No one loves chores, but your plants need a little attention this summer.
Water! Don’t let your plants get dehydrated in the sun! In June, in rained more than double our average, but by mid-July, the plants are needing some supplemental water.
Check your irrigation system. Since we had all that rain in June, you may not have done a good system check yet this year. Turn on the zones and walk the system looking for leaks, breaks or misaligned spray heads.
Remove the spent blossoms (deadhead) your flowers, both the annuals in containers and the perennial flowers in the yard. Not sure what to cut off? Check this blog post from a couple of years ago.
Fertilize your container gardens and your vegetable garden. See this newsletter post from last year for more information about fertilizers.
Procrastinate this:
Rarely is any yard work such an emergency that it needs to be done in the heat of the day. When the temperature is over 90 degrees, that’s a good time to procrastinate! I try to work outside in the early morning and evenings only.
Unless you absolutely have to, don’t transplant or relocate plants during this heat wave. If it is really required, be sure to water the plant extra and consider ways to shade the plant while it recovers.
