What to do and When?
The official first day of summer is just around the corner…hard to believe that spring is almost done for 2017! When summer hits it’s often tempting to just head indoors for the duration and leave the landscape and garden to survive on its own. I admit that it’s sometimes difficult to see the merit in working out in the blazing sun when the plants look like they’re doing just fine all on their own. Summer plant care is vital in that just a few hours spent gardening in the summer will improve the overall look of your landscape and the health of many of your plants.
Pruning is going to be the biggest project on the list of summer gardening activities. After we’ve had several months of warm weather and lots of spring rain showers many of the perennials in the garden will be either close to or finished blooming. Some of the perennials that bloom constantly throughout the growing season will still benefit greatly from a summer trim. Native plants like salvias, verbena, lantana, rock rose along with non-native plumbago, Mexican oregano and shrimp plant will all start to look somewhat leggy and out of bounds this time of year. If you come in and give these plants a good haircut…leaving 1 foot or so of growth only…they will not only rebloom but will grow much more vigorously and look much better overall. Not pruning these plants at least once during the growing season results in them overcrowding less aggressive plants with their unbridled growth as well as creating weepy overgrowth that looks shaggy in the landscape.
Since we are approaching the hottest time of year the next item on the landscape to do list is mulching. If you didn’t do an overall re-mulch during your winter/spring clean-up then by all means make sure you do one before summer arrives. A good layer of mulch will help soil retain moisture, feed the plant slowly as it composts and most importantly this time of year it will keep the soil temperature lower during really hot summer days. Another benefit of always having several inches of mulch on the ground is weed discouragement.
So, while the list is not long it is an important one and timing is important too. If you prune now and add mulch if needed then your landscape will be ready to face the brutal heat of next few months in good shape.
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