Gardeners who love the outdoors and want to grow their vegetables, herbs, and flowers can do so even in the summer months. Many plants will thrive during these warmer times, as long as you know what to look for. In this article, we bring you the best summer gardening tips we could think of at the moment.
#1 Divide Perennials in Late Summer and Early Fall
Dividing perennials is a great way to keep your garden looking its best, and it’s an easy project for anyone with little time and patience. You can divide perennials between late summer and early fall, but the period varies depending on which plant you try to divide. Perennials with long taproots will be easiest to divide in the fall after they have finished blooming and have started to go dormant. The following summer gardening tips will help you successfully divide all kinds of perennials:
- Clean out any debris that may be hiding in the soil before beginning your division process
- Trim back any dead or damaged foliage so you can see what you’re doing
- Dig up the entire clump using a spade or trowel (be sure not to disturb neighboring plants)
#2 Keep On Top of Weeds
You may not have time to weed every day, but keeping an eye on your garden is essential. The best way to do this is by mulching as much ground as possible with organic materials like leaves and grass clippings. This will suppress weeds, reduce evaporation from the soil, and keep moisture in during dry spells.
You’ll also need a reliable watering system that includes a sprinkler or drip irrigation system for larger areas; hand watering is ideal for smaller spaces. Various tools such as shovels, rakes, hoes, spades, and trowels will help you keep up with your weeding needs throughout the growing season.
#3 Change Up Your Hanging Baskets
The trick to keeping your hanging baskets looking fresh is to change their contents every few weeks. If you’re growing annuals, they last only a few weeks so that you can put something new in the basket every week or two. Keep the baskets clean and give them a good watering before you put anything new in them.
If you’d like something that lasts longer than an annual, try combining different plants so they’ll look different as one plant grows. For example, combine two different types of petunias for a burst of color that will last much longer than either would alone!
If your hanging baskets start looking sad and tired by late summer (or fall), replace them with new ones from your local garden center or greenhouse!
#4 Prune Perennials for Pollinators
Pruning perennials is an important part of your gardening routine. Pruning helps you keep your plants healthy and looking their best while encouraging new growth, flowering, and fruitfulness.
For example, you can prune perennial herbs such as mint or oregano to promote new growth in the spring (right after they come out of dormancy), then again once they begin to flower—which will encourage more flowers! As a result, you’ll have more pollinators like bees buzzing around your garden all summer.
#5 Trim and Feed Your Flowers to Make Them Last
If you want your flowers to last until the first frost, trim them regularly. Deadheading is a simple way to keep plants tidy and looking their best. Also, water regularly and fertilize your flowers with a balanced fertilizer. You can also feed them with compost once a month by mixing it into the soil around their roots. If you don’t have time for that, try adding liquid fertilizer every couple of weeks; this will help them grow more quickly than they would otherwise.
If you’re feeling ambitious, consider making your slow-release fertilizer by combining one part bone meal, two parts kitty litter (or another carbon-rich substance like wood ash), four parts sulfur, and five parts molasses in a large bucket or bin filled with about six inches of water—then let the mixture sit for several days before using it on your plants’ roots as needed throughout the growing season!
#6 Use Self-Watering Containers to Take the Stress Out of Gardening
A self-watering container is a great way to grow vegetables, herbs, and flowers. The containers are easy to use and maintain and perfect for people with limited time or space.
The basic idea behind self-watering containers is that the soil or potting mix contains holes through which water can flow into the growing medium from a reservoir at the bottom of your backyard garden. This means you don’t have to remember to water regularly or even every day—the plants’ roots will get all the moisture they need on their own!
#7 Grow Your Own Food No Matter Where You Garden
Growing your food is undoubtedly one of the best summer DIY projects you can take on. You can grow your food no matter where you garden. There are many ways to grow food in small spaces. You can also grow food in containers or even on your front porch!
Growing Your Food
Growing your food is an excellent way of reducing the amount of money spent on groceries. It also helps reduce pollution by reducing the need for transporting goods. It’s also healthier than buying produce from a grocery store because often, they’re sprayed with pesticides and other chemicals that can be harmful to humans over time. You will feel like a chef while dicing tomatoes from your garden.
Growing Food In Small Spaces
If you live in an apartment or condo with limited space, you should try growing some herbs indoors, such as basil or mint, using containers like planters made out of plastic bottles (also known as “plastic bottle gardens”). These gardens work well because they tend not to get very large so there isn’t much need for maintenance beyond watering them every few days – which could easily be done remotely via a smartphone app if necessary!
#8 Plant Sunflowers to Lure in Beneficial Insects
Although it is number eight on our list, this is one of the most important of all summer gardening tips. Why? Because beneficial insects are critical to the health of your garden. These critters, including ladybugs, parasitic wasps, and spiders, help control pests like aphids and mites. They also pollinate plants and act as food sources for birds.
Sunflowers can be a great attractor of beneficial insects because they provide nectar and pollen early in the season while other plants aren’t yet blooming. As an added benefit, sunflowers can attract your backyard birds!
Conclusion
We hope you enjoyed this summer gardening tips blog post. Summer may seem like an unsuitable period for doing anything in your garden, but we hope we made you think differently after reading this article.