Staging the Garden for Midsummer Dreaming: Your Guide to Summer Garden Care

​Aah...summer is in full swing.  The days are long and the skies are blue (with the occasional thunderstorm.)  We’ve waited all year for this. We want to savor every minute of this glorious season, right?  In fact, if we had the power to stretch out those perfect, sunny days, many of us would. Family get-togethers and reunions. Independence Day with picnics, outdoor games, and fireworks.  Biking and boating. Vacations. Swimming and sun and getting outdoors. It’s when we get to relish the countless delights found in our own backyards.

The weekly chores of weeding, deadheading, and mowing keep our yards looking neat and attractive.  But as we water our plants and admire the fruits of our labor, we should think of midsummer as the perfect time to focus on the Four P’s:

Practical
Problems
Plan
Play

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The Practical Stuff:  Regular Tasks that Matter
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Watering
Keep tabs on rainfall and water as needed. Most plants need at least an inch of water per week, more if the weather is very hot and dry. Remember to water deeply.  Install a soaker hose to a timer to keep any new plantings watered during busy work and family weeks as well as while you are on vacation.  During dry spells, be sure to water the base of the plant. Wet leaves from overhead watering, combined with hot humid air, creates optimal conditions for disease.  Sometimes there is too much rain. Waterlogged plants literally drown, because roots need air in the soil. Over-watered soil will cause slug populations to bloom; even worse is the ensuing fungal issues.  While you can’t predict mother nature, you can control how much you manually water. Use a hand shovel and take an occasional inventory of soil moisture. Push away soil and observe how deep moisture is. If you’re planning a new garden, take into account wet areas and select plants that like ‘wet feet’.  Another alternative is to make raised beds or mound beds. If you have a short- term problem, a simple trench funneling excess rain away from your garden may be enough. For more on too much water, check out this article. “Too Much Rain in the Garden--Managing Wet Dirt and Waterlogged Plants." 

Pruning
Deadhead your flowers for more blooms the next day.  Roses and coneflowers respond well to this.  Removing faded perennial flowers encourages the plant to send energy to its roots so it will bloom longer this season and better next year. Prune back any diseased or pest- eaten foliage and be sure to keep the soil clean of plant leaves.  Pest- damaged debris on the ground may contain bug eggs that will hatch and re-attack your plants.

There are some plants that you may not want to deadhead because they serve as food for wildlife.  For example, finches snack on coneflowers and Black-Eyed Susan seeds. Other plants, like foxglove and columbine, propagate by self- seeding and do not benefit from deadheading. 

• Prune all spring-flowering shrubs such as philadelphus, spirea, weigela, and viburnum.  Prompt pruning allows maximum time for the new growth to develop and produce flowers next year.  
• Prune summer flowering shrubs as soon as the blossoms fade.  The plants will look better and they can store their energy rather than spending it developing seed.  Unless of course, you like the seed pods for fall and winter interest, or you want wildlife to feed on them. 
• Prune climbing roses and rambler roses after bloom.
• Summer pruning of shade trees can be done now.
• Do a final pinching of Mums.

Penn State Extenstion: To Dead Head or Not? Your Final Answer

Penn State Extension: Landscaping for Wildlife: Trees, Shrubs, and Vines

Cornell's Illustrated guide to Pruning Ornamental Shrubs

​More Ways to Breath Life into the Midsummer Garden

• Replenish Container Plants. By midsummer, cool-weather annual flowers such as pansies and snapdragons have stopped blooming. Remove them and replace with heat-loving container plants such as lantana , petunias, and zinnia. If your cool-weather annuals were growing in a mixed container, tease them out of the pot, trying not to disturb the neighboring plants. Then add a bit of fresh soil, tuck in a blooming refill, and water thoroughly.  Voila - instant refresh!
• Provide water in the garden for the birds, especially during dry weather.  Make sure to keep it clean. 
• Newly planted trees and shrubs should continue to be watered thoroughly.
• Fertilize annual container plants every 2 weeks.
• Avoid late feeding.  Established perennials don’t need fertilization, especially this late in the growing season.
• Don’t apply fertilizers to trees and shrubs after July 4th. Fertilizing late may cause lush growth that is apt to winter kill. 
• ​ Keep up with weeding (before “flowers” appear and disperse their weed seeds in the wind.) This will mean less weeding next year.
• Plant zinnia seed by July 4th for late bloom in the annual border.
• Divide and reset oriental poppies after flowering as the foliage dies.
• Semi-hardwood cuttings of spring-flowering shrubs can be made now.
• Divide bearded iris now.

Steps to Clean a Birdbath

All fertilizers are labeled with three numbers. These numbers represent the ratio of nitrogen (N), phosphate (P) and potassium (K). In basic terms, nitrogen promotes foliage growth, phosphate encourages healthy root growth and flower production and potassium promotes the overall health of the plant by building disease resistance. For annuals apply a fertilizer that has high amounts of nitrogen and low amounts of phosphate: 10-6-4, 24:12:17 or 20:10:20 or compost tea.

