younger rhizomes that look fresher and more vigorous. Trim off the tops of the foliage as you go, but leave 2 to 3 inches of each leaf fan. Separate these rhizomes with a knife or pruning shears. Then replant. It is essential to make sure the rhizome sits horizontally on the soil. The top of this fleshy root should be just visible above the soil line. Recheck each rhizome after you water them to make sure they didn't sink.
Dig and divide daffodils. Now that they're dormant, clumps can be dug and divided to rejuvenate the bulbs and produce more and better flowers. Sink your shovel into the ground outside the perimeter of the clump, then lift it gently onto a tarp or paper. Prepare to be amazed at the number of younger, smaller bulbs surrounding the mother bulb you planted years before. Pull them apart gently. Cull out the tiniest bulbs. Replant the bigger ones, which will produce flowers fastest. The medium-sized bulbs that you've replanted may need a year or two to grow to blooming size. If this were a mild summer, I'd suggest replanting the tiniest ones as well in an out-of-the-way spot, but it is too hot for that extra work. Just toss those out.
Think about fall
Plan for autumn vegetables. This will at least make you feel cooler. Some autumn crops require summer planting, but you must water the seeds and young plants. These include seeds of beets and carrots, which can go in from now until mid-August; plants of Brussels sprouts, broccoli and collards, from now until mid-August; and seeds of leaf lettuce and spinach, starting about Aug. 1. Plus insects and slugs will be out there in abundance in late summer, so be watchful.
Watch the grass
Fret over the fescue. Practically everybody is worried about the state of their fescue lawns, which looked so good at the end of a moist winter and through the spring. But heat has taken its toll there, and some overseeding will probably be necessary between Sept. 15 and Oct. 15. Between now and then, don't try to push the grass out of its semi-dormancy with fertilizer. Plus, rainfall seems sufficient to keep the roots alive. But if you have weeds, deal with them now so that they are dead and gone by the time reseeding season rolls around. Digging up broad-leaf weeds such as plantain and dandelions is not too stressful, especially if rain softened up the ground and you save the expense of a weed killer.
