A perennial garden is pictured.
July 4th is already with us and the summer holiday season is well under way. The past few weeks have been a mix of rain and varying temperatures so you may have got into the garden a little, but sometimes a few hours, just tidying up the garden can do wonders for the overall appearance, particularly if you have guest coming round for July 4th burgers, cocktails and other social meetings. Here are few fast, fixes for tidying up the garden:
1: Most modern roses do not need deadheading to keep blooming but it does make them look better if you take of the spent blooms. Always head back to a 5-leaflet junction. Take a bucket with you for blooms.
2: Have a jar with soapy water and walk around dumping those garden destroyers – Japanese beetles and Southern Lubber grasshopper. Both these thugs attack anything green and can make a mess of your perennial bed in just hours.
3: Take the worst of the weeds out, particularly those that can be seen from the pathway. I leave those at the back of the shrubs until we have a cooler day and time to address them. Don’t let them bloom though as that creates extra problems.
4: Sprinkle some pre-emergent in the perennial beds and lawn to stop unwanted seeds arriving and germinating.
5: Give the hanging baskets and containers and boost with fertilizer. Always read the package and never give more that noted. Less is better than more for fertilizers.
