Tips to Extend the Life of Your Summer Blooms
Tips to Extend the Life of Your Summer Blooms
It’s flower season, no question about it. Those showy blooms that transform your garden from simple to stately and from subdued to stylish took plenty of time to nurture and nourish before they made it to fruition. Today they’re sheer works of art, adding their own special brand of color, texture, and character to your landscape.
The reality, though, is that they won’t last forever. It’s the nature of seasonal plants—all that heat and humidity can take their toll on your plants and flowers over time. Neglecting to provide them with the TLC they desperately need throughout the season could cause issues like color loss and dehydration.
However, that doesn’t mean you can’t prolong their life by putting a few savvy techniques into play. These tips are simple, effective, and allow you to enjoy the beauty of your hard work for just a little longer during the season. Your efforts will pay off in a big way, and once you get the hang of these tactics, you’ll find that you can make them an integral part of your summer gardening routine and reap the rewards every year.
Water with Consistency
Watering regularly should be a part of your everyday gardening routine anyway, but consistency is key later in the season. That’s when temperatures spike even more. All that sunshine coupled with occasional winds spell disaster for plants, causing them to lose moisture quickly and wilt in the heat. Combat dehydration quickly by watering your plants on a regular basis.
How much you do depends largely on the type of plant and its location. To determine if you need to water, insert your fingertip about an inch into the soil. If it feels damp, it’s not yet time to water. Don’t be surprised, though, if it feels dry—that, too, is the nature of the season, so you may need to water daily or every other day for a while. Make sure you aren’t overwatering, though, as this could lead to issues like root rot and insect infestations that harm the long-term health of your plants.
Deadhead as Needed
Don’t be afraid to snip away the blooms that look worse for wear. Deadheading is an effective tactic that helps plants look better right away. More importantly, it promotes lush growth habits and protects the long-term health and integrity of the plant. Doing so a little bit at a time is a better option than deadheading all at once, since you’ll have a better eye for the overall structure of the plant.
Deadheading isn’t just good for one plant, but for the appearance of your garden beds. When you perform this step, you ensure that the plants continue to produce their vibrant flowers and add lavish color and personality to your landscape. Make sure you deadhead the right flowers, though. The technique is most effective on annuals since these are the plants that might otherwise reproduce seeds and create more flowers. Removing those flowers that don’t serve the plant keeps the entire structure looking its healthiest for the remainder of the season.
Replenish the Soil
Sure, you did a great job early in the season of nourishing the ground with a high-quality soil, but chances are that layer has long been spent. The plants have joyfully soaked up those nutrients and taken what they can from the blend—which means that the soil is no longer up to the task of feeding the plants what they need for their blooms to truly thrive. Replenishing the supply in the middle of the season is essential.
To do so, choose a soil blend that’s full of nutrients and minerals. Coat the ground with a thick layer to support your plants, promote their longevity, encourage flower growth, and even improve the appearance of your garden. As an alternative, you can use aged manure or compost, both of which can bring a helpful boost, too.
Watch the Weeds
Weeds become an issue as the season moves forward, especially if they begin to crowd garden beds. They become direct competition for the oxygen, sunshine, moisture, and nutrients that your plants require to look their best. You can put a stop to it simply by pulling weeds as you see them come in. It’s best to do this early in the morning when it’s cool enough. If you do so on a regular basis, you won’t have to worry about devoting long periods to the task.
If you do happen to fall behind, though, develop a routine. Pull the biggest weeds first, then focus on the smallest. Don’t skip this step—it doesn’t take long for weeds to take what they need and proceed to overtake your garden beds. You can also avoid most summer weed growth simply by suffocating them with mulch early in the season. It will not only prevent new weeds from sprouting but may even stop existing ones from coming up.
Monitor Pest Problems
Flowers never look as bad as they do after they’ve been overcome by pests. Unwelcome critters of all kinds can make their way to your garden, from flea beetles to red spider mites. Just because they’re common doesn’t make them any easier to handle, however, so you should take quick steps to eradicate them if you suspect a problem. For starters, be mindful of signs that there’s an infestation. Common indications include spotted leaves, broken or damaged petals, and fuzzy roots.
Some types of pests are easy enough to remove with a spritz of water. Insecticide soaps and some types of sticky cards may also be effective in eliminating garden pests. Keep in mind, however, that some garden pests are of the friendly variety—they aren’t there to harm your blooms. Ladybugs take care of aphids and mites for you. Lacewings and praying mantises are some other beneficial garden insects you want to stick around.
Consider Deer Repellent
Deer often make their way to garden beds to feast on everything from lush blooms to crisp foliage. Even if you apply repellent early in the season, however, that usually isn’t enough to protect your plants for long. Most products state that they protect plants for a certain period, so once that elapses, you will need to reapply it.
That’s crucial to remember if you have new growth that developed in the middle of the season or later in the season. You may also need to reapply deer repellent after heavy rainfall. Usually, the product isn’t potent enough to withstand the intensity of the moisture.
Clean the Garden
It sounds simple, but it’s one of the most effective steps you can take for your garden’s benefit. As flowers fade and petals drop away, leaves dry out and float to the ground, and weeds take over, the garden begins to look anything but gorgeous. Over time, this debris may decay and encourage everything from disease formation to fungus development. None of these unwelcome visitors will protect the integrity of your blooms, so cleaning regularly is one of the easiest steps you can take for their benefit.
To make this process simpler, bring along a small trash bag or a bucket and gather debris every time you check the garden. You can make it a part of your routine whenever you pull weeds. Keeping it free of debris protects the ground, improves curb appeal, and creates a friendly environment for your plants to thrive.
Potted Plant Care
If you have some potted plants, make sure you’re pinching back any excess growth and pruning away anything that appears to be decayed or lackluster. Your plant will have another growth spurt at the very least before summer ends, so you can support that process by reshaping its structure just a touch.
Add fertilizer at least once more before the season’s end to support more robust growth. Although the days grow ever shorter as summer inches to a close, many plants “push” through those periods and really put their energy into that spurt. If they’re successful, they’ll set some seeds and bloom with colorful, textural flowers when you least expect them.
Make Future Plans
It’s helpful to go over what worked well this summer and areas that may need improvement. Maybe there were some blooms that would have performed well in a spot with better sun exposure. Maybe some would perform better in shadier spots. Be sure to note details about everything from weather patterns at specific points of the season to soil conditions.
If you've dealt with pest infestations, keep a record and detail that information and how you combatted them. You’ll be better prepared next summer to handle anything that comes your landscape’s way—and your yard may flourish more successfully as a result.
It’s natural to give your garden quite the workout early in the season, but it’s equally normal to either lose interest or neglect to update it later in the season. By taking some preventative measures, you can prolong the life of your flowers and enjoy the fruits of your labor for weeks to come.
