The dog days of summer are officially here. But with autumn coming up fast, what can you do to better protect your garden and overall landscaping? When it comes to the mid-to-late summer months, it’s important to make sure you’re still giving your plants plenty of water while getting your blooms ready for the cooler months.
To help you keep your thumb green as summer comes to a close, here are a few tips you can use to care for your landscaping.
Keep Up the Watering
One thing you don’t want to stop during the late summer months and early fall is frequently watering. You may be worried you might kill your plants, but the truth is that the intense summer heat of the sun (which often hits your plants directly) is evaporating most of the water you give them. That means you need to frequently water your plants just to make sure they’re getting any water at all. It can come as quite a shock when you notice your plants are wilting in dry soil when you just watered them the day before.
Once temperatures start to cool down, you want to continue to water your plants deeply in preparation for the fall. This is because your shrubs and perennials will be growing their roots at this time and you don’t want your plants to dehydrate. As the days cool down even more, you can deeply water your shrubs and perennials about once every week or two.
Harvest Your Garden Every Day
Late summer is the beginning of the harvest season. If you have a vegetable or fruit garden in your landscaping, now is the time to start harvesting daily to keep your plants in good health and to catch any fruits or vegetables that are ready for picking. Blueberries, raspberries, and strawberries are best picked daily and vegetables like eggplants, green beans, cucumbers, and zucchini are best when they’re harvested young.
Get Rid of Any Dead Blooms
Up to 67% of Americans agree that professional landscaping would give them a nicer yard. Many gardeners and landscapers routinely remove dead or faded blooms from their garden to keep their yards looking great all year long. During the late summer, removing dead or faded blooms not only keeps your garden looking its best but also helps to prevent your plants from wasting their energy trying to create seeds in that flower. For perennials, in particular, pruning gives the plant the ability to focus its energy on growing its roots.
Mulch Your Heart Out
Mulching is essential during the late summer and early fall to ensure your garden and landscaping are in the best possible condition. Of course, before you begin mulching, make sure there’s enough room between your mulch and your plant so you don’t accidentally choke your garden. Mulching in the late summer helps to reduce nutrient competition between plants and improves the quality of your vegetables and fruits during harvesting time. Opt for quick-decaying mulch for the summer, which is a type of mulch that contains leaves and straw.
While many gardeners and landscapers know to mulch in the late spring to give their plants a sense of refreshment after the winter months, summer mulching is ideal because it slows down moisture loss and protects the soil. Compared to summer mulching, fall mulch is meant to help insulate the soil to protect your plants from the cold. Fall mulch also helps to create a warm environment for earthworms and microbes that protect your plants by keeping the soil healthy.
Restock Your Landscaping Supplies
Now that summer is coming to a close, now is the best possible time to restock your landscaping supplies. This is because many gardeners, landscapers, and contractors will restock their landscaping supplies during the fall months when landscaping projects are popular. By restocking in July and August, you’ll not only be ahead of the game for autumn but you’ll also have everything you need for planting mums, marigolds, and more during the early fall.
The good news is that you can find landscaping supplies , different types of landscaping materials, shrubs and bushes, and more right at Gateway Home and Garden Center. To learn more about our plants, trees, and landscaping materials, give us a call today. We’ll be more than happy to answer any questions you may have or to discuss the materials you need to care for your landscaping.
