Summer Gardening Tips

In the summer gardening revolves around pruning, weeding and mowing.  All the annuals have been planted and the clean up from the previous winter's been done.  The first this to do after the spring clean up is to give the shrub beds and perennial gardens a new edge and fresh layer of mulch.  Don't be afraid to trim those flowering shrubs and trees that need it. Failure to prune is probably the biggest gardening mistake a person can make. Cut back the foliage of bulbs which are turning yellow.

Perennial gardens need alot of care.  They require weeding, deadheading (the removing of past blooms) this keeps the garden looking clean and healthy.   Make sure the garden doesn't get too dry during droughts.  Keeping the weeds at bay is an ongoing chore.  Cultivating the soil regularly can reduce the weeds and also allows water to reach the deeper roots.  Annuals in the garden need similar care.  Deadheading the blooms and/or cutting the blooms to take indoors encourages new growth and more blooms.  An occasional fertilization also can help with the blooming otherwise use a slow release fertilizer in the beginning of the season.  As the plants begin to grow, especially toward mid-summer, staking becomes important in order to prevent the plants from flopping over and falling over one another.  Use bamboo stakes, they usually blend right in the garden and are hardly noticeable.  For the larger plant use three stakes in a triangle formation.  Wrap garden twine around the plant looping around each stake as you go.

In the summer rose care is constant.  To keep your roses looking great keep up with deadheading the past blooms.  Though this is for aesthetic reasons it will also keep the petal from fall all over the foliage creating unsightly brown spots.  Check often for disease or insects and make sure to resolve those problems.  A systemic fertilizer applied twice a year usually does the trick.

Pinch back the old flowers on the rhododendrons, this will force the plant into putting its energy into forming next year's flower buds rather than this year's seed heads.

Monitor the lawn as well, If there area which is walked on often or played on there may be the need for aeration.  This is the process of loosening up the soil.  Grass does not grow well in compacted soil.  Every few years run a aerator across the lawn.  The plugs which are removed from the soil allow water and nutrients to reach the deeper root of the grass.

Don't forget to enjoy the garden!

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