Meadow View Greenhouse & Garden Center

August 2010 Everything Knoxville

I woke up this morning at 3 AM to the sound of something wonderful: rain! Nice, steady, nourishing rain. It had been 34 days since we had measurable precipitation, and it was desperately needed. My yard had cracks in it an inch wide and even some established trees and shrubs were starting to suffer. I fervently hope that what was shaping up to be a drought has been headed off.

How are things in your yard? If you are like most people, your yard is showing serious signs of stress. My lawn has dried to a crackly crunch, and some of my shrubs and trees are dropping leaves. The stress from lack of water also increases the damage caused by insects and disease, because plants that are stressed are less able to fight off the damage. In other words, there are lots of things that need to be done this August, so let me get started on your to do list:
*Water is the key issue. The rainfall this year has been erratic at best, so your garden must be watched closely. I know it is no fun standing outside for hours being swarmed by mosquitoes while you water, but it is truly necessary. As I have told you so many times, sprinklers are great for grass and annuals, but they are not sufficient for trees and shrubs. They must be hand-watered or watered with a drip irrigation system in order to get water down to the roots.

*If a plant seems to be struggling in spite of what you think is sufficient water, you may need to dig down beside it and see what is going on around the roots. Sometimes the water is not penetrating down to the roots at all, but is instead going through the mulch, hitting the soil and running off. In some rare instances, the plant may actually be getting too much water because of a lack of drainage. In either case, you need to know so that you can take corrective action.

*If you are having problems with fungus, take a look at your watering schedule. Plants should be watered in the morning so that the water will evaporate from the leaves during the day. There are also some plants such as Roses and Hydrangeas that prefer to be watered at ground level so that no water hits the leaves. Fungicides can treat and prevent disease on vulnerable plants.

*Insects are doing a lot of damage right now. Remember that a good blast from a water hose once a week on non-blooming plants is a good way to get rid of some things like spider mites. If that doesn’t work, move to an insecticidal soap used after 6 PM when the bees have gone back to the hive. If you still have problems, move on to something stronger.

*The end of August is a good time to do a final fertilize on shrubs. Roses and the acid lovers such as azaleas, rhododendrons and camellias really appreciate this, and like it very much if the fertilizer has iron in it. If not, you can add Ironite at the same time.

*Now is also a good time to give annuals and containers one final dose of fertilizer. If they look really bad, pull them up and compost them. We have lots of pretty plants here to replace them with.

*If you have a hydrangea that blooms on old woods, you need to prune them now, before they set bud for next year. This includes the H. macrophylla and H. quercifolia. Call us if you don’t know what type you have.

*If there are some bulbs that you would like to plant this fall, contact us as soon as possible so that we can include them with our bulb order.

*Don’t forget to deadhead! I know it was too hot on those days that were constantly in the 90’s, so you may have gotten behind. If you deadhead, you may get another round of blooms when it cools off some. Many plants were too heat stressed to do much blooming.

*If you have vegetables, keep harvesting. I know you may have used zucchini in every possible way, but keep on going. I have a good recipe for zucchini bread you can use.

*Don’t forget the birds! Keep feeders and baths clean and full. This can be the busiest time of the year for your feeders as young birds are learning to care for themselves and hummingbirds are moving south. Your perennials are also a great food source.

*This is a great time to schedule a consultation with Shalena. Her schedule has more openings this time of year.

If you have questions on anything else, just give us a call or send an email.