Summer is the perfect time for you to enjoy your garden. Before the hot days come, you need to give your garden a little care.
When you prepare your garden early, you help it stay healthy, green, and full of life. With just a few simple steps, you can make sure your plants grow strong and your outdoor space looks amazing all summer.
Let’s jump in and get your garden ready!
Make a Necessary Inspection
You should walk around your garden with a notebook in your hand. Look at the garden beds you need to clean. Check if your plants have any snow or ice damage.
You should also check if any hardscaping, like fences or pathways, has moved or rotted.
Look closely for deer or rodent damage on your trees and bushes. You also need to search for new animal burrows made by rabbits.
After doing this, it is better to make a list of everything. You should fix the landscape design, fences, trellises, and raised beds. For this, you can also get the help of a professional landscape company in your area.
Prepare the Garden Soil
You should have the best kind of soil for your garden. So that your plant roots can grow fast. You also need to till the soil to break it up. As you know, tilling helps nutrients and water move easily through the ground.
Before you start tilling, you must check for any utility lines in your yard to stay safe. You can also add some organic things like fruit peels, vegetable skins, and eggshells.
Clean Your Garden Beds
You should start by cleaning all the plant mess from your garden beds. You need to pick up fallen branches, old leaves, and dead plant parts from last year.
You must cut back any perennials you left standing during winter, even your ornamental grasses. You have to clean places where slugs might be hiding. Good garden cleaning is very important because it stops pests and diseases.
Add Mulch
Mulch is a good friend of your garden during summer. You can use it to cover the soil and keep it nice and cool. It also helps hold water longer, which is vital on hot days. You need to spread a fresh layer of mulch around your plants, trees, and flower beds. For this, you can choose wood chips, straw, or even dry leaves.
Remove Dead Leaves
You will see that spring flowers like tulips, hyacinths, and daffodils start to lose their leaves.
You need to watch closely because when the leaves turn yellow, you should remove them right away.
You will help stop any infection from spreading to the healthy parts of the plant.
If you see that the leaves are still green, you should leave them alone.
Prune
You should grab your sharp pruners and start by cutting off any dead or broken branches from your shrubs. You can also shape your evergreen plants like boxwood and arborvitae if you want.
You need to prune shrubs that bloom on new growth, like panicle hydrangeas. Remember one important thing: roses bloom on new growth, but you should wait to prune them until you see the buds start to swell.
Choose the Right Summer Plants
Some plants love the heat more than others. To keep your garden looking colorful, pick summer-friendly plants.
Good choices include:
- Marigolds
- Sunflowers
- Zinnias
- Lavender
- Tomatoes
- Peppers
These plants can handle strong sun and need less water than other plants.
Fertilize
You will find many types of fertilizer when you go shopping. You should ask a gardening expert to help you choose the best one for your garden. Use different kinds of fertilizers because most soil doesn’t give enough nutrients to your plants and flowers. You will see your garden grow healthier when you feed it properly.
Don’t Stress Your Plant
Avoid adding extra stress to your plants during summer. As you know, it is hard for plants to stand in the sun for hours. So, you must avoid transplanting when the weather is very hot. Also, avoid planting anything new in the middle of the day. If you need to move the plant, you should do it in late afternoon.
Water Smartly
Watering is very important in summer, but you must do it the right way. Water your garden early in the morning or late in the evening when the sun is not strong. This way, the water will go deep into the soil instead of evaporating. Use a watering can or a drip system to save water. Try to water the base of the plants, not the leaves, to prevent diseases.
Final Words
Preparing your garden for summer is easy when you follow simple steps. Clean up the space, take care of your soil, pick the right plants, and water smartly. With a little effort, your garden will stay green, colorful, and full of life all summer long. In this article, we have discussed the tips to set up a garden in summer that will help you a lot.
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