Summer Flowers: Gardening Tips for Summer

Summer is a time of beauty and abundance in the garden. It’s also a busy time for the gardener, full of chores that are necessary to care for and maintain the health of your plants. Listed below are some of the core tasks of the season to help you prioritize your workload.

Indoor garden
Early summer is the ideal time to plant containers, such as patio pots, window boxes, and hanging baskets. All threat of frost has surely passed along with the passing of spring, so you can safely put containers outside. Don’t forget to feed container-bound plants as the summer progresses.

Pest Patrol
Keep a close watch over your garden for any sign of pests so that you can move quickly and take action before the problem spreads out of control. On roses especially, keep an eye out for aphids and mildew. This is also a good time to reapply pepper wax or whatever you might be using to keep the deer, rabbits and other big pests away too.

Staking & Support
Put stakes and supports in place for tall, herbaceous plants, like peonies and delphiniums. This will prevent them from falling over or look messy as they grow taller and heavy with blooms with the progressing season. Likewise, as climbers display new growth, be sure to position them on a support system in order to maintain control over where they grow and prevent an untidy appearance.

Watering
Don’t forget to keep up with your watering, especially as the very hot weather sets in. If you don’t water enough, roots will stay near the surface, making them even more prone to the heat. An inch of water a week is a good rule of thumb, so don’t just spritz, water deeply to keep those roots digging deeper.

Plant Bulbs
Mid-summer is the time to plant bulbs that will bloom in the fall, such as colchicum. Wait for late summer to plant bulbs that will bloom in the spring.

Be sure, of course, to take some time to sit back, relax, and enjoy the joys of summer in your garden…a cherished time of year for every gardener.