   August Garden Forecast - July 29, 1998 Guest Columnist: Orville Gilmore, Yavapai County Master Gardener The recipe for August weather is July warmed over: just add a little more water and turn the oven down three degrees. Over the years, August has given us about a half inch more of rain than July, averaging 2.27 inches. Last year there was a little more in Cottonwood (2.43) and the year before quite a bit less. Only 0.91 inches. Of course, you might have had much more or much less in your own back yard. Monsoons are notoriously fickle, and your neighbor may have been blessed with an inch or so while you got a trace. Since our data come from Tuzigoot, you Sedonans or Camp Verdeans may have radically different experiences. Sedona's average yearly precipitation is 16.6 inches. The lower Verde Valley (measured at Montezuma Castle) averaged 11.6 inches, and Cottonwood 12.84. August may be the heart of the Monsoon season, but it marks the end of the Summer Sizzle. Although the average maximum temperature in August is 95.9, only three degrees down from July, you can look forward to September with a 10 degree average drop. August, however, will likely give us quite a few days with highs over 100. In 1996 there were sixteen days with such temperatures, and the high was 107, twice! Last year, however, we had only eight days over 100, and the high was only 105. Let's hope that marks the beginning of a downward trend. The average mean temperature (halfway between the average high and average low) has been 79.9 over the past fifty years. Recently, records show a few degrees of warming. Last year's mean was 81.8 degrees and the year before was 84. What do gardeners do in August? Enjoy! Peaches, grapes, melons, squash, tomatoes should all be producing. If you didn't get a fall garden started in July, there is still time to plant some of the cool weather crops such as turnips, rutabagas, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, or daikon radishes. Anything that matures in about 60 days and can take the possibility of a mild frost. If you were unlucky enough to lose a tree to Texas Root Rot, now is the time to sterilize the soil for another planting next year. It is possible, though chancy, to use chemicals, but a better way is to use the heat of the sun. After you take out the tree, spade up the soil with a bag of composted manure, add a can full of soil sulfur or ammonium sulfate, water it in well and cover the patch with clear plastic. Our Arizona sun will turn it into an oven and in time will kill the organisms that killed your tree. Turn the soil every few weeks and continue the process while the sun is hot. Add more composted manure and sulfur in February or March. When you plant another tree or bush in the spot, you might want to try something that is somewhat resistant to root rot. Our bulletin No. 8734, Root Rot in Arizona, has a list of such trees and shrubs. Or call the Master Gardener line in the Cottonwood office at 646-9113. Or E-mail us at mgardener@kachina.net and be sure to include your address and phone number. |