Snip out the spent flower on Agastache and other perennials to encourage the side shoots to develop and bloom. © Jo Ellen Meyers Sharp
Even though summer has just arrived, there are a few things we can do in the garden to help extend the season for our plants.
First up, give annuals and vegetables a dose of fertilizer. For annuals in containers or in the ground, apply a water-soluble fertilizer. For the vegetable bed, I prefer a granular fertilizer applied as a side dressing, where it’s lightly worked into the soil. Or, you can ring the plants with the fertilizer. Either way, water it in. Always read and follow the label directions.
Harvest green beans, tomatoes, squash and other vegetables as they ripen. This encourages the plants to keep producing. If there’s no rain, be sure to water vegetable plants about 1 inch a week, which also supports good production. Target the water to soil around the base of the plants rather than applying it overhead.
For herbs, harvest them as they grow. Once an herb starts to flower, it frequently loses flavor. You can eat the blossoms of mint, basil, lavender and several other herbs.
Fertilize tomatoes, peppers and other vegetables on a regular basis, with Espoma Tomato-tone or other natural product. (C) Jo Ellen Meyers Sharp
For perennials, remove the spent flowers. Called deadheading, it tricks the plants into developing a few more flower buds along side shoots to prolong the show. Remove the seed heads on spring-blooming perennials, such as columbine, iris and peony.
If lilac, viburnum or other spring-blooming shrubs need to be pruned, do so as soon as possible. Pruning any later in summer or fall will remove next year’s blooms. Remember that pruning should always be done for a purpose, such as removing an errant branch, dead stem, to boost fruit or flower production or rein in its size. Remember to keep the top of the shrub slightly more narrow than the base of the plant. If the top is wider, it shades out the base, causing it to look sparse or bare.
As the temps rise, mowing duties are reduced, unless your lawn is irrigated. Mow to keep the lawn about 3 inches tall, which crowds out weeds and keeps grass roots cool.
And, if we go three weeks with no rain, water perennials, shrubs and trees. Healthy lawns can usually go six weeks without supplemental watering.
