Chris McKeown
| Special to Cincinnati Enquirer
Gardening tips and tricks for beginners
Ready to elevate your gardening game? These 15 tips will help you grow a greener, healthier garden indoors and out.
When we entered the month of June, it took a while for our true Midwestern summer weather to arrive. According to my records, we did not have our first 90-degree day until June 22. In May, we had very mild temperatures that continued into June. We also had above-average rainfall. Everything was growing great.
Unfortunately, since the heat and humidity arrived, it has been here almost every day. We also have not had much rain. When it does rain, it is what I like to call “somer rain.” This is because we have spotty storms where “some” people get rain and the rest do not.
When we enter the time of summer with this weather, it is not unusual to lack the motivation to work in the yard and garden. I convince myself that I have been working hard in the yard and I am owed a break.
So, I water, which we absolutely have to do unless you have mechanical irrigation. I also mow my grass, because it too has to be done. I also enjoy mowing the grass. I have a John Deere tractor, and whenever I am in the driver’s seat, I feel like a kid.
There are a few other things you can do with little effort to keep your plants healthy during the summer months.
How to keep your plants happy this summer
If you use some type of hardwood mulch, you should cultivate and loosen it now. After they have been down for a while, they become compacted. If the mulch is compacted and thicker than an inch or two, the water the plants need will have a hard time getting through it. The dark color of these mulches fades in the sunlight. Cultivating it will also turn it over, and you will get the dark color back.
One of the many great traits of perennial flowers is that there are so many to choose from. With those choices, you find many different varieties that bloom at different times of the season. We are currently in what I consider to be the second season of perennials, the summer bloomers.
At this point in the season, the spring-blooming perennials are long past their prime. Realistically, you do not need to do anything with them. It is actually beneficial to leave one with flowers that produce seeds alone. Most likely, those seeds are feeding birds or other types of wildlife. If there are others looking rough, you can cut them back. With most, you will get fresh new foliage. With some varieties, you might get more flowers.
At this time last year, we were just starting to enter a long period of drought. No one ever knows when a drought starts. Weeks and months go by without substantial rain. Then the drought is declared.
At this point, many of our plants are suffering. Last year, many evergreen plants were lost in the drought that started at this time and lasted into the fall. Many would have survived had they been watered periodically during this time. The largest number of casualties were in the Arborvitae family.
Please remember, evergreens do not tell you when they are thirsty. They do not wilt. If we go three to four weeks without rain, give the evergreens a good soaking. Keep in mind that those 10-foot-tall Arborvitaes screening your neighbor’s ugly yard cannot be replaced. You will be starting over with new ones that are much smaller.
Just one more. If you live in the areas where the cicadas were and you have mature trees, you are seeing a lot of dead leaves at the ends of the branches. There is no need to be concerned. The damaged parts of the branches will fall off. The trees will react positively as if they were pruned. You will see new growth that was stimulated by this natural occurrence.