Gardening is not that hard

Summer is here! A time when many think of gardening. There are all kinds of gardeners. Some have the so-called “green thumb” whose plants grow like wildfire! And others plant only to have them perish under the hot summer sun. With a little TLC and water there is no reason why every plant shouldn't flourish and bloom even in the summer months. Water and fertilizer are really all it takes to having a beautiful summer garden, but they must be applied correctly..

Gardening is not that hard

Summer is here! A time when many think of gardening. There are all kinds of gardeners. Some have the so-called “green thumb” whose plants grow like wildfire! And others plant only to have them perish under the hot summer sun. With a little TLC and water there is no reason why every plant shouldn't flourish and bloom even in the summer months. Water and fertilizer are really all it takes to having a beautiful summer garden, but they must be applied correctly..

Lawns

For Lawns- Even though lawns are not thought of as gardens, they are usually the largest group of plants one grows. So technically they are gardens and the same basic rules apply. Most people tend to over water lawns during the summer months. A lawn only really needs two – three inches of water per week. Watering early in the morning or late evening will reduce the amount of water lost due to evaporation. You need to treat your lawn every 4 or 6 weeks with some sort of lawn food – slow release organic food is best. And don't forget to aerate every year or two. Mow your lawn quite regularly. You should mow the grass every time it has grown around a half an inch to an inch for the best results. I like to hire a summer youth for this.

Flower Care

Flower beds need plenty of organic mulch to help them retain as much moisture as possible. Give your flower beds plenty of water. The soil should be always moist, never soggy. Your flower beds should be fertilized quite regularly through the summer, at least every three or four weeks. Be sure to use a fertilized that is just for flowers. Remove dead heads from flowers to promote more bloom and new growth and pinch back any stems which are becoming leggy. If you begin with small live plants, water the newly planted flowers once or twice per day until they become established and settled in the flower bed.<br />

Summer Gardening Pests

Summer is also the time when you have to be most vigilant against diseases and insects. Keep an eye out for foliage which suddenly begins to wilt. Branches which begin to die at the end (around 6 – 8 inches at the end) may have cicada eggs. Slash marks measuring around ¼" mean that's the likely culprit – you can't do anything to control it but the damage is usually pretty limited. For those in desert regions, prickly pear cactus is extremely susceptible to cochineal scale. It looks like white fluffy globs and blasting them off with water is usually sufficient to get rid of them. Pests and disease are different for every plant and region so if you suspect either consult your local nursery.