Dear Santa: All he wants for Christmas is a perfect growing environment for plants

Christmas is a wonderful time of year. It’s a time of magic and making wishes come true. I thought it was only fitting to give you my wishes for the upcoming growing season. If gardeners could create a wish list, these would be the most popular requests.

Gardeners in the Kansas City area complain most about our clay soils. Our soil is as hard as a brick when dry and challenging to manage. Clay soils hold good nutrients, but unfortunately, they hold water, too.

My Christmas wish is for rich organic loam soils that shovels can glide deeply through, providing a good mix of water-holding capacity and aeration. The dream soil would not need any additional compost or fertilizer. It goes without saying the pH and nutrient balance would be perfect for big and beautiful plants.

Next on the wish list would be even amounts of rainfall. Moisture levels in Kansas City can best be described as feast or famine. Excess moisture weakens roots, while drought results in poor growth and high water bills.

My wish would be for about one inch of rainfall each week throughout the year. The rain would fall gently soaking into the soil, providing even levels for optimum growth. Wouldn’t it be nice not to have to drag hoses around the yard or pay the water bill?

Moderate temperatures would also be on the list. Gone would be the wide swings in the fall or spring that damage growth. Each fall, the temperature would gradually cool down, allowing the plants to go dormant.

The opposite would happen in spring. Slowly the temps would warm as growth begins. No more late spring freezes, killing blooms of peaches, apricots and other crops we want to grow.

Summer would be highs in the mid-80s with bright sunshine and lower humidity. Nighttime temperatures would fall back into the low 60s. Cooler Kansas City nights would give the plants a chance to rest as hot nights result in high respiration rates, weakening growth and washing out flower color.

Cool nights also slow processes increasing growth and flower bud development. The most noticeable result of cool nights is intense flower colors. Hot nights wash out flower color. Reds are redder and blues are brighter with cool evenings.

Lastly, on our wish list would be no more pest problems. How fun gardening would be if we did not have to battle insects, disease and pesky weeds.

In my magical dream world, only beneficial insects would exist. I know this is not practical as insects are at the base of the food chain. Destructive insects would exist just for a healthy ecosystem but choose not to feed in my garden.

Lower humidity would reduce diseases for healthy growth. Weeds would never pop up in our gardens, reducing that never-ending chore.

My Christmas wish list for local gardens is long and a tall order for Santa. We can dream of perfect soil and conditions for ideal plant growth. It really would be the most wonderful time of the year if jolly old St. Nick could make our wishes come true.

Dennis Patton is a horticulture agent with Kansas State University Research and Extension. Have a question for him or other university extension experts? Email them to garden.help@jocogov.org.