As summer begins to wind down, take full advantage of your beautiful garden and in order to keep your landscape looking fantastic, simply follow these few tips & tricks.

Throughout this hot summer, take care of your lawn and make sure to feed a slow-acting fertilizer, watch out for yellow patches or poor growth and increase watering if you notice any of these signs.

There is no better time to sow grass seed than in the period between August 15th and October 15th. This applies to the most common turf-grasses such as Fescue, Bluegrass, and Ryegrass.

If the temperature stays warm, keep your mower set at 3" or higher to prevent brown out.

Keep the soil moist by watering twice a day but do not drown your plants as you want to lightly nurture them with a sprinkler hose and not a hard pressure hose. Grass needs 1" of water every week.

Replenish or replace mulch around trees, shrubs & in bed areas to a depth of 3” to 4”. This also helps the soil retain moisture during dry weather. Continue to edge bed & turf areas.

A good time to pull weeds is immediately after a good watering or soaking rain. Continue to spot spray lawn for weeds with appropriate herbicide. Follow label instructions. Try to get to weeds before they seed…if not your problem will multiply!

Gather your herbs for drying as they mature. Harvest about once a week and pinch the stems of basil regularly to prevent flowering.

Be sure to watch for insect, slug and snail, or disease damage throughout the garden and take the necessary steps to control the problem.

Roses should be fertilized regularly throughout the summer to produce a steady supply of flowers. Six weeks before the first frost of autumn is the time to quit fertilizing. This gives the roses a chance to wind down and harden off as the days get shorter and colder. August 15th is usually recommended as the last day to use granular fertilizers such as 10-10-10 on roses.

Don’t be tempted to pinch Chrysanthemum blooms now….wait for their beautiful fall foliage! But do fertilize them weekly, until buds start to show.

This month & next, your Spring blooming perennials can be divided and transplanted and you can plant your fall blooming bulbs.

Prune Wisteria, and train & trim espaliers & topiaries for the last time, prune water sprouts from fruit trees.

Continue to deadhead annuals & perennials, especially Buddlea / Butterfly Bush.

Remember to dump any standing water to prevent breeding mosquitoes.

Please provide food & water for our birds. Put up hummingbird feeders at the end of the month and keep the hummingbird solution fresh because it will help encourage hummingbirds to go on & head south for winter!

Last but most certainly not least, enjoy the rest of the summer and spend some time enjoying your beautiful garden.

If you think about planning for your fall/winter landscape we would love to properly help you, just call us at 631 261-2226 or contact us online now for a fall/winter planting plan!