🌿 Summer is in full bloom at Kiefer Nursery. Shawn, our Nursery Manager, shares some tips for keeping your garden thriving through the heat.
We’re filming this morning here in early July, so it’s definitely feeling like summer. I just want to talk to you today a little bit about one of the most important jobs we have as gardeners in the summer, and that of course is watering. People always ask, well, how much, how often? So, a good rule of thumb in the summer is about twice a week, and that’s if we haven’t gotten a good rain. You also have to consider the amount. Another good rule of thumb, maybe if you plant a three gallon plant, then that plant probably needs about three gallons of water. You also want to be sure when you’re watering that the water will stay around the plant and not just run off into the surrounding area. Couple ways to do that. You can make a little dam around the perimeter of the root ball uh with soil or with mulch that’ll hold the water there. You can fill that up and let it soak down a few times. There are tree bags. That’s a great way to do it as well cuz that holds the water right there at the base of the plant. it drips slowly out so the water all stays right in the root zone area and you want to encourage really deep rooting just so the plant gets better established and better able to to withstand droughts in the future. Sometimes here at the nursery we even have to do twice a day. So you might have to get out there early in the morning and check again later in the afternoon or evening just to be sure there still have some moisture there. But it’s always good just to check especially on the shrubs and if you have a lot of mulch around the base pull the mulch back and see is it still moist there then maybe you don’t need to water you know so because we can also kill things with kindness and so you don’t want to overdo it either. Annaniels and perennials also can benefit this time of year from a little shot of fertilizer or even a haircut. Annuals in particular uh are looking a little ratty this time of year. So can that encourages some new growth and fresh blooms. And even though it’s the heat of summer, it’s still not um too late even to do some planting, especially for smaller trees and shrubs. We have lots in stock right now. I’d encourage you to come check out the nursery, see what’s growing and blooming here, and uh stay cool this summer.
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