Are your summer containers looking tired or overgrown? Don’t toss them yet! In this video, I’ll show you 4 easy steps to revive your annual plantings and bring your containers back to life—fast. Whether your flowers are leggy, bloomed out, or struggling in the heat, these simple tips will help you refresh your pots and enjoy vibrant blooms for the rest of the season. You’ll learn, when and how to cut back annuals, the best way to fertilize mid-season, and how to manage water and heat stress. Thanks for watching- Steph 🌱 (Gardening in Massachusetts zone 6b). #garden #gardening #lifestyle #home #design #plants @ProvenWinnersYouTube
From the video:
My favorite 2 Gallon Watering Can long spout: https://amzn.to/4lJIuhL
Fiskars Kangaroo Collapsible Garden Bag: https://amzn.to/3TRU1Pg
FELCO F-2 068780 Classic Manual Hand Pruner: https://amzn.to/4o0Audn
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Some of my current garden favorites:
Set of 2 Solar Lantern Outdoor Hanging Decorative Lights for Garden: https://amzn.to/3YdIiNC
Shepherd’s Hooks 35 Inch (4 Pack), Black: https://amzn.to/4jNzXrY
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2 Gallon Watering Can long spout: https://amzn.to/4lJIuhL
Corona Cultivator: https://amzn.to/4lP8S9P
Gorilla Carts Heavy-Duty Dump Cart: https://amzn.to/4jmQlQB
Espoma Organic Bio-Tone Starter Plant Food: https://amzn.to/432sfVq
GORILLA GRIP Extra Thick Garden Kneeling Pad: https://amzn.to/4cTfZKk
Roo Gardening Apron with Pockets: https://amzn.to/3S61Y2a
Root Slayer Shovel, Red: https://amzn.to/42OZWsn
Vego Garden Hose Reel Retractable Hi-Flow x 100ft: https://amzn.to/42Lm4np
Vego garden Raised Garden Bed Kit: https://amzn.to/4izSI1d
My Amazon Store Where You Can Find Many of My Favorite Garden Items
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Hooked and Rooted is a gardening show on Youtube. My shows & content include topics such as: Offering gardening tips for beginners, low maintenance garden ideas, landscaping for beginners, new build garden transformations, how to make your garden beautiful, sharing perennial plants and evergreen shrubs for the garden, and the best ground cover plants you can plant in your garden.
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I’m cutting off whatever is hanging off of the edge of the planters. And here are the other two matching planters. Small pots are crockpots. So on a weekly basis, I try to remember to rotate them. Hi, it’s Steph. Welcome back to my garden. We’ve all been there. In spring, we create these beautiful containers that we hope will look beautiful throughout the summer and into the fall. But halfway through the season, they start looking a little tired. And that’s the point we’re at now. Especially if you grow patunias, they start to look a little scraggly. So today, I’m going to share with you four tips to revive your containers fast and keep them looking beautiful for the rest of the season. Step one is drastic but necessary. Cut back leggy growth. This is especially important on plants like patunias, calabracoa, and verbena, which have a trailing habit and have a tendency to get leggy and scraggly as the season goes on. By cutting your plant back by a third or a half, whatever you’re most comfortable with, it will really encourage more growth, side branching in a bushier plant, which will in turn give you more blooms and continue to keep your container looking fresh and beautiful for the remainder of the season. So today, I’m going to go through and cut these beautiful patunias back. I also have a version of caliber koa here, the super bells that I’m going to cut back, and some verbina. So I am going to cut my patunias back by a half. You might be thinking, staff, your containers still look good. Why are you cutting them back? Because I know that it’s time to give them a good cut back. It might feel counterintuitive, especially when the plants still look nice. But trimming them now helps keep them healthy and encourages fresh new growth. If you’re a newer gardener, this kind of cutback might seem a little harsh or even scary to do. But don’t worry, the plants are going to be just fine. In fact, they’ll come back fuller, stronger, and with even more blooms. I hope that by watching me cut back these patunias, you’ll get a better idea of how to do it yourself. And most of all, I hope it gives you the confidence to go ahead and refresh your tired annuals. It will only take a couple of weeks before these containers are all filled out again. [Music] As you can see, it’s a pretty shocking difference. It’s like getting a good haircut. And I filled up pretty much my whole pop-up bag with Patunia cutings. But they are going to respond beautifully to this, and they’re going to bush out again in no time. But the