Valerian is a good ground cover for the Yakima heat.

Cerastium is a good ground cover for the Yakima heat.

Valerian is a good ground cover for the Yakima heat.

Cerastium is a good ground cover for the Yakima heat.

Is this the new normal?

We hear that question often these days by some who just do not like the long days of high temperatures experienced the past two summers.

But for gardeners, there is more of a discussion and another question. Where do we go from here? What do we need to do to still have lovely flowers, homegrown vegetables, leaves that are not burned; and what about our containers and hanging baskets?

We could begin this fall by getting more mulch into the soil. Run over those leaves with a lawnmower and add them all around perennials and layer them in raised beds. If you have grass clippings from a final mow (that have not been treated with herbicide), add those, too. Adding more compost/mulch has been proven to help hold water.

These are the gardening tasks for this fall, but there are many more decisions to be made.

What worked for you and what didn’t? Look around and realize that some of our plants are simply not in the right place for those high temps. Even though tags might say six to eight hours of sun, they might not be talking about temps over 100 for several days in a row.

Should they be where they get a bit of shade in the hottest part of the afternoon, and how could we attain that? Planting so that we take advantage of some afternoon shade provided by bigger landscape plants might be ideal.

We could move some of them if needed, but we could also rig up a frame to throw some shade cloth on to temper the sun for a few hours. If you do not have shade cloth, a white sheet will help. You could make a frame easily from PVC pipe; it is lightweight and can be taken apart and stored easily.

Do some homework and see what kinds of landscape plants would be best for our hot — and getting hotter — desert climate. Think about gray colored leaves. There are so many choices, and some that work double duty as a food source for you and the pollinators that we need to invite in.

Sage and rosemary have gray leaves and are happy with high temps, and actually most herbs originated from the Mediterranean area and can take a lot of heat.

For gray-leaved ornamentals, consider Artemesia. There are so many varieties, including Russian sage, a bee lover. Consider the wide variety of sedums: Be sure to include Autumn Joy; it is joyful all through the season. All yarrows are very drought tolerant.

For some ideas that will work for nice color but do not have gray leaves, there are Guillardias, with so many shades of reds, oranges and yellows and they keep blooming.

Don’t forget valerian, cerastium, penstemons and hyssops. For some ground cover, portulaca not only can stand high heat but are happy with poor, dry soil. Be sure to include ornamental grasses that are tough, and many have those gray leaves to add more color to your yard.

About those containers and hanging baskets. Some of our members who love their hanging baskets have taken them to the north side of their houses during heat spells and get them back where they were originally when it cools a bit. Be mindful of keeping them watered properly. You may have to water more than once a day. The same might apply to pots and containers. The bigger the better is a good message when planting in pots. Put really big pots on a wheeled platform to move more easily during hot weather.

One of the biggest ideas that really works is to add more native plants to your landscape. This means native to our area, so they can be successful. There are many to choose from. You can find a good guide by contacting Kelsi at Heritage Garden, kelsi-potterf@conservewa.net.

Do some research by enjoying the local library and, of course, searching the internet for more tips to help in your garden. Also, you can contact our Master Gardener clinic at 509-574-1604. Those good volunteers are there to help you.

And lastly, let’s make a vow to install more trees into our landscape. We need that shade under them to take a break from those summer garden chores.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact our WSU Extension clinic by phone at 509-574-1604 or email gardener@co.yakima.wa.us. You can also visit the Extension clinic at 2403 S. 18th St., Suite 100, in Union Gap. We are there Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 9 a.m. to noon and 1-4 p.m.

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