Summer Garden Checklist

Your summer to-do list

Whether you enjoy growing beautiful flowers or fruits and vegetables, this summer garden checklist will help you keep your plants healthy all season long.

On hot summer days, there's no shortage of things to do in the garden. With a little planning, you can make better use of your time by prioritizing what needs to be done. Schedule a regular time to complete those tasks on your summer garden checklist so you don't get overwhelmed.

1. Invest in a rain barrel

Did you know that 1,000 square feet can harvest 623 gallons of water from 1 inch of rain? The roof? Based on rain barrels, a typical ½-in. Rainfall will fill 50 to 55 gallon barrels as shown above. You can use that rainwater to water the plants in your garden. If you plan to use rain barrel water for home grown vegetables, see more information here.

Rain barrels are a great way to reduce the use of municipal treated water. They are also important to our environment because they help reduce water pollution by reducing the amount of stormwater that reaches our streams and rivers.

2. Spot weeds

If you're a new gardener — or if you're dealing with a wild and weedy spot — the first season can be tough. Commit to (and stick to) a weeding schedule, and don't take up more space than you can manage. If there are more weeds than you can handle, mow the weedy areas until you are ready to beat them. Weeding after a soaking rain makes the job easier. Do not leave the roots. If only the leaves are plucked, the weeds will grow back. Keep the weed close to the ground and pull or dig it straight up. A tiller with a forked tip makes weeding a chore.

3. Add mulch

Before mulching beds and borders, it is best to warm and dry the soil slightly (it should be moist, but not sticky). Adding mulch too early in the season can trap cool moisture in the soil, delay plant emergence and prevent the soil from drying out properly.

There are two rules for using mulch to control weeds:

First, apply mulch to the soil that has already been weeded.

Second, lay down a layer thick enough to prevent new weeds from coming up. A 2- to 3-in. Layer is usually sufficient.

4. Separate the beard iris

Bearded iris (Iris spp. and hybrids) should be divided every few years, when the blooms decline or the bunches become crowded. Proper division will help plants bloom profusely and prevent pest and disease problems. See our simple instructions for dividing rhizomes like bearded iris.

5. Feed container plants

It's always a good idea to add a slow-release fertilizer to your planting medium when potting plants (if it doesn't already contain fertilizers). During the growing season, apply liquid forms to plants in pots and containers; Can be overdone with solid forms, which can burn plant roots. Instead of large, infrequent doses, dilute a liquid fertilizer in half and water every so often.

Fertilizer tip

Not everything in pots needs feeding: cacti and succulents, for example, do best in poor or thin soil.

6. Potted plants

Encourage new plant growth in a container plant by transplanting it into a pot one size larger than the one it was growing in. How do you know when to pot a plant into a larger pot? You should check the roots. If you see roots growing out of the bottom drainage holes, it's time. You can take the plant out of the pot and examine the roots. If the roots are so dense that you cannot see any soil, you need to increase the size of the pot.

7. Dead plants

Deadheading is the term used to remove flowers from plants when they fade or die. This is done to keep plants attractive and to encourage more blooms in beds and borders, containers or hanging baskets.

Regular deadheading directs energy to stronger growth and more blooms. Once flowers are pollinated, seed heads, pods, or capsules form, using energy for further growth and flower development. A simple method for deadheading is to pinch off faded flowers with finger and thumb, but a sharp pair of pruners can help. If the flower is removed along with its stem, the plant is neat.

8. Harvest herbs

The best time to harvest your plants is when they are well watered and not stressed, perhaps a few hours after watering or the next morning. Perennial herbs such as mint, sage, thyme, and parsley are simple to harvest: Cut to about one-third to one-half of the plant's height at any point during the growing season. Annual herbs such as basil grown for their leaves require regular harvesting throughout the summer.

9. Train your climbing plants

Whatever type of vine you have, be sure to plant it at least 4 to 6 inches away from its support structure so its roots have room to spread. Start by loosely attaching the vines to the structure you want to climb so that they go in the correct vertical direction. Rope works well. Some climbers may need help throughout their growing period – you may need to tie them up as they grow taller and taller in their structure.

Change the rope

Cut-up stockings make an excellent tie for vines because they stretch enough to allow the stems to expand as they grow, and they are soft enough not to cut into the vine.