Mid-Tenn Nursery

Archive for the ‘Gardening Tips’ Category

August Gardening Tips

Take a few minutes to remove the dead flowers on Marigolds, zinnias and other annuals. Spent flowers on perennials should also be removed. Just a little time spent on grooming the plants really makes a big difference in the appearance of the garden. Also, once a plant flowers and goes to seed, it will usually stop the development of additional flowers, so by removing the spent flowers the plants should continue to flower longer into the season.

If you have thick, thriving phlox, thin the plants to four or five stalks per clump to provide adequate ventilation and avoid powdery mildew.

Cut out raspberry and blackberry canes that have just finished fruiting.

Summer blooming shrubs should be pruned for shape after they have finished flowering. Remove any dead or diseased branches.  Try to finish all shearing prior to the end of August. This will allow newly stimulated growth to harden off before winter.

Azaleas, rhododendron, and other acid-loving plants need to be fertilized one more time before the end of August using an acid-based soluble fertilizer containing iron.

Now is a good time to shear your Knock-Out Roses.  Removing 6-8“ and feeding with a organic fertilizer like Rose-Tone will invigorate the plant and provide you with beautiful fall blooms until frost.

       DID YOU KNOW?

In addition to food, hummingbirds need water.  Most of what they drink may come from flower nectar.  Bathing at least daily is quite crucial to them in order to keep their rapidly moving wings cleaned.  You can help provide water by having a birdbath or any rough-surfaced and shallow container.

They also like waterfalls, as in a water feature, or even just water on leaves, which they fly through for a quick shower.  Providing a hose sprinkler on a timer that they can fly through is also beneficial.

Our fall mums are growing and our corn maze is coming along.  Don’t forget our fall festivities during September & October.

Have a great gardening day!

VISIT OUR WEBSITE AT:

www.Mid-TennNursery.com

It is starting to get very HOT during the month of June.  You need to watch your watering especially with new plantings.  You can still successfully plant new plants.  Make sure enough water is applied to thoroughly saturate the original root zone.  Too often many folks apply “one gallon” of water, or leave their drip system on for only 15 minutes.  It is NOT how long but how much water is used.

During the hot summer months, mulch can be especially useful for conserving water.  For vegetable gardens, shredded leaves or grass clippings are good mulch material.  For ornamentals, pine needles or wood bark is best.

As the weather heats up, it’s not unusual for your plants to get “tired” and quit blooming.  A monthly application of a granular fertilizer such as Espoma’s Plant Tone can quickly perk up a garden that is stressed.

DID YOU KNOW?

Artemisia – This perennial produces a strong antiseptic, although not unpleasant aroma that repels most insects. Planted in drifts it can also deter small animals. A favorite variety is ‘Powis Castle’. Use this plant in flower borders but NO T in your vegetable garden because it produces a botanical poison.

Basil -The oils in basil are said to repel thrips, flies and mosquitoes.  Plant it beside tomatoes for larger, tastier tomatoes.  However, basil and rue should NOT be planted together.

Chives – Their grassy foliage and round flower heads add so much interest to a garden. You can plant chives to repel Japanese beetles.  It has also been said that chives will help prevent scab when planted among apple trees.

Lavender - Every garden should not be without lavender because of  its fresh scent and delicate blue blooms.  Lavender is a favorite among many beneficial insects and also repels fleas and moths.

Hydrangea – You can change the color of your old-fashioned hydrangea blooms. If you have a blue hydrangea, and would like it to have lavender to pink flowers, raise the alkalinity in your soil by adding 4 ounces of lime around the base of the shrub. Do this incrementally until you get the color you want. Depending on your soil, it could take a few growing seasons. To turn a pink hydrangea blue, add aluminum sulfate to the soil around the base of your plant. Follow the label directions carefully and don’t overdo it.

Clay Pots – Before planting, pre-soak clay pots in a bucket of water for 5 or 10 minutes. If you plant in terra-cotta when it is dry, it wicks moisture from the soil and the new plantings.

PLANTING:

The Sun’s getting high, soil’s getting warm. It’s time for tender plants to go in the ground (impatiens, begonias, and petunias). Also consider planting some tropicals for all-summer color that laughs at the heat – plants like hibiscus and plumbago. Be sure to work in some Plant-Tone when you plant, and, yes, keep everything watered.

Vegetables that originated in the tropics need warm nights and warm soil to thrive, so it’s a waste of time to put them in too early. Plants started later will outdistance ones started in cool conditions, too. Give everything you plant some Plant-Tone (or Tomato-Tone) and keep well watered.

