Summer Maintenance Keeps Your Landscape Looking Fresh
Often by midsummer landscapes start to have a tired and slightly shaggy appearance. There are a number of simple measures that will restore a neat look to your yard.
Touch-up Prune long ends on shrubs that are starting to look overgrown.
Deadhead spent flower heads on shrubs and perennials. Keeping perennials deadheaded periodically throughout the season can encourage more blossoms and extend the bloom season of many perennials.
Weed landscape beds. Weeds compete with your desirable plants. It’s important to remove weeds before they flower whenever possible to help prevent them from producing seeds (and more weeds!). Perennial weeds overwinter underground and then re-grow the following spring, so it’s best to dig weeds out, roots and all. If that’s not possible, your other options are to keep cutting off the weeds with a string trimmer, or apply an herbicide (take care not to injure valuable landscape plants, and follow label directions carefully).
Replace tired annuals with fresh new varieties that will provide bloom later in the season, such as Chrysanthemums.
Rake mulch beds lightly to refresh and renew existing mulch. Touch up bare areas with a light topdressing of additional mulch.