next thing I’m going to do real quick is just rotate my planters. And this is something I would recommend doing if you have a matching set of planters anywhere on a porch, a patio, a deck. Um, more times than not, one side is getting more sun than the other. and so they might grow unevenly. In my case, this side tends to get more afternoon sun and grows a bit better than this side. So on a weekly basis, I try to remember to rotate them. So it’s a lot easier to do this before you water cuz then they get quite heavy. Next up are the caliber koa or the super bells and my verbina. And on these I’m going to cut them back by about a third. Want to be free this heart. Yeah. Want to feel your arms around you. [Music] I’m cutting off whatever is hanging off of the edge of the planter. So right through here. [Music] Should I close my eyes again? Pull you tight, call you mine. Think about you every time. I remember that it’s Yeah. You never break, you never lie. [Music] So am I the one who cries? I’m so afraid to be left behind. Step two, fertilize your containers. Annuals are heavy feeders and every time that you water your containers, all of the nutrients from the soil or any fertilizer that you might have added when planting them is coming out through the bottom of that container with the water. So, for that reason, all of those nutrients are being lost and your plants are hungry. So, to keep them performing their best and blooming throughout the whole season, you want to apply a regular application of a water-soluble fertilizer. I like to use this in my watering can every 1 to two weeks or as often as I can remember. And what helps me remember is fertilizer Fridays. So, typically on a Friday, I’ll go through, I’ll add some of this Proven Winners water-soluble fertilizer to my watering can and feed all of my annuals in containers. This fertilizer is really easy to use. It’s a powdered fertilizer and it comes with a measuring scoop. And most watering cans are a two gallon size. So, for a two gallon, you want to apply two scoops. It’s one scoop per gallon. And then you add your water and it dissolves. I typically use a watering can to fertilize my annuals, especially when I’m just feeding a few containers. But if you have a large number of plants, there are more efficient options. A pump sprayer is a great choice. It holds more water and fertilizer so you’re not constantly refilling. You can also use a hose and sprayer attachment, which mixes the fertilizer directly with your hose water. It’s a quick and easy way to feed a big group of plants all at once. Step three is deadheading. And that means cutting off the spent blooms on your annuals to keep it directing its energy into creating more blooms instead of setting seed. Here I have some annual sunflowers. And whether they’re planted in the landscape or in a container, the process is the same. You find your spent blooms, you follow the stem down, and you cut. And annuals like sunflowers, zenyas, cosmos, and even geraniums, and patunias really benefit from being deadheaded regularly. However, there are some types of patunias that are self-cleaning. Let me show you that. This beautiful patunia that we just cut back today is the proven winners superunia vista paradise. It is a beautiful and vigorous patunia, but the super tunias have been bred to be self-cleaning. So, what that means is as the blooms fade, they just shrivel up, dry out, and fall off of the plant, as you can see there. Which means that you don’t have to go through and deadhead it in order for it to continue to produce beautiful blooms all season long. However, let’s say, for example, that your patunia is an older variety that is not self-cleaning. When you see your spent blooms like this, you would just go ahead and cut them off. Step four is water deeply, not constantly. You want to give your containers a nice thorough soak when you see that the top 1 in of soil is dry. By giving them a thorough soak, it’s going to promote healthy root development and will give your plants less stress from inconsistent moisture. Now, you will find that as the season progresses that the roots will start to develop and they will take up a lot of volume in that container and eating up a lot of that soil. So after a while, you will find that you do have to water more frequently because of the soil becoming hydrophobic because of all of the root activity. So in the beginning of the season, you might be able to water every other day. As it gets hotter and the roots get larger, you’re probably watering every day and sometimes even twice a day, morning and night, depending how hot it is. The size of the container will also depend how much water you have to do because um the more soil you have, the more moisture it will retain. The