Unless you’ve planned ahead, late summer can mean dog days in the garden as the brilliant colors of spring and early summer fades to a droopy green. Sometimes we feel like there’s nothing to do but give up. By August, our gardens can look tired and tattered. There are some things that can be done now to revive the garden and carry you into the fall.
Now is a good time to look around and see where the “blank” spots are in the garden; to see what part of the garden is lacking bloom. We often see these blank spots because all the plants we bought in the spring were spring or early summer bloomers. Now we can go to the garden center and pick some plants that will give us bloom or color into late summer and early autumn. Planting at this time will require some extra care since temperatures may be high and rainfall non-existent. New plants will need regular watering so that they establish well.
Looking at the garden we have already planted, there are some things we can do to keep it in good shape. Watering is our number one concern at this time of the year. It is essential to keep plants watered consistently during the heat of summer. On the average, plants need about an inch of water per week and it is best to give that whole inch at one time. A good, deep watering once a week helps the plant develop a deep root system and gives the plant a good reservoir of water from which to draw. Avoid frequent sprinkling, as it never wets the soil thoroughly. During really hot weather, we may need to may that inch of water available a couple of times a week. The weather and the plant’s environment will dictate water needs. Keeping your plants watered helps keep them growing well and looking good.
Mulch can play in important role in the garden at this time. Mulch helps conserve water, keeps root systems cooler and reduces weeds. During this time of year, inspect your mulch to see if it’s intact and doing it’s job or if it has decayed down to a thin layer. Two to three inches of mulch is a good amount. Less than that may be insufficient to get the job done. If your mulch layer is depleted, now is a good time to add some.
The question of fertilizer almost always comes up in any discussion of gardening. The question to ask now is: “Do my plants need fertilizer now?” Late summer is not always a good time for fertilizer. Plants are often under heart or drought stress and fertilizer will not help them. In some cases, it could even be harmful. Plants that are in dry soil may have their roots burned by fertilizer, even when the correct amount is used. If a plant is dry, give it what it needs – Water. And save the fertilizer for another time.
Some plants may need to be rejuvenated in late summer. If some of your perennials have turned brown or are looking tattered, cut them back and give them some water to encourage new growth. Many perennials respond favorably to this kind of treatment and if one or two don’t, then at least you’ve removed an eyesore from your garden. Those plants that don’t regrow now, will do so next spring from the root system.
Deadheading can also improve the appearance of your late summer garden. Remove spent flowers to keep your garden tidy. You may not want to deadhead everything, especially if your are planning on some of those plants reseeding themselves, are trying to get plants to naturalize or are trying to attract birds. Know what your purpose is and than deadhead accordingly.
The final task – and the one that many gardeners dread - is weeding. Sometimes out late season gardens look bad because the weeds have gained a foothold. Get out and get the weeds out and your garden will look better immediately. Also your perennials will grow better without the competition of the weeds. Lay down that layer of mulch we talked about earlier and your weed problem will be considerably lessened.
If you planted tomatoes and other veggies during the past few months, harvest them often for an ongoing supply. Pick tomatoes, peppers and tomatillos early in the morning on the day you plan to eat them. Select okra, eggplants, squash and cucumbers when they are small and tender. Sow turnips, mustard greens, beets, radishes, collards and spinach now for the fall. If you have extras from your garden, share the bounty with family, neighbors and friends. If your neighbors are hiding out from you when they see you coming with your bag of tomatoes and squashes, check out the community center to donate your excess – there are plenty of folks in our community who would love some garden-fresh produce.
Cooler days and nights are coming, even though it might not look like it today. Prepare your lawn for the cooler days and nights ahead. Now is an excellent time to establish fescue, perennial ryegrass and bluegrass. If you are sowing the seeds for a new lawn, use a lower nitrogen, higher phosphorous fertilizer, such as 18-24-10. As always, I think organic is best. If you have an established lawn, go with a higher nitrogen formula like 31-2-4.
Did your tulips and hyacinths come up short last year? They probably needed more chill time! Purchase your bulbs NOW and place them in the vegetable bins of your refrigerator for at least six to eight weeks before planting. Plant autumn crocus bulbs (Colchicum sp.) and you will be rewarded with a multitude of pink blooms.
Prune and fertilize your ever-blooming roses now for a big show of fall flowers. Remove dead stems and shorten healthy canes by about one third. Feed with fish emulsion (or rose food) and add clean mulch to conserve moisture and reduce disease. Water well once or twice a week if it doesn’t rain. To avoid black spot, powdery mildew and rust, don’t use an overhead sprinkler.
