Choosing the right plant for your landscape is only the first step in cultivating a garden that’s worth another look. Garden maintenance may be less fun than landscape design, but it does just as much for the beauty as planting bright annuals and richly textured trees. Are your plants wilting under the hot summer sun? Keep your yard bold and beautiful with our top summer garden care tips.
Summer Garden Maintenance
- Do your homework. Can’t wait to plant new summer flowers or a fresh veggie garden? Before you dig in, do your research. Choose plants that don’t just look great together, but also have similar growing conditions. Test the soil before you plant and supplement it as necessary.
- Dig in. Nobody wants weeds in the garden, but nobody wants to pull them up either. Weeding is unavoidable if you want a thriving landscape. Go ahead and dig in (or pay the neighbor kids to do it for you). Trust us, it’ll be a lot harder to uproot them later if you let them grow.
- Deadhead. Maybe you went on vacation and your house sitter neglected the yard. Maybe you forgot to water for a week. But if your summer flowers look droopy, there’s a simple solution: deadhead. Remove spent blooms on your annuals and perennials and, with a little TLC, they may blossom again before summer ends.
Water. We live in Georgia after all. If you can’t survive 10 minutes outdoors without running inside for some sweet tea, you should seriously consider how much water you give your plants. Invest in a soaker hose, which allows water to penetrate the roots more deeply. Check how much water your plants need during the summer to survive. Most garden plants need about 1 inch per week.
Need a burst of inspiration? Whispering Springs Nursery has a wide variety of summer plants that thrive in the mountainous region of Jasper. Stroll our nursery and talk to our staff about planting and maintaining summer gardens.
