- Continue planting trees, shrubs, perennials, annuals, vegetables and herbs. Consider adding some exotic color to your deck or patio with tropical blooming plants. We have a great selection of color this summer.
- It’s time for your houseplant’s summer vacation! Take outside to a shady place. Repot if necessary, fertilize and check for pests and diseases. They’ll thrive in their outdoor location all summer. Be sure to bring them back inside in early fall.
- Water plants and lawns deeply during periods of dry weather. Annuals, perennials, vegetables, trees and shrubs should be watered with a slow trickling or soaker hose. Pay extra attention to plants in containers and hanging baskets – check them regularly. Remember that clay pots dry out faster than plastic.
- Apply a 2-3″ layer of mulch on your garden beds in preparation for summer. Mulch conserves valuable moisture in the soil, helps keep weeds down, maintains even soil temperatures, and gives an attractive finishing touch to your beds and borders.
- Spray Azalea, Pieris, Laurel and Rhododendron with fertilome Horticultural Oil Spray to control lacebug. Spray early in the morning or evening when temperatures are moderate and there is no rain in the forecast.
- Warm, humid weather encourages the development of fungal diseases such as Black Spot and Powdery Mildew on roses. Water roses in the early morning and avoid overhead watering if possible. Clean up any fallen leaves and follow a regular fungicide spray program.
- Prune evergreens such as pines, cypress, hollies, euonymus and boxwood, to shape as needed.
- Remove faded flowers of annuals regularly, to encourage more flowers. Annuals will also benefit from regular applications of a water soluble fertilizer right through summer.
- Attract hummingbirds and butterflies to your landscape by planting Butterfly Bush, Bee Balm (Mondarda), Hardy Hibiscus, Lobelia, Scabiosa and Coreopsis.
- Release beneficial insects like, Ladybugs and Praying Matids, to control aphids and other garden pests. Use beneficial Nematodes to control fleas and other lawn insects.
- Make sure that you are prepared in advance for the onslaught of Japanese Beetles this season. We can recommend the latest and greatest control methods.
- Put down a second application of Weed & Grass Stopper or Corn Gluten in your ornamental garden beds to prevent weed seeds from germinating this summer.
- Update your pond’s filter system if you are not turning over the entire volume of pond water in 2 – 3 hours. Add a biological filter to naturally balance the pond through the use of aerobic bacteria. Incorporate fountain heads and statuary into your pond. Add pond plants to your water garden, and fish to feed on the algae and keep the insect population low.
- Be on the lookout for chinch bug and sod webworm damage in the lawn and treat immediately with fertilome Bug Blaster II.
