Garden Rescue For Summer Landscapes

It’s a garden tale as old as time—you plant your garden in the spring, it looks uh-mazing for a few months, and then somewhere around the middle of the summer it starts to look worn out. (Well, we would look that way too, if we had to look amazing for months on end, but we digress.) No worries, though! There are lots of things you can do to rescue that garden and revive it until the fall gardening season comes along.

Steps for Garden Rescuing 

A healthy garden is all about meeting the needs of the plants and making sure your soil is healthy enough to support them. While there are optimal times during the year to plant, prune, and mulch, most of these activities can be done year-round depending upon where you live and what types of plants you’re growing. These steps can help you organize your plan to take back your garden and revitalize it! 

1. Tidy up. First things first, we always say. If your garden is looking stressed or tired, take a look around and remove anything that’s diseased or dead. Weeds? Get ‘em out of there! Perennials limping along, petunias flagging? Give them a little haircut so they’re not putting energy into lackluster growth. Everything looks better when it’s tidied up, right?
2. Take stock. Ok, now that everything is tidy, step back and assess. Are there numerous blank spots in your garden? Holes in your border? An empty trellis? Too much sun after you removed a tree? Summer is the perfect time to turn a critical eye on the garden to make notes, make a mid-season adjustment, and plan for additional plants to be added in the fall. On the other hand…
3. Plant. Think you can’t plant in the heat of the summer? While summer is not the ideal time to plant some things, others thrive quite well.  Just remember to choose plants that are heat lovers and you’re good. Our Garden Rescue collection makes it easy, with hot bloomers like canna, daylily, lycoris, caladium, jasmine, echinacea, sedum, lavender, and more. Many of these plants also make great cutting flowers to enjoy indoors. And don’t forget true heat lovers like cacti and many succulents; these guys were made for summer loving!
4. Take care. If you’ve decided to plant, be sure to take some extra care to get those darlings off to a good start. Once you’ve determined that the plants you’ve chosen are in agreement with your summer planting plan, aim to get them in the ground in the morning when the sun is less intense. Water in thoroughly, and be prepared to give extra water as they’re getting established. If your area is experiencing a heat wave and mercury is soaring, hold off until the temps are withing the more normal range for your location. 
5. Mulch well. We often think of mulching as a spring or fall garden chore, but we say mulch when it’s necessary! If you’re seeing bare earth, or your new plantings don’t have a nice layer of cooling mulch around them, go grab a few bags and start filling in. A 4” layer of chipped mulch (or any mulch that is recommended in your area) helps to maintain soil moisture and keep things cooler. Tip: If you have a large area to mulch, it’s much more cost effective to buy mulch in bulk from your local landscape supply yard. Ask about delivery fees to have a full picture of the total cost, then get those teenagers (or teenage neighbors!) out with the wheelbarrows.

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