Thanks to all the hard work you devoted to your yard back in the spring, your garden is now almost self sufficient. Either all your flowers are in full bloom, or, even if they have already bloomed, your landscape should be lush and bursting with plants, flowers and bushes. All across the United States, the weather has been playing havoc with our typical summers, some are suffocating under the oppressive heat, others are dealing with floods, the likes they haven't seen in decades. While there is not much one can do once the floods have ravaged communities and personal property, there is a lot you can do to help your plants adapt and grow in oppressive heat.
Mulching is one of the best protectors against weeds but also to keep the roots and the bottom of plants and flowers from the oppressive sunshine and heat. The inches of mulch you added last spring should now be, unfortunately, compacted by the direct sun beating on the mulch, or packed tight against the plants. To prevent the plants from molding or from drying up, it's best to take a garden fork and loosen up the mulch all around beds of plants and bushes. This will help the water seep into the soil, as opposed to sitting on top of the compacted mulch. In addition, it will allow the roots to breathe and expand their growth. Some types of plants are very leggy and have grown too long. It's very hard for plants to nourish and feed the extremities of the branches and especially trying to get water to the tippy-tops of those branches. Sometimes, pruning those long legged stems from half-way to the middle regenerates growth, as the plant doesn't have so far to go to nourish the ends of the branches. Some wild begonias can be cut back three to four times per season and reflower just by cutting them down once they become too tall.
If you designed your garden with a landscape plan in mind but find that your plants did not match your vision, it can be time, before the fall, to replant or add some other flowers that may fill the holes. Zinnias are still in full bloom and can be added to grow until mid-November. All landscaping stores now sell plants that bloom the second half of the year. The holes that were created by plants that died, can be filled by splitting plants in two or separating the overgrowth into multiples. While a lot of gardeners prefer not to disturb their plants in the middle of the summer, it's best to transplant during growing season or before they die to ensure that the roots have taken hold, and while they may not rebound to their fullest this season, they will be well established to whether the fall and winter and be ready for their full blooms for next spring. If you give serious consideration to how long the plants or flowers live, then you can have beds that are always regenerating themselves as when one type dies, another one is in full bloom.
What you are enjoying now is the fruit of the labor you put in several months ago and the vision that you had of how you wanted to create your own oasis. This is the time when you decide that this plant worked where it was this year, should it be left at this spot next year? This one didn't work because it got too tall and hid another one behind. The color combinations didn't work and some other type of plant would look better. Whatever your needs are, you are creating for yourself and your own enjoyment. The effort you gave is now reality. The only thing left to do is to enjoy it and dream of another creation for next year.
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