A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2006 garden needs rain....badly

I don't think I've ever seen my garden as bad as it is this year. It is a hot, dry summer, and watering with the hose doesn't even seem to be doing much good.. My cukes are gone, the birds were eating the leaves and the ends of them, so they are pretty much gone. My potatoes are sparse and have barely grown. Some of my tomato plants are bolting too high, while others which are in the sunny areas are only a little bigger than when first planted and the carrots are the same....even my parsley is small with yellowing...I would throw peatmoss between the rows but someone told me it can make it even drier. Is this so? our season is short, so I don't think there will be much harvest from the garden this year. It's a strange summer? How are your gardens?

It's been an abnormally hot year. Last week was solid 100+ degree (Farenheit) temps! I got some mulch, finally, down on last monday. It helped so much--everthing is much happier. My tomatoes have stopped BER-ing and my peppers had a sudden explosion of flowering and fruiting! I used a bale of alfalfa for my mulch and I can really tell a difference.

Pretty much the same temps around here. It's very hot....no rain for over a month...

Pretty much the same temps around here. It's very hot....no rain for over a month...

This is my first garden, we have really hot weather here, not i the 100's but steady 90's, and we have been getting lots of rain. It's either really hot or really wet. But my garden is doing well for this being my first one. I haven't gotten any tomatoes yet but they are growing! I know I'll have plenty of tomatoes once they start ripening.

Conditions like that are where a nice, thick layer of mulch would be invaluable.