VOA: Heat Can Be Good or Bad for Your Garden 《高温给花园带来的影响》

Summer brings very high temperatures to many parts of the United States. That can be both good news and bad news for gardens and gardeners.

夏季给美国许多地区带来了非常高的气温。这对花园和园丁来说既是好消息，也是坏消息。

Jessica Damiano writes about gardening for the Associated Press. She keeps a garden in New York, where summer temperatures can reach 32 degrees Celsius.

杰西卡·达米亚诺（Jessica Damiano）为美联社撰写园艺方面的文章。她在纽约有一个花园，那里的夏季气温可达 32 摄氏度。

Recently, Damiano repeated a difficult truth for gardeners: weather has a lot to do with success, but it is out of our control.

最近，达米亚诺重申了一个对园丁来说难以接受的事实：天气对成功有很大影响，但我们无法控制天气。

There are measures that plant lovers can take to ease the effects of hot summer weather. One measure is to spread a thick layer of mulch over plant roots. This can help keep plant roots cool and will preserve water, or moisture, in the soil. When watering plants, use a lot of water and let it soak deep into the ground. You can water your garden less often if you provide a few deep soaks regularly. Light watering causes roots to spread near the surface of the soil.

植物爱好者可以采取一些措施来减轻炎热夏季天气的影响。一种措施是在植物根部铺上一层厚厚的覆盖物。这有助于保持植物根部的凉爽，并将水或水分保留在土壤中。给植物浇水时，要使用大量的水，让水深深地渗入地下。如果你定期进行几次深层浇水，你可以减少浇水的频率。少量浇水会导致根系在土壤表面附近蔓延。

If there is too much sun for young plants, don’t be afraid to give them shade. Damiano said she has been known to place an umbrella on the ground to protect tender plants from the sun.

如果幼苗的阳光过多，不要害怕给它们遮荫。达米亚诺说，她曾经把伞放在地上，以保护幼嫩的植物免受阳光照射。

The good news about heat

高温的好消息

Heat is not all bad for a garden. Some plants love heat. Damiano grows a kind of tomato called Big Boy. The plant, she says, has grown quickly in the summer heat. Zucchini, a form of squash, also does well.

高温对花园来说并不全是坏事。有些植物喜欢高温。达米亚诺种植了一种叫做“大男孩”的西红柿。她说，这种植物在夏季的高温下生长迅速。西葫芦，一种南瓜，也长得很好。

Heat can also keep harmful insects away. Cabbage, onion and corn maggots prefer cooler weather and struggle in the heat. So do cutworms, which can be especially destructive to gardens.

高温还可以驱赶害虫。卷心菜、洋葱和玉米蛆喜欢凉爽的天气，在高温下难以生存。地老虎也是如此，它们对花园的破坏性尤其大。

Damiano says some of her perennial flowering plants have bloomed two weeks earlier than usual. For this reason, she decided to add late-blooming plants to her garden to ensure a good crop of flowers.

达米亚诺说，她的一些多年生开花植物比往年提前两周开花。因此，她决定在她的花园里增加一些晚开花的植物，以确保花卉的丰收。

She reported that her hydrangea plants have never looked better. She has 12 of them, and they are blooming well. However, Damiano said that might not be the result of hot weather this summer. Instead, unusually heavy rains late last summer and fall may have helped buds to form. A smaller number of those buds were damaged by the mild winter weather. The result is a lot of blooms.

她报告说，她的绣球花植物从来没有看起来这么好过。她有 12 株绣球花，而且它们都开得很好。然而，达米亚诺说，这可能不是今年夏天炎热天气的结果。相反，去年夏末和秋季异常多的降雨可能有助于花蕾的形成。而温和的冬季天气对这些花蕾的损害较小。结果就是花开得很多。

And the downside

不利的一面

Some plants suffer in the heat, including impatiens. The small flowers are not doing well.

有些植物在高温下会受到影响，包括凤仙花。这种小花长得不好。

But what Damiano dislikes are the creatures that become more active and numerous when temperatures rise.

