5 THINGS TO DO IN THE GARDEN THIS WEEK

1 Make the cut: Root softwood cuttings from perennials, including roses, ornamental sages (Salvias), geraniums (Pelargoniums), marguerite daisies, euryops and African blue basil. Take 4-5inches of soft growth (that would still snap if bent) from shoot terminals. Such cuttings taken from shoots lower on the plant contain more root hormone so should root more quickly than cuttings taken from higher up on the plant. For faster rooting, you can also dip cuttings in powdered root hormone, readily available in nurseries and through online vendors. You can make a mini-greenhouse by placing cuttings in 2to 4-inch plastic containers that housed annual flowers, vegetables or herbs that you brought home from the nursery. You can create a mini-greenhouse for such plants in a variety of ways, from repurposing plastic containers (the ones that hold cupcakes and other baked goods, as long as you poke holes in the bottom for drainage) to supporting plastic wrap over them with popsicle sticks, to inverting glass jars or plastic beverage bottles (after cutting off the top half) over your plants.

2 Let there be light: Provide maximum sun for your vegetable garden. The tallest crops should be on the north edge of your vegetable beds, moving down to the shortest crops on the south edge. Beds can be as long as you wish but it is best to stay with a 3-foot width so your crops are always in reach and you do not have to step on the soil to access the interior rows. If you lack full sun exposure but still want to grow vegetables, root crops such as radishes, beets, carrots and potatoes are recommended. They should still receive at least half a day of sun. Lettuces and other salad greens are probably the most suitable crops when it comes to half-day sun or less.

3 On your rose toes: When the first flush of roses has begun to fade, pruning is in order. On a stem that has flowered, make your pruning cut above the first five-leaflet leaf as you go down from the faded flower, whose bud points away from the plant. Typically, the leaves just below the faded flower have three leaflets, so you will have to go down the stem, sometimes a foot or more, before you encounter the first five-leaflet leaf. You want the bud between leaf and stem to point outward, since inward growing shoots will get tangled up with other growth and create shade where fungi and insect pests will feel at home.

4 Easy orchids: Plant Epidendrum orchids in the ground or in containers. Epidendrums are regaled as the easiest orchids to grow. They bloom virtually all the time, either in full sun along the coast or with some sun protection inland. Moreover, they are easily propagated from stem cuttings. When a stem's mini-Cattleya-type flowers have faded, cut it down to within two nodes (joints) of the ground. The detached cuttings can be placed in the ground or in pots where they will root soon enough. Although not seen normally in your corner nursery, a vast array of them is available through online vendors.

5 Support your local tomatoes: There are four tomato framing or staking options. The first is the tomato cage, and I am not referring to those readymade, bare-bones cages that are woefully inadequate, in my humble opinion, for the task at hand. Take 6 1/2 feet of 5- or 6-foot tall hardware cloth, bend it into a cage, and stake it down. As your plant grows, you will not need to prune or tape it since it will use the cage for support. You will get more fruit this way but of smaller size. The second staking option is the trellis. Hammer 8-foot stakes 2 feet into the ground, one on each end of the row and 10 feet apart within the row. Install hardware cloth or concrete mesh between the stakes. Place one tomato plant every 2feet. Prune most suckers, allowing two or three stems to grow. You will not need to tie up your plants, just weave their stems in and out of the wire. Another option is to fasten a two-by-four across the top of the stakes in the previous option and then tie twine between the wood and a main shoot on each tomato plant. The tomato will vine its way up the twine. Finally, you can grow individual tomato plants on 8-foot stakes, pounded 2 feet into the ground. Allow only one main stem to develop. This technique will give you an early harvest with huge fruit.