There are many autumn perennials that provide breathtaking fall color. Old-fashioned mums, such as “Sheffield Pink” and “Single Apricot Korean”, planted along the front of your flower beds will mound and spill over the edges. Use asters along with Japanese anemones for the middle and back of the borders.
To lift your garden out of the late-summertime rut, consider some of these alternatives. You may be able to find them in containers at your local garden center.
Coleus: New cultivars have given this old standby annual a whole new dazzle. The colors are more intense, the combinations of color are numerous and there are even a few that can take full sun. Most of the new ones don’t bloom, so you won’t have to worry about deadheading. Planted in masses, these spots of vibrant color can carry your garden through from spring until frost.
Alternanthera: Stunning, lush and easy – these all describe this plant that puts on a show of dark purple foliage from spring to frost. It’s an annual that’s very easy to grow and tough enough to handle harsh weather and heat. The plant can reach 1-1/2 to almost 3 feet high and nearly as wide.
Salvia: This is a large family of annuals and perennials, some of which bloom over long periods, including into the fall. All salvias require good drainage and generally grow quickly. Many are favorites of hummingbirds and butterflies. The Mexican bush sage (Salvia leucantha) has phenomenal lavender and white spikes from late summer to frost. “Indigo Spires” will produce dark purple flowers on arching stems all summer until frost. Autumn sage (S. greggii) is a staple in desert landscaping because of its tolerance of heat and drought. It blooms over long periods and is available in purplish-red, red, white, pink and coral. The fire-engine red flowers of pineapple sage (S. elegans) start in earnest in late summer. The common scarlet sage (S. splendens), which blooms from spring to frost, also comes in a variety of other colors including cream, pink, orange, salmon, purple and a few bi-color varieties.
Dwarf Crape Myrtles (Lagerstroemia indica): The lovely woody shrubs and trees gardeners have come to depend on in August can also provide color close to the ground. The semi-dwarf and dwarf forms can easily be tucked into landscape beds. Some of the smaller ones are “Chickasaw” (pink-lavender), “Victor” (red), “Monink” (bright pink), “Moned” (rose red) and “Bourbon Street” (watermelon red and a weeping variety).
Bringing some new things into the garden can make this late-summer/early-autumn time a glorious and enjoyable time in your garden. Be sure to keep track of what works for you and brings those memorable flashes of color. You’ll want to recreate the brilliance of this summer and autumn for many years to come.
Now is a good time to look around and see where the “blank” spots are in the garden; to see what part of the garden is lacking bloom. We often see these blank spots because all the plants we bought in the spring were spring or early summer bloomers. Now we can go to the garden center and pick some plants that will give us bloom or color into late summer and early autumn. Planting at this time will require some extra care since temperatures may be high and rainfall non-existent. New plants will need regular watering so that they establish well.
Looking at the garden we have already planted, there are some things we can do to keep it in good shape. Watering is our number one concern at this time of the year. It is essential to keep plants watered consistently during the heat of summer. On the average, plants need about an inch of water per week and it is best to give that whole inch at one time. A good, deep watering once a week helps the plant develop a deep root system and gives the plant a good reservoir of water from which to draw. Avoid frequent sprinkling, as it never wets the soil thoroughly. During really hot weather, we may need to may that inch of water available a couple of times a week. The weather and the plant’s environment will dictate water needs. Keeping your plants watered helps keep them growing well and looking good.
Mulch can play in important role in the garden at this time. Mulch helps conserve water, keeps root systems cooler and reduces weeds. During this time of year, inspect your mulch to see if it’s intact and doing it’s job or if it has decayed down to a thin layer. Two to three inches of mulch is a good amount. Less than that may be insufficient to get the job done. If your mulch layer is depleted, now is a good time to add some.
The question of fertilizer almost always comes up in any discussion of gardening. The question to ask now is: “Do my plants need fertilizer now?” Late summer is not always a good time for fertilizer. Plants are often under heart or drought stress and fertilizer will not help them. In some cases, it could even be harmful. Plants that are in dry soil may have their roots burned by fertilizer, even when the correct amount is used. If a plant is dry, give it what it needs – Water. And save the fertilizer for another time.
Some plants may need to be rejuvenated in late summer. If some of your perennials have turned brown or are looking tattered, cut them back and give them some water to encourage new growth. Many perennials respond favorably to this kind of treatment and if one or two don’t, then at least you’ve removed an eyesore from your garden. Those plants that don’t regrow now, will do so next spring from the root system.
