ON THE GARDEN PATH by Carolyn Herriot

Deadhead and prune
Remove spent blooms of repeat flowering roses to encourage a later flush of flowers. Deadheading used to involve cutting back the shoots to three to five leaves, but it has been shown that the more foliage the plant retains the better it performs. So deadhead hybrid tea and floribunda roses by snapping off spent flowers at the natural break point on the stem, usually one to two inches (2.5 - 5 cm) below the flower. This promotes earlier repeat flowering.
Keep on deadheading. Plants set seed after flowering to attract pollinating insects and then have no need to keep flowering. Deadheading encourages an ongoing show of flowers.
Tip: Picking sweet peas regularly prevents them from going to seed and encourages continued flowering. Deadhead rhododendrons and lilacs before they set seed. This improves the floral show for next year by channelling the plant’s energy into growth instead of setting seed.
Shear back plants that have finished blooming, such as oriental poppies, hardy geraniums, pulmonaria, omphaloides, alchemilla, centaurea montana, euphorbias. Cut them just above ground level. They will go into a period of semi-dormancy followed by a flush of new foliage to fill in the gap.
Spring flowering shrubs, such as deutzia, weigela, lilacs, philadelphus and forsythia, should be pruned after blooming. Cut out older stems, leaving younger more vigorous ones to grow. Other spring flowering shrubs, such as Viburnum tinus, berberis, chaenomeles, choisya and flowering currants, should be pruned now after flowering.
Remove one stem in three from Kerria japonica. Rhododendrons can be lightly pruned after flowering if necessary. If deciduous magnolias need pruning, do it now, when in full leaf, as pruning when dormant can lead to dieback problems, and pruning in late winter can result in bleeding. Prune overcrowded stems of Clematis montana once flowering is over.
After bearded irises have flowered, dig up any large clumps and split them. Select the most vigorous rhizomes with one or two fans attached. Replant them in full sun with the tops of the rhizomes just showing. If you replant them too deep they will not flower the following year.
Tip: Cut leaves back by half to prevent irises from being uprooted while the shallow roots are re-establishing.

In the vegetable garden
Try growing squash or pumpkins on the compost heap. They love a nutrient-rich medium and will go bananas. The compost should be well rotted before you sow the squash seeds or plant transplants. To promote better fruiting, feed tomatoes, eggplants and peppers with granular seaweed, high in potash. It can be worked into the soil as a side dressing around established plants or incorporated into planting holes. Feed pots of tomatoes, peppers and eggplants weekly with liquid seaweed. As plants establish and their roots fill the pots, it is harder for them to absorb nutrients from the medium in the containers. A weekly liquid feed of manure tea, compost tea or liquid seaweed will compensate for this and more fruit will result. Provide asparagus beds with organic fertilizer when the last crop has been harvested. Allow the remaining spears to continue growing into ferny canes, to replenish strength in the roots.
Run out of space? Vertical gardening is the answer. Tie strings of garden twine up and down a horizontal support frame and attach beans, vining tomatoes, red malabar climbing spinach or cucumbers to this framework. Continue direct sowing of beans, squash, carrots, corn, sunflowers and beets.
Weed control is important as competition for moisture and nutrients increases. Hoe between rows during dry weather. Better yet, lay down a thick layer of straw or hay mulch to suppress weeds. Check hardneck (rocambole) garlic for seedheads (scapes). Cut the stalks down as far as the leaves or the seedheads will compromise the size of the garlic bulbs.
Tip: Enjoy the scapes as a mild garlic green in salads, stirfries or as a side vegetable.
Impoverished patches of garden soil can be replenished by planting green manures, crops that when dug back into the soil will replace nutrients. Quick-maturing, green manures include mustard, fenugreek and buckwheat. Or try phacelia, a pretty crop with ferny foliage and bright blue flowers, much loved by bees. Dig these crops under before they set seed.

From A Year on the Garden Path: A 52-Week Organic Gardening Guide by Carolyn Herriot. Second edition $24.95. Available from your favourite bookstore or order online at www.earthfuture.com/gardenpath.