Early Light: Welcome to Summer
Today is Friday, June 20. This is the 172nd day of the year with 194 days remaining in 2008. Later today, summer will descend on us, providing us with the longest day of the year. The first day of summer is timed with the summer solstice which for most of the United States, occurs today. In Europe it’s June 21. In Australia it’s six months later, on December 21. In the U. S. the exact moment is 6:59 CST in case you want to celebrate.
This is a great time to begin a small flower garden. You can turn an unwanted section of lawn into a bed of flowers. As a “lazy gardener”, I’m doing it the easy way. Simply cover the area you want to convert with old newspapers or plastic bags. Cover with composted wood chips for a tidy look. This will cause the turf underneath to bake in the hot summer sun and kill every single weed and blade of grass. In a few months you will have a wonderful space for planting colorful mums or cabbages and pansies for the fall and winter.
I also use the lazy gardeners way of planting. I remove the plastic (if that’s what I’m using) and dump a 40-pound bag of topsoil over the new bed. It’s now ready for your pretties.