smaller the pot, they call them hot small pots are crock pots because they get really hot and dry out a lot faster. So, if you are going to water your container, you want to water it to the point where you see it draining out the bottom. Then you know that the soil is nice and moist. And the next time that you go to water, just stick your finger in there. And if the top 1 in of soil feels like it still has some moisture in it, skip the watering until the next time. And speaking of watering, you might remember that these planters here in my driveway I had used some aqua pots for. They are some inserts that have a water reservoir and a wicking system so that once you plant your plants into the soil and water goes into that reservoir, it will then become a selfwatering container. And I’m happy to report that these are looking gorgeous. So I have some purple fountain grass in there, some blue angelonia on the sides, as well as some white sunpasians in the middle. some helocchrisum or licorice plant that looks really beautiful as a trailer outside the container and some blueberry swirl flocks that I started from seed which is also filling out and looking lovely. So this is another option having a selfwatering reservoir in your containers. Uh something to take note of and something that I learned um shortly after inserting them is that initially you do have to fill up the reservoir. There is the tube. But initially, because your plants are still babies and establishing a root system, they’re not going to be able to reach down into that soil and wick from that reservoir. So, for the first month or so, I did have to hand water the container. And then once those roots started reaching down into the soil, at that point, they started wicking up the water from the reservoir. And they have worked beautifully ever since. Look how huge these got. They look beautiful. And here are the other two matching planters that I have flanking either side of the stairs that lead you up our walkway. I absolutely love the plant combination that I chose for these planters this year. And they look absolutely stunning as they mature. And with the sunlight coming through those gorgeous plumes of the purple fountain grass, I just love them so much. And that’s all it takes. just a quick cut back, a little bit of food, and the proper watering habits to bring your containers back to life and keep them looking beautiful for the remainder of the season. Let me know, have you done any summer container maintenance yet? And how are your summer containers doing? Thank you so much for spending your time with me, and I’ll catch you in the next one.
24 Comments
Are your summer containers looking tired or overgrown? Don’t toss them yet! In this video, I’ll show you 4 easy steps to revive your annual plantings and bring your containers back to life—fast. Whether your flowers are leggy, bloomed out, or struggling in the heat, these simple tips will help you refresh your pots and enjoy vibrant blooms for the rest of the season. You’ll learn, when and how to cut back annuals, the best way to fertilize mid-season, and how to manage water and heat stress. Thanks for watching- Steph 🌱 (Gardening in Massachusetts zone 6b). #garden #gardening #lifestyle #home #design #plants
As shown in the video:
My favorite 2 Gallon Watering Can long spout: https://amzn.to/41bfYg1
Fiskars Kangaroo Collapsible Garden Bag: https://amzn.to/3TRU1Pg
FELCO F-2 068780 Classic Manual Hand Pruner: https://amzn.to/4o0Audn
———————————————————————-
Some of my current garden favorites:
Set of 2 Solar Lantern Outdoor Hanging Decorative Lights for Garden: https://amzn.to/3YdIiNC
Shepherd's Hooks 35 Inch (4 Pack), Black: https://amzn.to/4jNzXrY
Venice Arbor: https://amzn.to/3GGPaNe
Long Watering Wand: https://amzn.to/4jvgcG6
All-Weather Fade/Rot Resistant Patio Bench with cupholders: https://amzn.to/3GmEof1
Corona Cultivator: https://amzn.to/4lP8S9P
Gorilla Carts Heavy-Duty Dump Cart: https://amzn.to/4jmQlQB
Espoma Organic Bio-Tone Starter Plant Food: https://amzn.to/432sfVq
GORILLA GRIP Extra Thick Garden Kneeling Pad: https://amzn.to/4cTfZKk
Roo Gardening Apron with Pockets: https://amzn.to/3S61Y2a
Root Slayer Shovel, Red: https://amzn.to/42OZWsn
Vego Garden Hose Reel Retractable Hi-Flow x 100ft: https://amzn.to/42Lm4np
Vego garden Raised Garden Bed Kit: https://amzn.to/4izSI1d
My Amazon Store Where You Can Find Many of My Favorite Garden Items
👉 https://amzn.to/49F9RTU
🌱Thank You for using my affiliate links🌱
I started trimming back my Supertunia Vistas and my vincas. I love how the second round of flowers is better than the first! I’m in zone 7a. I can already see the shift in the sun. As fall gets closer some of my full sun areas start loosing sunlight then it becomes a game of rotation.
