July Garden Geek Tips: Keep Your Garden Looking Its Best All Summer Long

July is when gardens really hit their stride. Annuals are bursting with color, vegetables are producing, hydrangeas are putting on a show, and hummingbirds and butterflies are hard at work. It’s also the month when a little maintenance goes a long way. Here are a few of our favorite Garden Geek tips to keep everything looking its best through the hottest part of the season.

💧 Water Smarter, Not More

Water deeply instead of lightly sprinkling every day. Deep watering encourages stronger, deeper root systems that help plants better handle summer heat. Hanging baskets and containers will need water every day, and newly planted shrubs and trees absolutely need a heavy watering every 2nd to 3rd day. Early morning is the best time to water plants because it gives them a chance to soak it up before the afternoon sun arrives.

🌸 Keep Deadheading

Many annuals, including petunias, calibrachoa, geraniums, and zinnias, will reward you with more flowers if you remove spent blooms. Think of it as convincing the plant to keep producing flowers instead of seeds.

🌿 Feed Your Containers

Hanging baskets and patio pots work hard all summer, and watering washes nutrients out of the soil. Feed them with a slow-release fertilizer like Osmocote once a month, or use a water-soluble option like Jack’s Blossom Booster once a week to keep the blooms coming. Healthy plants are hungry plants!

✂️ Harvest Often

Beans, cucumbers, zucchini, peppers, herbs, and many other vegetables produce more when they’re picked regularly. The more you harvest, the more your plants are encouraged to keep producing.

🌼 Don’t Forget the Pollinators

Leave a few flowers for the bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds to enjoy. A shallow dish of fresh water with a few stones for landing also becomes a welcome oasis during hot weather.

🔍 Walk Your Garden Every Day

One of the best things you can do is simply take a stroll through your garden each day. You’ll catch thirsty plants, weeds, insects, or diseases before they become major problems. Besides, spending ten minutes in the garden is a pretty great way to start or end your day.

July is meant to be enjoyed, not spent fixing preventable problems. A few minutes of care here and there will keep your landscape colorful, productive, and healthy well into late summer. And if something doesn’t look quite right, stop by Lakeview. Our Garden Geeks love solving plant mysteries!