HUMMINGBIRDS:

Our indigenous Ruby-throated Hummingbirds typically arrive back from the tropics in mid-April, but it’s still not too late to tempt them into your garden with a feeder. Be sure to hang it where you can enjoy their presence. Hummers are incredibly fearless (perhaps because they can outmaneuver just about any threat), so putting a feeder quite near human activity won’t bother them. You can make your own hummingbird nectar: Bring 4 cups of water and 1 cup of sugar to a boil and store mixture in refrigerator.

TOADS:

Welcome toads to your garden by offering them a source of water and a place to stay. One toad can eat from ten to twenty thousand insects a year. You can make a toad house by partially burying a terra cotta pot on its side.

QUICK TIPS:

1. TRIM ALL SPRING FLOWERING SHRUBS IMMEDIATELY AFTER BLOOMING (i.e. Azaleas, Rhododendron, Forsythia).

2. APPLY CRABGRASS PREVENTER TO LAWNS.

3. FEED ROSES. REGULAR APPLICATIONS OF ROSE-TONE WILL MAKE A BIG DIFFERENCE IN THEIR PERFORMANCE. JUST SPRINKLE AROUND THE DRIP LINE OF EACH PLANT EVERY MONTH FOR GREAT PERFORMANCE.

4. TO HELP YOUR GARDEN MUMS MAINTAIN A MORE COMPACT FORM, PINCH THEM BACK AFTER THEY ARE 6 TO 8 INCHES TALL. THE IDEA IS TO REDUCE THE HEIGHT BY ABOUT HALF. REPEAT THE PROCESS AGAIN BY JULY 4TH.

Dividing Perennials:

Divide overcrowded clumps of daylilies, hosta, rudbeckia and the like. Some, like daylilies, are pretty easy: Just dig up the clump, wash off the soil and tease the tuberous roots apart at logical ’seams’ – you’ll often find the clump seems more inclined to separate at certain points, unless it is way overgrown. Some others, like big hosta, can be a bear to get apart. Do the best you can, taking care not to smash the crowns and growing points of the plant. Replant divisions right away as they do not benefit from being out of the ground.

Feeding your Perennials, Tress & Shrubs:

Give your perennials what they need to have a great growing season. We have fantastic results with Espoma Plant-Tone. Plant-Tone is mostly organic so it can’t burn tender roots and it is actively improving your soil as it feeds you plants. It is also time to feed any and all evergreens, deciduous trees and shrubs. Give your evergreens and other acid loving plants a dose of Holly-Tone.

In addition, now is the time to do the following:

1. Prune shrubbery and evergreens for size and shape control. It is important this be done before new growth begins.

2. Cut out dead wood on flowering shrubs.

3. Remove mulch, prune and fertilize roses.

4. Clean out beds of leaves and debris.

5. Mulch beds to hold moisture and keep roots cool.

6. Weed and feed lawn.

Our berry plants are ready to be planted. We have blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, grapes, figs, and fruit trees. Amending soil with an organic such as peat moss will help your plants thrive. Top dress fruits with an acidic fertilizer such as Holly-Tone.

It is also time to start asparagus and potato beds. Excellent planting information on both can be found on the internet or come in to see us and we can get you started.

It has been a cold and weary winter and everyone is anxious to get back outside and enjoy the warmer weather. We are here to serve you and look forward to seeing you soon!

More tips coming soon.

This is the time of the year we say “so long” to the perennial plants that have brightened our gardens with their unique shapes and colors all through the growing season. They are not gone for good, however, but just taking a seasonal break, to return next spring with a new show with the same cast of characters.
But if you did not know it, something very important needs to be done now to insure they can return to us next spring. Don’t cut them back too soon! First, let all the green leaves and stems of these perennial plants die back to brown.

It’s nature’s plan to recycle the food energy present in the plants in the fall, for use in the spring. The sucrose sugar that feeds all the living cells of the plant flows through that green tissue that made it in the first place. As the plant’s green parts begin to yellow and then die back, the process of converting the sucrose sugar into a complex carbohydrate begins. The plant cannot store the liquid sugar, but it can easily store the highly concentrated dry carbohydrate we call starch, in the roots and underground stem parts for the winter. When the roots of these perennials are stimulate by warm soil in the spring, the stored energy they had accumulated in the fall is used to give them the energy they need to send out new roots and send up new plants.

NOTE: Spring- and Summer-blooming bulb flowers are perennial plants. So let the green top growth of tulips, daffodils, dahlias and cannas die back first, then cut them back.