It’s too hot to do anything strenuous in the garden now. I would certainly put off labor-intensive jobs, like creating new beds, building structures such as decks and arbors or major landscape plantings. The heat also means it’s not a great time to add hardy trees and shrubs.
I do slowly stroll around my gardens in the early mornings or late evenings when the temperatures are somewhat cooler. Oh, I’ll stop to take care of some weed issues (that never stops). Still, I try to keep physical activity to a minimum. But I’m not wasting time.
I’m doing three important things as I ramble around my landscape.
I’m enjoying it. I am appreciating the beautiful flowers, bright colors and fragrances of summer bedding plants and tropicals blooming now. You work hard to create and maintain your gardens — don’t forget to enjoy them.I’m evaluating. I’m looking carefully at how well landscape plants, especially new plants, are doing in this stressful late summer weather. New plantings are also scrutinized to see if plant and color combinations look as good in the garden as they did in my mind.I’m reevaluating my landscape. This is a good thing for everyone to do.
Use this time when it’s too hot to work outside to take time to walk through a garden and just enjoy it.
By JILL PICKETT | Staff photographer
Reasons to reevaluate
As landscapes mature, things change. Trees get taller and cast deeper shade, and bushes can become overgrown. People’s lifestyles also change, and that area given over to a sandbox or a swing set may be ready for a different purpose.
Maybe you have recently purchased a home with mature plantings that no longer work well, or at least they don’t satisfy you. Perhaps the arrival of a new baby limits the amount of time you have to maintain your gardens. Whatever the reason, reevaluation is an important part of creating a landscape that is attractive and provides for the current needs of a family.
A fresh look
To start reevaluating a landscape, you must take a hard, honest look at what you have. Changes can happen subtly over years and you might overlook the obvious, such as an increase in shade from trees, unless you really focus.
Or there may be more sudden changes that haven’t been properly integrated into the landscape. Maybe you added a deck, for instance, and traffic patterns have changed, but you haven’t reworked the walkways.
Perhaps a tree was removed, creating sunny areas that were once shaded. Pretend you are the new owner of the house and gardens you are surveying and look at it with as much objectivity as you can.
Consider what your landscape is currently providing. Does it match your current needs? Have your tastes changed? Can you still physically deal with the maintenance? Are there things you need to eliminate or things you need to add?
Here are a few things to consider.
A variety of ground covers and other plants can add beauty to areas where trees have grown and added shade to the environment.
CHRIS GRANGER
TREES: One of the biggest changes that can affect a landscape over time is the growth of trees. They not only grow taller and larger, but they can dramatically influence what can or can’t grow under or around them.
If your landscape has been planted for a number of years, you may find that some plants don’t perform as well as they used to. You might notice, for instance, that a bed of azaleas is no longer blooming well and the plants look leggy and thin. If the area is shaded by trees, it could be that they need more light. Trees that were smaller when the azaleas were planted have grown larger over the years and cast more and deeper shade. Lawns often succumb to shade from a tree that has grown larger.
When shade makes existing plants do poorly and look unattractive, consider removing those plants and replacing them with something more shade-tolerant. Plant areas where grass will not grow with shade-loving ground covers like monkey grass or Asiatic jasmine.
Control the size of shrubs with regular pruning.
STAFF PHOTO BY BRAD BOWIE
SHRUBS: Overgrown shrubs can be trimmed back, trimmed up or removed entirely.
A hard pruning can rejuvenate some overgrown old shrubs. Hard pruning is best done just before shrubs start active growth. February or March is a good time to do hard pruning to shrubs that bloom in the summer. Prune spring-flowering shrubs in late March or April after they flower. Once they begin growing again, control their size with regular pruning.
In other cases, you can trim a shrub up if height is not an issue. To do this, the lower branches of an overgrown shrub are selectively removed, training it into a small tree form. This opens space under and around the plant, making it less dominate.
Do you find yourself continually pruning back shrubs that are too large for the area where they are planted? This is a fight you will never win. Often, removing and replacing these shrubs is the best idea. If you do decide to do this, make sure that you select new shrubs that will not grow too large for the location.
PLANNING AHEAD: The best time for planting hardy trees, shrubs, ground covers and perennials in the landscape is November through March, with fall and early winter being the most beneficial. That’s why now is a good time to start doing this type of reevaluation. You still have plenty of time to rethink your landscape and make plans for what needs to be done when the weather becomes cooler.
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