Sometimes in the middle of summer it’s challenging to keep your plants looking their best.  Here are some simple steps you can take to keep your spring investment paying off until fall.

Trees and Shrubs – The rains we’ve had the last couple of weeks have helped perk everything up after the hot, dry spell of late May, but you can’t depend on just rain to water your plants.  Newly planted trees and shrubs need deep watering at least twice a week all summer.  If we don’t get an inch of rain at a time you need to water.  Two easy ways to do this are with soaker hoses or Tree Gator bags.  Both will let water slowly trickle on the roots of the plant, as opposed to an overhead sprinkler that looses water to evaporation.  Get your plants established their first summer and they will grow faster and be more disease, drought and winter resistant from then on.  Blooming shrubs like Knockout Roses need fertilizer this summer.  Use Espoma Rose-Tone or Plant-Tone every 6 weeks to keep those new blooms coming.

Annuals and Container Plants – Annuals have young shallow root systems in early summer and need frequent watering to become established.  Even drought tolerant plants like Mexican Heather and Lantana need extra help getting started.  You might have to water newly planted annuals every day if it’s hot and sunny, but you can start skipping days as the roots become established and the plants become more resilient.  Container plants, and especially hanging baskets have a limited area for their roots to spread, and will need regular water all summer long.  Remember that the bigger the plant is in relation to the pot, the more often you’ll have to water it.  Annuals also need regular fertilizer all summer long to keep producing beautiful flowers.  Use Superbloom or MiracleGro every 2 weeks for best the prettiest flowers.  Many annuals perform better in the fall if you give them a good pruning in late summer.  If your plants are getting leggy, or too big for their pots, just cut them back, feed them, and you’ll have healthy leaves and new flowers in 2 to 3 weeks.