Summer
The summer months are the time to sit back and enjoy the fruits of your labor from spring planting! To keep your gardens looking their best, concentrate your efforts on watering, feeding and monitoring the plants for insects and weeding the gardens. Here are some tips for smooth sailing this summer.
Watering
Keeping plants (established as well as newly planted) well watered throughout the summer does more than insure their good health. It enables the plant to put its energy toward growth, flower and fruit production and not towards survival. Unfortunately, our area has experienced severe drought during the summers of 1997 and 1998, continuing through the winter to this spring. We have had quite a dry spring this year as well. The cumulative effect of this drought will take its toll, especially older established plantings.
Follow our watering instructions for a detailed explanation of the best watering practices and enjoy a summer filled with spectacular flowers and lush growth!
Fertilizing
- Annuals and Roses
We depend on annuals, roses and container gardens to provide beautiful flowers from spring until frost. These plants need regular feedings to remain in continuous bloom.
If you used Osmocote or any other slow-release fertilizer in the early spring you do not need to apply more fertilizer throughout the summer. These fertilizers will feed your plants continuously throughout the growing season. For outstanding flower production, also fertilize the plants with a water-soluble plant food (like MiracleGro) monthly.
Water-soluble plant foods alone must be used regularly, according to package directions, to provide adequate fertilizing. They usually need to be applied every 7 to 10 days. These fertilizers are excellent because they provide food immediately upon application and the plants are given the extra benefit of water as you fertilize!
- Trees, Shrubs and Perennials
Trees and shrubs should not be fertilized during the summer. Perennials that bloom continuously throughout the summer benefit from monthly feeding with a water-soluble fertilizer.
"Deadheading and Cutting-Back"
Some flowers benefit greatly from removing the spent flowers (called "deadheading") as they die. Deadheading removes the forming seed heads so the plant can put its energy into producing more flowers. Some examples of flowers that benefit from deadheading are geraniums, marigolds, roses, and most perennials.
If your annual plants are "leggy" (long and spindly instead of full and lush) you should "cut them back." Cut back by one-third to one-half and then fertilize with a water-soluble fertilizer. The plants will look sparse for a few weeks, but will grow back full and lush and full of blooms. Plants that typically need to be cut back are petunias, impatiens and trailing types of plants.
Weed Control
No one likes to weed! Keeping landscape beds mulched helps to keep weeds to a minimum. It is much easier to pull weeds as you see them than to wait until a bed is overrun with them. Every few days check the gardens for weeds and pull them as needed. It is easier to pull weeds if the soil is moist.
Sometimes it is necessary to use a chemical weed control. There are two types of herbicides (weed killers): selective and non-selective.
Selective herbicides (like WeedBGon) kill only the weeds listed on their label. If the weed you need to kill is not listed on the label the herbicide will not work. Most selective herbicides kill broad-leafed weeds such as dandelions and clover. These herbicides should only be applied to the lawn and are not intended to be used in landscape beds.
Non-selective herbicides (like Roundup) will kill any vegetation that it is sprayed onto. It is important to follow the label instructions carefully to avoid accidental killing of landscape plants. These herbicides work well to control weeds in driveway and patio cracks.
Record Keeping
It is helpful to jot down notes of the flower and vegetable varieties that you planted in the spring and comments about how well they performed in your gardens during the summer. You may also want to keep records of plant and flower combination ideas that you see in other gardens and would like to try yourself next year.
Insects and Diseases
It is important to regularly check your plants (newly planted and established plants) for signs of insect and disease. As soon as you see signs of trouble like discolored or deformed leaves, bring a sample into the garden center as soon as possible so that a diagnosis can be made.
If the wind or hail from a thunderstorm breaks or damages branches from a plant, prune them off as soon as possible so that new growth can develop.