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Belated congrats on reaching 150k viewers! You deserve it. Great info as proven by your subscribers.
Thanks for sharing this. I did not know that by cutting these back, they would be fine!
Be careful with the secateurs, Stephanie! I clipped the tip of my finger do8ng what you are doing and it took a month before it healed.
Great tips! 💚
Thanks for all the great tips and reminders, Steph! I’m gonna follow your advice today and get it done before it rains. I toss the stuff I cut off back into the garden where it can’t be seen so it can break down and return to the soil.
Hi Steph, great video. Ty. Yes noticing my Beautiful petunias and superb ells are looking a little weary, especially with our recent hot spell. Hopefully can get out & do a cut back today. Thanks for the advice. Take care
Do you use the cutting in different spots to dry them up to see somewhere else & not waste the seeds to be efficient & have more of that bloom somewhere else or sell the seeds or do you throw them away?
Thanks for you response ❤
Would you consider dropping the music?? I love to hear the natural sounds of the snipping, etc.!
This is my first year of having bubblegum petunias. I only bought two containers and they filled my pots out beautifully. We've had 90 plus degree weather day after day. I cut them back, and I fertilized, but after I fertilized they look like crap! I really should get rid of them but I keep hoping they will revive. Other containers that I fertilized at the same time are doing well. I used miracle grow single packets.
Great video! Going to work on summer plant maintenance today 😊
Wonderful tips- love watching your videos!I know what Ineed to do tomorrow. keep up the videos, please
Hello from southern Ontario in Canada. I have been gardening this year for the first time a long time. Lots of pots and three gardens around our house with lots of perennials. I have cut back daisies and coriopious to get them to rebloom. I have a question for you. Do you throw away the dirt in your pots every fall and start over with new potting soil the next spring or do you keep the soil and top it up with fresh potting soil? I made the mistake of using some small clay pots and now have to move mature plants into plastic pots so that they will make it through our winter. Interesting about the smaller pots being less likely to retain the water. I've learned a valuable lesson. I really enjoy your videos but you speak very fast, I really have to listen. . Thanks for sharing.
Hi Steph, I love your container combinations. So pretty.
Mine are eaten by deer. They do the trimming. 🙄 😡
Great tips and showing how it is done for those that are intimidated by being so drastic. I often do mine in thirds. Meaning, I will (in my mind) divide the plant into thirds. I will cut back to the rim of the pot one third of the plant while letting the remainder keep on blooming. What remains is so lush that you don't really notice what has been cut. Then the following week I do the next third and so on. It is less painful for me than to cut back the entire plant, but if I have left it too long and they are looking spindly, then I will do the drastic all-at-once pruning back. I just love the purple fountain grass, I have used and loved it in my back garden as a focal point but I did not see it anywhere this year and I was unsuccessful in overwintering it even in the greenhouse. I did not realize how much I missed having it in my garden until I spotted yours.
Oof, I have difficulty cutting back hard…
That planter with the Aquapot is stunning; lovely combination, and it is so lush.
Do you put the cut flowers that you cut or trimmed in your house instead of throwing them out
Great video and great information thank you
When I cut back my petunias I bring the flowers inside and they last at least a week in a vase. So I still get to enjoy the blooms while my plant comes back.
I ALWAYS enjoyed your videos. You are definitely my go- to. So informative and your garden is absolutely breathtaking! 😍 Could you please do a video on how you put together your container plant's. Thay are so stunning!
Can I cut back potted Fuchsias with they improve and come back?