It’s not only what you plant
but how you care for your plants that encourages blooming through the season. Now
is the time for a mid-season clean up in your garden. You need to look at beds
and borders, containers and hanging baskets with a critical eye. Keeping your
garden looking its best means removing fading and spent flowers, as well as
cleaning up leaves, branches and debris.
Most annuals and perennials do their best
when you remove fading blooms early, before they begin to form seeds. In
gardening terms it’s called deadheading, which simply means pruning off the old
flowers. This keeps the garden neat and promotes additional blooms as well. Get
in the habit of deadheading while you walk through your garden. It’s easy to
carry a pair of light pruners with you as you make your rounds.
As you spot a blossom
beginning to fade snip or pinch it off.
Sometimes you’ll need to snip it off,
while other times you can simply pinch off old flowers. While you’re at it,
check the plant for bugs or disease problems. Getting on a problem early is the
best way to control it.
Stems and leaves
can get damaged or wear out through the course of the season. Now’s the time to
remove them.
The lower parts of veronica
and salvia can really look bad this time of year. Prune them hard and they will
come back strong by fall.
Check your roses and remove spent blossoms. Do the
same for your container plants, including your hanging baskets.
While you’re at
it, take a hard look at your vegetables. Removing dead
and diseased leaves on your tomato plants will put more energy into fruit production. Keeping pace
with dead-heading and cleanup makes it a lot easier when the gardening season
wraps up.
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