但达米亚诺不喜欢的是那些随着气温升高而变得更加活跃和数量增多的生物。

Mosquitos are most active at sunrise and sunset, but they can bite at any time. Although heat theoretically slows their activity, hot conditions can help mosquitoes spread.

蚊子在日出和日落时最活跃，但它们随时都可能叮咬人。虽然从理论上讲，高温会减缓它们的活动，但炎热的环境却有助于蚊子的传播。

Damiano advises to prevent water from collecting in places around the garden or to put something called Bti in wet areas where mosquitos might lay eggs. Bti is a kind of bacteria that produces a substance poisonous to young mosquitos and a few other flying insects. It is natural, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) says it is safe for people and most other insects and animals as well.

达米亚诺建议防止水积聚在花园周围的地方，或者在蚊子可能产卵的潮湿地区放置一种叫做苏云金杆菌以色列亚种（Bti）的东西。苏云金杆菌以色列亚种是一种细菌，它能产生一种对幼蚊和其他一些飞行昆虫有毒的物质。它是一种天然物质，美国环境保护署（EPA）表示，它对人类和大多数其他昆虫和动物都是安全的。

Ticks present another problem. The creatures bite people and spread disease. Cold weather kills them, but they do well in hot weather. Normally found in the eastern U.S. and on the Pacific coast, ticks appear to be spreading to new areas. The EPA even said, “Climate change has contributed to the expanded range of ticks.”

蜱虫是另一个问题。这些生物会叮咬人类并传播疾病。寒冷的天气会杀死它们，但它们在炎热的天气里却能很好地生存。蜱虫通常出现在美国东部和太平洋沿岸，但它们似乎正在向新的地区蔓延。美国环境保护署甚至表示：“气候变化导致了蜱虫活动范围的扩大。”

Wearing long sleeves and pants and using special chemicals to keep ticks away can help protect against their bites.

穿长袖长裤，并使用特殊的化学物质来驱赶蜱虫，可以帮助防止被蜱虫叮咬。

Earwigs also like heat and humidity. They can make holes in plant leaves, Damiano said. But the “pincher bugs” also eat aphids, which are enemies of the garden. So are thrips and spider mites.

达米亚诺说，蠼螋也喜欢高温和潮湿的环境。它们会在植物叶子上钻孔。但这种“夹虫”也吃蚜虫，而蚜虫是花园的敌人。蓟马和叶螨也是如此。

In addition to insects, heat and humidity are good conditions for slugs. These creatures have soft slimy bodies, and they eat plants.

除了昆虫之外，高温和潮湿的环境也适合蛞蝓生长。这些生物的身体柔软粘滑，以植物为食。

Luckily, there are easy ways to control these garden problems. One is to spray soapy water onto soft-bodied insects like aphids, spider mites, thrips and whiteflies.

幸运的是，有一些简单的方法可以控制这些花园问题。一种方法是用肥皂水喷洒蚜虫、叶螨、蓟马和粉虱等身体柔软的昆虫。

As for slugs, salt will kill them but is not good for garden soil. They do not like sharp surfaces, however, so adding crushed eggshells can be an effective control method. The eggshells break down and nourish the plants over time.

至于蛞蝓，盐可以杀死它们，但对花园土壤不好。然而，它们不喜欢尖锐的表面，因此，添加碎蛋壳可能是一种有效的控制方法。随着时间的推移，蛋壳会分解并为植物提供营养。

I’m Mario Ritter, Jr.

我是小马里奥·里特。

mulch –n. usually organic material that is in small pieces and is used to cover the ground to prevent drying and enrich the soil

soak –v. to get very wet

tender –adj. very soft

maggot –n. the larval stage of flies and similar insects

perennial –adj. lasting for many years

bud –n. a growth on a plant from which a new branch or fruit will grow

mild –adj. not strong or sharp

contribute –v. to be involved in the cause of some outcome

range –n. the area where something is found or where it lives