We’ve all had those moments—we’re sitting in the chair on our deck or patio, sipping on iced tea when suddenly we leap to our feet because we remembered something we forgot. Here’s a list of summer gardening tasks to remember.
End of Summer Checklist
- Remember not to just water your plants. Remember to actually touch some of those leaves and turn them over to see if anything looks off. Insect or disease problems are so much easier to deal with if caught early.
- Check your fertilizer and be sure you’re following the label directions. We never want to over-feed, as that can actually kill a plant. Also, make sure your fertilizer is the right one for your plants. All fertilizers have three numbers (10-10-10, 20-20-20, etc.), but plants that bloom prefer fertilizers with a HIGHER middle number (12-36-14, etc.). They will bloom better.
- If you are using a repellent type spray (like for deer, etc.) be sure to reapply after a good rain.
- Make sure you deadhead (cut the dead flowers off) flowers like roses, zinnias, petunias, dahlias, marigolds. Since a flowers mission is to set seed, if you cut off old flowers, not only do you get rid of a flower which is not looking good anymore, but it encourages the plant to produce more flowers.
- Remember when you water, whenever possible use either a soaker hose or hand-water with the water at the roots. With our summer humidity, we don’t need to continually get our plant’s foliage wet to encourage powdery mildew.
- Remember spring and summer, when plants are actively growing, is the best time to repot or transplant anything that needs it, never fall or winter.
- And this is the most important thing of all. Do find time to sit in a chair or your deck or patio and look at those plants thriving under your attention.