Summer Time Is Garden Time

Summer is in full swing!  It is a great time to get out in the garden and make your yard look its best.

Summer is here and hotter months can cause stress on your garden.  Check out some of these helpful summer gardening tips to ensure your garden looks its best throughout the season.

The Lawhead Team believes in the importance of making your home look its best, especially to enhance curb appeal.  Your outside garden should be a reflection of how your home looks inside so we’d like to share some helpful tips to keeping your garden looking its best through the summer months.

• Water trees and shrubs deeply if natural rainfall is less than one inch per week. Watering the soil and not the foliage reduces leaf spot diseases.
• Replenish mulch under trees and shrubs to conserve moisture, reduce weeds, and control temperature fluctuations in soil.
• Prune late spring flowering shrubs and hedges in your garden now.
• Avoid pruning oaks and elms between mid-April to mid-July. Oak Wilt and Dutch Elm Disease are spread by sap-feeding insects carrying the disease from tree to tree.
• Monitor all plants in your garden regularly for pest and disease problems.
• Pull weeds before they go to seed. After a rain, roots will pull out more easily and completely.
• Plant summer flowering bulbs and annuals. Annuals are developing roots; fertilize and keep well watered.
• Monitor container plants (especially those in clay pots) daily for watering needs.
• Pinch garden mums and asters once a month (until July 15) for bushier growth.
• Remove faded blossoms from flowering annuals, perennials, and roses to encourage more blooms.
• Fertilize roses with a 10-10-10 slow-release fertilizer after first bloom.
• Check bird houses for unwanted tenants and fill birdbath regularly.
• Cool weather and excess moisture in spring allows fungal diseases to thrive. To prevent reinfection, remove as many infected leaves as possible.
• Cut rose blooms back to the first set of five leaves after blooming to encourage stronger canes and more flowers.
• Divide and replant iris. Discard any plants in your garden showing signs of insect or disease. Iris should be divided every three to five years.
• Remove spent flowers and pinch back leggy foliage from annuals and perennials to promote bushier growth and more flowers. Stop pinching mums after July 10 to allow flower buds to set.
• In hot weather, let the grass grow longer by raising the height of your lawn mower.
• Provide fresh water for birds and other wildlife.
• Spectacular summer-flowering shrubs and perennials are blooming at the Arboretum in the Ground Cover Garden, the Fragrance Garden, along Joy Path, and in the Four Seasons Garden at the Thornhill Education Center. Plan a visit soon.
• Mid-August through Mid-September is an ideal time to establish a new lawn or seed in bare spots.
• Plant peonies at the end of August through October.
• In August, don’t fertilize woody plants. New growth will not have time to harden off before winter.
• Continue regular weeding and monitor for insect and disease problems in your garden.
• Start cuttings of herbs to growing in a sunny windowsill during the winter.
• Order spring flowering bulbs to plant this fall.
• Remember to photograph gardens for winter planning.

Good luck with your garden this summer!  The weather is perfect to sit outside and admire your hard work you’ve put into your garden.