I got my little pond filled and running last week … the fish got moved from a 10-gallon aquarium to a 70-gallon outdoor pond … they’re happy, too.Keeping the pond from getting green with string moss is an ongoing battle if the moss gets started before you take action to prevent it. Have you heard me preach on that theme before? In past years, I’ve had good success with barley straw. That straw has an enzyme that inhibits the growth of mosses, but to be effective, you have to have it in the water before the moss starts growing. This year we are selling a new product that is a liquid barley straw extract … much easier to work with and no clean up later. I’ll keep you posted on how well it works. Having a lot of floating water plants also helps control moss growth because the plant leaves block the sunlight the moss needs to grow. The plants also give the fish a place to hide from predators. I’m suggesting that you’ll want to be putting out slug bait soon to prevent those critters from chewing your hosta leaves to shreds. Once the leaves have holes in them, you get to look at the damage for the rest of the season. Putting the bait out now will prevent the damage, and you can take pride in knowing you beat them to the draw! Now is also the time to prune lilacs and the old fashioned bridal wreath spirea. Pruning now gives the new growth a chance to mature and establish next year’s flower buds before winter. Spring or fall pruning cuts off the flower buds that you are waiting to see. Not getting that job done soon will result in new growth without flowers for next season. Yes … my tomatoes are getting orange! The "wall o’ water" worked and I’ll have ripe fruit before the first of July. Tomatoes like heat and uniform moisture. Watering them excessively will result in lush vine growth at the expense of fruit. If that plant is just happy to be growing, it doesn’t feel the urgency to reproduce … so you will wait longer for the fruit you want. Allowing it to dry down between waterings will encourage it to bloom sooner. Excessive water or lack of water will cause problems too. Blossom end rot happens when the moisture level varies too drastically. We do have a spray product to help prevent that dilemma … it’s maddening to have that first ripe tomato look so appetizing only to discover that it is rotten on the bottom! I wouldn’t have the heart to tell you if that happened to my first one!