Gardens Now Require Special Attention: Gurskas Identifies Urgent Tasks

The height of summer presents a busy period for gardeners, with abundant blooms and a rich harvest of vegetables, herbs, and fruits. According to horticulturalist T. Gurskas, the latter half of summer is an excellent time for planting a variety of potted, ornamental, woody, and herbaceous plants. He notes that sowing continues, with options like lettuce and turnips being planted for late harvest, and some flowers, such as forget-me-nots, sown now for blooms next year.

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Now is even possible to sow lettuce, just over the weekend I sowed turnips, Japanese radishes, they are very tasty. So sowing has definitely not ended, at the end of August we will still sow radishes, because we will eat them around the end of September, October. And we are also sowing some flowers now, for example, forget-me-nots, and next year they will delight with their blooms. So there are definitely flowers that still need to be sown.

Gurskas also advises gardeners to begin collecting seeds from their most beautiful plants, like marigolds and cosmos, to prepare for the following season. Despite variable summer weather, with ample rainfall reducing the need for manual watering, gardeners face challenges from diseases like powdery mildew and rust, as well as various rots. He specifically warns to protect tomatoes and cucumbers, noting that fruit deformities and cracking can occur due to calcium and potassium deficiencies, exacerbated by sudden heavy rains after dry spells.

Slugs are proliferating due to the high precipitation, requiring various control methods, alongside other pests. Gurskas advocates for natural remedies to combat diseases and pests. He suggests using extracts from citrus fruits, garlic, mimosa, and black oak to deter pests and diseases. Homegrown options include fermented nettle for fertilizer and horsetail for combating powdery mildew. Fermented lavender can be sprayed to deter aphids, and garlic infusions offer preventive pest control.

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Various citrus fruit extracts, garlic extracts, mimosa, black oak extracts, which we can use to repel pests and even diseases. And some we can make ourselves. For example, many people know about fermenting nettles and preparing fertilizers from them, but just as well we can ferment horsetail, whose extract helps fight powdery mildew. We can ferment lavender, then spray the plants, and this will help fight pests such as, for example, aphids. Or fermenting garlic also preventively repels pests and prevents them from taking over.

He emphasizes the benefits of natural treatments, allowing produce to be consumed the same day without a waiting period. As autumn approaches, Gurskas recommends harvesting and drying flowers, collecting seeds, and building compost, which he describes as a valuable, cost-free resource. He also encourages gardeners not to hesitate in pruning certain plants heavily.

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If you spray with natural remedies, even with garlic extracts, you can eat, for example, tomatoes or strawberries on the same day, and you don't need to wait for the withdrawal period.