Deadheading can also improve the appearance of your late summer garden. Remove spent flowers to keep your garden tidy. You may not want to deadhead everything, especially if your are planning on some of those plants reseeding themselves, are trying to get plants to naturalize or are trying to attract birds. Know what your purpose is and than deadhead accordingly.
The final task – and the one that many gardeners dread - is weeding. Sometimes out late season gardens look bad because the weeds have gained a foothold. Get out and get the weeds out and your garden will look better immediately. Also your perennials will grow better without the competition of the weeds. Lay down that layer of mulch we talked about earlier and your weed problem will be considerably lessened.
If you planted tomatoes and other veggies during the past few months, harvest them often for an ongoing supply. Pick tomatoes, peppers and tomatillos early in the morning on the day you plan to eat them. Select okra, eggplants, squash and cucumbers when they are small and tender. Sow turnips, mustard greens, beets, radishes, collards and spinach now for the fall. If you have extras from your garden, share the bounty with family, neighbors and friends. If your neighbors are hiding out from you when they see you coming with your bag of tomatoes and squashes, check out the community center to donate your excess – there are plenty of folks in our community who would love some garden-fresh produce.
Cooler days and nights are coming, even though it might not look like it today. Prepare your lawn for the cooler days and nights ahead. Now is an excellent time to establish fescue, perennial ryegrass and bluegrass. If you are sowing the seeds for a new lawn, use a lower nitrogen, higher phosphorous fertilizer, such as 18-24-10. As always, I think organic is best. If you have an established lawn, go with a higher nitrogen formula like 31-2-4.
Did your tulips and hyacinths come up short last year? They probably needed more chill time! Purchase your bulbs NOW and place them in the vegetable bins of your refrigerator for at least six to eight weeks before planting. Plant autumn crocus bulbs (Colchicum sp.) and you will be rewarded with a multitude of pink blooms.
Prune and fertilize your ever-blooming roses now for a big show of fall flowers. Remove dead stems and shorten healthy canes by about one third. Feed with fish emulsion (or rose food) and add clean mulch to conserve moisture and reduce disease. Water well once or twice a week if it doesn’t rain. To avoid black spot, powdery mildew and rust, don’t use an overhead sprinkler.
There are many autumn perennials that provide breathtaking fall color. Old-fashioned mums, such as “Sheffield Pink” and “Single Apricot Korean”, planted along the front of your flower beds will mound and spill over the edges. Use asters along with Japanese anemones for the middle and back of the borders.
To lift your garden out of the late-summertime rut, consider some of these alternatives. You may be able to find them in containers at your local garden center.
Coleus: New cultivars have given this old standby annual a whole new dazzle. The colors are more intense, the combinations of color are numerous and there are even a few that can take full sun. Most of the new ones don’t bloom, so you won’t have to worry about deadheading. Planted in masses, these spots of vibrant color can carry your garden through from spring until frost.
Alternanthera: Stunning, lush and easy – these all describe this plant that puts on a show of dark purple foliage from spring to frost. It’s an annual that’s very easy to grow and tough enough to handle harsh weather and heat. The plant can reach 1-1/2 to almost 3 feet high and nearly as wide.
Salvia: This is a large family of annuals and perennials, some of which bloom over long periods, including into the fall. All salvias require good drainage and generally grow quickly. Many are favorites of hummingbirds and butterflies. The Mexican bush sage (Salvia leucantha) has phenomenal lavender and white spikes from late summer to frost. “Indigo Spires” will produce dark purple flowers on arching stems all summer until frost. Autumn sage (S. greggii) is a staple in desert landscaping because of its tolerance of heat and drought. It blooms over long periods and is available in purplish-red, red, white, pink and coral. The fire-engine red flowers of pineapple sage (S. elegans) start in earnest in late summer. The common scarlet sage (S. splendens), which blooms from spring to frost, also comes in a variety of other colors including cream, pink, orange, salmon, purple and a few bi-color varieties.
Dwarf Crape Myrtles (Lagerstroemia indica): The lovely woody shrubs and trees gardeners have come to depend on in August can also provide color close to the ground. The semi-dwarf and dwarf forms can easily be tucked into landscape beds. Some of the smaller ones are “Chickasaw” (pink-lavender), “Victor” (red), “Monink” (bright pink), “Moned” (rose red) and “Bourbon Street” (watermelon red and a weeping variety).
Bringing some new things into the garden can make this late-summer/early-autumn time a glorious and enjoyable time in your garden. Be sure to keep track of what works for you and brings those memorable flashes of color. You’ll want to recreate the brilliance of this summer and autumn for many years to come.
No comments:
Post a Comment