Here are a couple of really simple tips to keep in mind as you potter around your garden this summer.
Watering Your Garden
If your climate usually exhibits high humidity, don’t water in the evening, the dew will set and the moisture will not evaporate, leaving your plants moist all night long– may lead to fungal growth. For hot and dry weather, you should water deeply once a week to promote deep root growth. Daily light waterings may lead to shallow root growth, which will cause your plants to dry out more quickly. The best time to water is in the morning, before the heat of the day. This should prepare your plants for the evaporation from the sun and winds it will experience throughout the day.
Trimming, Dead-Heading and Pruning
Keeping hedges and shrubs trimmed promotes fuller growth and keeps your plants looking neat and healthy. Dead-head throughout the summer to allow plant to focus on new growth a keep blooming. Don’t be afraid to prune and trim throughout the summer– keeping shrub growth in check is not only good for the plant, but keeps your garden looking very neat and structured.
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If you are looking for a way to make your flower beds a little more interesting, you should try a ground cover plant. They prevent weeds from growing and help to control erosion. They are also an excellent way to make your garden projects look lush and complete.
If you think that the classic green foliage of ivy or sweet flag is not showy enough for your garden, you could always try a flowering ground cover. Flowering ground-covers come in various colors to compliment your garden, and some of them, like Rose Salmon Vigorosa, a creeping rose, can be interesting all by itself.
If you would like to browse through a few ground covers to see if you can find something that fits your garden check out this link: Ground Covers
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Anyone who spends time outside knows the fear, the shock, and the lasting pain erupting from an attack by stinging insects such as wasps. You’re tending your business and your garden, and this villain darts out of some unseen burrow to strike down the spade-wielding giant. You swat, you squeal, you retreat, but to no avail. You’ve been stung.
It happened to me one summer, late in my adolescence, dutifully trimming about the retaining wall behind the old homestead with a top-o’-the-line weed-wacker (nothing but the best for my Pops). I hovered a bit too long over an area concealing an extensive yellow-jacket colony. I noticed the impending commotion, and the innocent lawn-care appliance quickly became my only means of defense. Taking out their front line with ease, I slowly backed away, thinking the battle was done. A lone soldier broke through my defenses and landed a winning blow right on my ear, knocking me to the ground.
I’m sure it was the surprise of the blow that took me off my feat and not the force. A yellow jacket is still only an insect. But, I conceded that battle– my head was swollen for a week.
This rambling story is prelude to a helpful gardening tip, I promise. Wasps and bees can bee stopped without buying a stinky poisonous spray. If you use a spray adhesive your insect enemies will drop right out of the air. Spray adhesives don’t contain any of the harmful poisons of bug spray, and if you buy the one with environmentally safe propellants instead of CFC’s, they are also better for the atmosphere.
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The purpose of fertilizing your garden or lawn is replacing soil nutrients or amending deficient soil. In nature, organic material falls to the ground and is reincorporated within the soil. An area rich with life constantly replenishes itself. In domestic situations, the soil is cleaned of debris and any interfering organisms that might be future food for plants. Even pruning and removing fallen leaves and fruit removes potential food. Harvesting and cleaning plant debris in your garden removes a possible source of nutrients– when left, your plants could be self-sufficient, maintaining a constant size and humble blooms and fruit. However, humanity did not master agricultural practices millennia ago just to let the plants do all of the work. The essence of technology is manipulating one’s environment. We can prune and keep our garden free of debris and still amend the soil to get better than average returns for our labors.
While we do this we must remember that there are other aspects of soil care that also affect plant performance. Temperature, aeration, moisture, and acidity are also very important. You could have the best grasp of fertilization, and still have poor performance because you missed another key element. Here I just intend to talk about fertilization.
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Winter’s icy mitts still have a stranglehold on most of the country, and countless gardeners are tapping their feet and wearing out their gardening catalogs. So, for those of you itching to get some green on your hands, here’s a little late-winter project that will brighten your home!
You are going to have to prune your trees anyway, so why not clip off a few nice branches with some plump buds and bring them in the house. You can force these branches to bloom and bring a little springtime ambiance into the abysmal botanical breach of winter.
This is a simple little project that anyone can do, at least that’s what the Wayside Gardens Horticulturist said. After your blooming trees have had time to overcome dormancy, usually around 8 weeks of winter weather, cut off a few branches that are a good length for displaying indoors, a foot or more. Make sure you get pieces with plenty of buds, and you will know when it’s time to cut them because the buds will have started to swell. Make sure you cut the ends at a slight angle to ensure your branches will take up water.
As soon as you get them inside, put the ends in some water, and, if possible, submerge the whole branches overnight in a tub or sink to further force them out of dormancy. For the first few days keep the ends in a bucket of water in a cool place like a garage and make sure to keep misting the branches, keeping them covered with light plastic or burlap to maintain high levels of moisture. Change your water if it starts to look cloudy to prevent your branches from rotting.
After a week or so, when your flower buds are starting to bloom and show color, you should go ahead and set them out for display. Do not put them in full sunlight or a really warm area because they may dry up and you will lose your blossoms. Put them in a bright area and make sure they stay in a container with clean water, and they should last for a while. Moving them to a cooler place at night will also prolong their lifespan.
A list of shrubs and trees that you might want to try this with:
- Magnolia
- Hazel
- Apple
- Cherry
- Pear
- Wisteria
- Puince
- Forsythia
- mockorange
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Fruit trees can be a fun addition to your home, whether you are adding them to your garden outside or growing them in containers. Having a gorgeous citrus tree full of fruit on your patio or a cute blueberry bush in your garden full of colorful berries is really rewarding. However, many people forget to consider amount of time it takes for a young plant to produce fruit.
In truth, you must wait patiently. Most fruit trees will not fruit until they mature, which usually takes about three years. Fortunately, many of the trees we sell have grafted rootstock that decreases this time somewhat. But the key is patience and to take proper care of your tree while you wait.
If you are desperate, and your tree has long matured but is still not producing fruit, here is one way that you can force a tree to fruit. We do not recommend this method to the novice gardener because there is a very strong possibility that the tree will die. So, try this method at your own risk.
In spring, after the tree has budded, tie a wire tightly around the trunk. This will trap the sugars in the tree and force them into the buds. You will start to see a bulge above the wire in the tree. If it works, there will be fruit. If not, you might have to call someone to remove a stump. Like we said, it is quite the risk and should only be used as a last resort. As they say, ‘Nothing ventured, nothing gained!’
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