Jupiterimages
Maintaining a garden is a harrowing task, especially in this heat-wave plagued summer, when even the greenest thumbs are watching their plants turn brown. Luckily, all is not lost – the dog days might be winding down, but garden season (roughly Victoria Day through Thanksgiving) is barely halfway through. Here are some tips on how to execute an effective mid-season spruce.
Whack those weeds
You'd think this would be obvious, but discouraged gardeners often throw in the trowel, inviting weeds to enact a hostile takeover. The first step to reclaiming your green space is to get it 100-per-cent weed free. "Weeding is probably the most unpopular thing about gardening," says Jeff Sarty, a professional landscaper and star of HGTV Canada's Decked Out, "but it's also crucially important both for obvious aesthetic reasons, but also because any weeds allowed to grow in your garden are simply stealing moisture and nutrients from other plants."
Water efficiently
When plants start to brown, amateur gardeners often go overboard on hydration therapy. "Drowning plants is also a hazard," says Mr. Sarty, who recommends dousing plants in three inches of water once or twice a week. Of course, this depends on temperatures and levels of rain. To check your soil moisture, grab a knife and stick it about five inches down. If the soil is dry, it won't stick to the knife. Mr. Sarty also recommends using rain barrels to store water rather than wasting it: "if it's coming down from the eavesdrops, you might as well use it."
Do a mid-season mulch
Mulching is a great way to re-energize lacklustre plants as well as the soil they're living in. For the best results, buy any organic blend (cedar or pine chips are both good) from your local garden store and create a thick layer on top of the soil. "Mulching is a way to get ahead of any future problems – it's proactive gardening instead of reactive gardening," Mr. Sarty says. Just be sure not to skimp if you want to see an improvement – you want a layer of at least three inches deep, not just a dusting. "Laying out a little bit of mulch is like wearing a windbreaker in a snowstorm," he says.
Invoke Edward Scissorhands
When it comes to the obviously dead or brown bits on otherwise okay plants, don't be afraid to go a little snip-happy with garden shears or plain old kitchen scissors. (To determine whether the whole plant is dead, give a gentle tug – if the roots are firm in the ground, it's still got a pulse.) Mr. Sarty recommends cutting perennials down to about half their size mid-season and of course deadheading (removing buds that have already bloomed). Deadheading will also give annuals an extra jolt of life, and may even induce a second flowering. "Any time you leave a plant with dead stems or buds, you are depriving nutrients from the parts of the plant that still need it," he says.
Make a late summer splurge
"One mistake a lot of people make is blowing their full garden budget in the springtime," says Mr. Sarty. Instead, be sure to keep a reserve for some August additions – especially after a particularly hot summer, where flowering plants may have gone through their life cycle faster than usual. The best part is that later in the season, nurseries will be offering deals on most of their remaining stock, including perennials that will return next year. Mr. Sarty suggests grasses, or try purple coneflowers flowers for a hit of colour.
And don't do this: Give up and let your garden turn into a graveyard. There is always room for improvement (or more shrubbery).
Special to The Globe and Mail