Garden and Plant Tips

Deadheading annuals and perennials will keep them clean and blooming again and again. Don't forget to cut some and enjoy them indoors too! Annuals will throw more flowers if watered when necessary, and kept regularly fertilized. Keep new plantings of perennials watered through the fall season making sure they get about an inch of water a week or do a nice deep soaking about every two weeks (depending upon the soil type and weather conditions).

Roses should be deadheaded as needed, and can be fertilized until the end of July. If you used a systemic rose care, you will see little damage from insects, but if you are spraying - continue as needed. Japanese beetles will love your rose plants, including the flowers! By using a systemic rose care, it can't be washed off the plants and protects them for many weeks.

Shearing back the spent flower heads of the re-blooming varieties of Spiraeas can be done as soon as the flowers start to brown. Shearing them back just enough to remove the spent blooms and give them a nice uniform shape will encourage a whole new flush of blooms to enjoy.

Turf areas are best maintained if the mowing height is over 2", and when you irrigate your lawn be sure to apply about an inch of water (put a tin can under the sprinkler to measure an inch if you don't have a rain gauge), and then wait until it shows signs of needing water before watering it again. Most people water it too frequently and too small amount, which keeps the roots close to the surface. Deep, less frequent watering will take the roots down nice and deep and that turf area will tolerate the heat and drought better.

Watering is a very crucial part of keeping a new landscape healthy. It takes about 3 or 4 weeks for newly planted plants to root into your soil. The first few weeks is crucial to the development of a healthy and successful transplant.

It's a good time to prune the new growth on Junipers, Arborvitae, Boxwood or Japanese Yews. Head back that new growth before the end of July so they have a chance to do a final flush of new growth before winter.

Keep adding kitchen scraps to your compost pile. Remember it's really good to have a mix of fresh green, dry brown and maybe even throw a little soil and sometimes some fertilizer in there to help break down all of the material. It's amazing how quickly the material breaks down.

Contact Story Landscaping, LLC for all your planting needs and landscaping designs