Hot, wet summer yields beautiful gardens

by Alice E. Gerard
Grand Island Dispatch, September 15, 2006

A garden at a residence along the West River shows plentiful blooms,
thanks in part to a warmer-than-usual summer. (photo by Alice Gerard)

It was a good summer for gardens, lawns, and fruit trees, said Sharon Webber, cooperative extension educator with the Cornell University Cooperative Extension in East Aurora. “It’s been, for most growers, a great year because it’s been warm. The hot weather in July had a positive impact,” she said.

The main negative weather-related problem for growers this year occurred early in May, when there was a late frost. “A late spring frost is negative because it freezes out well-developed and fully formed buds,” Webber said.

The National Weather Service described July’s weather as a “tropical summer month for Western New York.” It was the ninth-warmest July in the 64 years that the weather service has been keeping records. The average temperature, according to National Weather Service data was 73.7 degrees F or 3 degrees above normal. This kept the area hot and humid much of the time.

July: Sunny and Bright

During the last seven days of the month, the lowest temperature recorded was 70 degrees. It was also sunny and bright for 65 percent of the time. Despite the heat, the National Weather Service recorded no days with a temperature above 90 degrees. Lake Erie, in addition, was three degrees warmer than average for July, with a temperature of 76 degrees.

August, on the other hand, was an average month, with the average air temperature of 69.7 being a little less than one degree above normal. The National Weather Service recorded one day in August with a temperature above 90 degrees.

Lake Erie temperatures for August averaged 74 to 76 degrees and peaked at 78 to 79 degrees. Meteorologist Bill Hibbert of the National Weather Service in Buffalo said those peak temperatures were at “the higher end over the past five years.”

Lake Ontario temperatures averaged 75 degrees in July and 75 to 77 degrees in August, Hibbert said.

The National Weather Service reported that, in August, “The rains were frequent enough that the landscape stayed greener than many other years.”

Lots of Bugs

The summer’s hot weather resulted in a proliferation of insects, Webber said. She explained that, when there is a period of sustained heat, insect growth is “greater or quicker in certain situations.” She said that Japanese beetles have been a big problem for gardeners in July. “We had lots of calls about Japanese beetles in July.” Since July, the Japanese beetles “burrowed into lawn grasses, laid eggs, and have emerged as grubs. We are starting to see a fairly significant grub population. It may not be worse than previous years, but is out there.”

During the hot summer, the healthiest gardens and landscapes were those that endured the least amount of stress. Webber said that plants, like people, react badly to stress. One cause of stress is drought conditions. Early in July, less than normal rainfall was leading to drought-like conditions. The month, however, ended with stormy conditions and copious rainfall, especially in the northtowns and Niagara Falls, according to National Weather Service data. Rainfall on July 28 was described as a “2 to 4 inch deluge.”

Plants that are weakened by stress are more likely to succumb to insect infestations or other problems. Plants are kept happy and stress-free in hot weather with regular irrigation, either through rainfall or watering. Webber suggested that an inch of water per week is sufficient to keep plants well hydrated and stress free.

Lots of Weeds

Another problem that kept gardeners busy was a collection of healthy weeds. “We’ve seen lots of weeds this summer in both landscapes and lawns. Some of the best controls are to hand-pull the weeds, preferably before seed development,” Webber said.

For the fall, Webber suggests that people prepare their gardens and landscapes for the winter and for the next growing season by “focusing on the soil.”

“It’s not a bad time to consider top dressing your garden beds with a good quality compost,” she said. This is especially necessary in Grand Island, where the soil tends to be full of heavy clay.

“It is a good idea to fortify your garden by using dehydrated garden manure, leaf mold, and good organic soil amendments,” Webber explained. She added that adding the compost to the garden will not yield instant results, however. “You must work at this and make it part of your routine maintenance,” Webber said.

“I guess, in a nutshell, if you’re taking good care of your plants and keeping them watered, they are positioned to tolerate a certain amount of pressure. This year was not a bad year. We’ve gone through extremes in weather in previous summers, with cold, wet, or dry conditions. These have been real challenges for people and for plants,” Webber said.