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Problems in Summer:
​Your landscape and soil are living and require maintenance.  Have you heard of the saying, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure?”  This motto applies to the time we invest in the summer garden. Did you know that proper watering and timely feeding will prevent disease?  Planting the right plant in the right spot remains one of the most important steps to ensuring its success. Integrated Pest Management (IPM) is part of an overall, healthy approach to managing pests.  The goal isn’t to eliminate every bug, rather prevent major damage. Let’s face it, the bugs we dislike, are food for the birds we enjoy. And pesky, hungry caterpillars transform into butterflies. Resolve to allow for some pest damage, but not enough to totally destroy your garden and landscape. 

Pests to Watch For:  If you would like more information on identifying and managing specific pests, your local University’s extension office is a good place to start. Or use the links here.

• Thrips (distorted flowers)
• Spider mites (undersides of leaves)
• Tomato horn worm
• Japanese beetles
• Leaf miners. Spray hollies this month.
• Hardwood borers.  Apply final treatment this month.
• Fall webworms begin nest building near the ends of branches of infested trees. Prune off webs. 

Diseases

• Powdery mildew is unsightly on lilacs, but rarely harmful. Shrubs grown in full sun are less prone to this disease.
• Remove infected leaves from roses and diseased plants. Pick up fallen leaves.  If you skip this step, the disease can spread back to the plant via pests or even splashed water.
• Continue fungicidal sprays as needed. While spraying roses with fungicides, mix extra and spray hardy phlox, bee balm, and columbine, to control and prevent powdery mildew.

14 Beneficial Insects

Penn State: Organic Insect Control

Penn State Extenstion: Organic and Biological Control of Plant Diseases

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Plan  
The peak bloom time of midsummer is a smart time to assess your landscape and formulate a work plan. This is because your trees and shrubs have undergone their annual growth spurt.  Based on your goals, your plan might focus on the maintenance of your existing trees, shrubs, and plants. Or maybe you plan to tackle larger projects such as planning a new garden room, the removal of overgrown shrubs or an unhealthy tree, or the addition of french drains or a new walkway.  
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• For inspiration, visit local arboretums and conservatories.  Summer is a great time to harvest new ideas from other gardens in your area or while on vacation. Take advantage of local garden tours, public gardens, or parks to discover tips and tricks you can use in your own gardens. And be sure to bring a camera along to document what you see. Take note of interesting garden bed ideas, plant combinations, new introductions, or techniques you see as you tour.
• Design for year-round color and interest.  It is tempting to go to the garden centers as soon as they open in April and purchase plants that are blooming.  The natural consequence is having a garden filled with only spring interest. Do you have any gaps in your blooming cycle for summer, fall, and winter?  Now is the time to eliminate the plants that you don’t like, and replace or add ones to fill in the seasonal gaps in your landscape.
• Edit your landscape.  Many clients resist removing plants, but you shouldn’t hesitate to make changes which will make you happy.  If you have a small yard keep high standards when it comes to performance. If a plant is not growing as expected,  remove it, replant it somewhere else, or severely prune it. Save your replanting for a cool and cloudy day.  And water the transplant religiously. Or, if you decide not to keep the plant which didn’t work in your space, offer it to a neighbor or friend. 
• Start a Garden Journal.  Take photos, from across the street or yard, and also close-ups of your favorite blooms. Note the name of each plant, bloom time, where you purchased it, when it was planted. Add this to your garden journal; if you don’t have one, start one.

• Plant a row of vegetables for the hungry.  Dedicate this area for donation.

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Play  
Gardens don’t have to be all work! Take advantage of the season by sitting outdoors to fully experience the scents, sounds, and beauty of your yard. 

• Greet the mail carrier and people walking by. Watch the birds, butterflies and little critters. Sip a cool beverage.  
• Reap a Harvest. Dry blooms of hydrangeas  Or cut and arrange your flowers for a container on your porch, patio, or inside your home.  Short on blooms? Supplement those stems with a bouquet from your farmer’s market or grocery store.  Enjoy the unmatched flavor of fresh-picked vegetables.
• Sketch or paint a scene from your garden.  If you weren’t blessed with an artist’s hand, invite someone who has the talent and might appreciate the inspiration.
• Share your garden with others, especially young children. Kids are such fun! Plus, they’re better at living “in the moment” and help us to see things in the garden which we’d overlook.  Strolling through a garden with a child, be it your garden or a public one, is our opportunity to inspire future generations of gardeners! ​

Hope both you and your garden will benefit from these tips.  During each season, we will share a timely list of Four P’s. Subscribe to the blog so that you will not miss fall’s garden tips. In the meantime, dedicate part of every day to joys of gardening !