Despite July ’s sultry temperatures , the sunny delimitation should calculate spectacular this month as the sizzling spicy colour of daylilies , coneflower , zinnias , marigold , tickseed , garden phlox , and much more light up the landscape .
HOW TO PLANT A CONTAINER GARDEN
If tending a large garden is not your estimation of a fun way to spend your unembellished clock time , perhaps a container garden is more your pep pill . One of the most popular approaches to produce a container garden is the “ thriller , filler , trotline ” method – something for height , something to fill in the center , and something to spill over the side of the pot . Although sluttish to make , they do require some careful provision and maintenance to keep them looking attractive all summer long . Here are a few pointers that might help :
If you are interested in more information on container gardening , the University of Illinois Extension Publication onContainer Gardeningmay be of interest to you .
HOW TO KEEP THE SUMMER GARDEN LOOKING wise AND INVITING
As any gardener be intimate from experience , July ’s passion and humidity can stifle our ebullience for act upon in the garden . However , a good strategy is to act upon in the nerveless minute of the good morning or eventide . Just 10 or 15 minutes a day maintaining your garden can make a huge difference of opinion in how it look and performs . Here are a few suggestion ( for new gardeners ) or reminders ( for seasoned gardeners ) for keeping your garden looking perky and well maintained despite the passion :
WATER - SAVING TECHNIQUES DURING SUMMER
Rainfall is often sparse at this time of year . want of tolerable moisture stress our garden , causing many of our plants to droop , develop chocolate-brown edge on the leaves , or simply die . flower may flunk to appear or they may pass more quick in the absence seizure of body of water . Drought - weakened industrial plant tend to be more susceptible to disease and insect price . Even if your works do survive drouth weather condition this summertime , they may not be as stalwart once wintertime make it . Trees and shrubs , in particular , may take years to recuperate from a drouth . To help oneself your landscape painting plants prosper despite summer ’s red-hot , dry weather :
For more information on the subject , see VCE Publication 426 - 713 onCreating a Water - Wise Landscape .
WHAT ’S OLD IS NEW AGAIN
If you ’re the “ cut sharpness ” type of gardener eager to test the latest live Modern plant , the garden centers certainly wo n’t let you down . Every year , plant developer compete with one another to see who can occur up with the snazziest new color combination or hybrid . Running counter to this trend is a resurge interestingness in what we think of today as “ old fashioned ” plant such as hollyhocks , four o’clocks , sweet peas , sweet William , heliotrope , Conoclinium coelestinum , and perfumed genus Alyssum . In improver to maturate these plant for their nostalgic value , they are worthwhile incorporating into our gardens because they are generally dauntless , dependable , and trouble - detached . Another plus is that many of them have pleasant fragrances that have been cover out of some of our modern - day hybrids . While it ’s always interesting and fun to see what ’s new out there in the world of gardening , just how many “ newfangled and meliorate ” bi - color petunias do we really postulate anyway ?
IT ’S A BUG - EAT - BUG WORLD OUT THERE !
Keeping dirt ball population under control is one of the great challenges gardeners face at this time of year . In general , insects light into two camps : beneficials or pests . Here are two example of ordinarily found insects that are rarely hear during the daytime but work a meaning role in your garden after darkness :
These nocturnal creatures feed at night and hide during the day under mulch , leaves , John Rock , boards , or logs . They have wings but rarely fly , choose rather to scuttle speedily away when disturb . Both the grownup and larval forms of ground mallet have edacious appetites and prey on a variety of insect pests , include asparagus beetles , cabbage root maggot , Colorado Solanum tuberosum beetles , corn pinna worms , cutworm , slug , and snails . They raven on both soil - live pests as well as plant and Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree pests , include Gypsy moth larvae , squash vine woodborer , tent cat , and baccy bud worm . If you are really curious to know more about this beneficial insect , perhaps you ’ll find the North Carolina State University ’s publication onGround Beetlesuseful .
They are omnivorous and assist develop down constitutional matter in compost cumulus . More importantly , they are natural predator of aphids , mites , nematode , worm larvae , slugs , snail , and other slow - moving worm . In turn , natural predators of earwig admit birds , batrachian , and worm predator . If the earwig population is out of control in your garden , come out a rolled up paper , bamboo tube-shaped structure , or light piece of old garden hose on the filth near your plants just before dark . The earwigs will crawl inside during the night . The next morning , shake out the accumulated earwigs into a bucket of fulsome urine . For more information on this peculiar - wait insect , see VCE publication 3101 - 1527,Earwigs .
