Around the Yard

Things to do this week:

* Sow vegetable seed. If you want to harvest cool, crispy crops in the fall months, you should sow seed now. Cool-season vegetables like lettuce--or broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage--can stand up to hot days while they’re young but need to mature in cooler weather.

Sow the seed in flats now, and seedlings will be ready in about six weeks to plant in the garden. In hot interior locations, protect the seed-starting flats or packs from direct sun, but give them plenty of light. Seeds germinate fast in the heat of August if kept moist.

Cole crops like broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage do best transplanted into the garden as small plants. Lettuce does best seeded directly in the ground, but survival is surer when it is started in flats or packs.

This month you can sow these directly in the ground: beets, carrots, chard, endive, kale, onions, peas, potatoes, radishes, summer squash, tomatoes and turnips.

* Divide iris. If bearded iris have become crowded or do not bloom well, now’s the time to split them up. Dig them from the ground, discarding the old leafless tubers. Cut leaves and roots of healthy tubers back to about 6 inches and replant, so the tops barely stick above the soil like a half-submerged submarine.

Space tubers about 4 to 6 inches apart in groups of three or so. Space these groups about 12 to 18 inches apart. This spacing should ensure three years of growth before the iris need dividing again.