Gardening in July

GOD BLESS AMERICA!!

HAPPY U.S. INDEPENDENCE DAY!!

We wish you a Happy Holiday as we celebrate our Nation!

Following are a few tips to help your lawn and gardens thrive this summer.

ANNUALS High temperatures place a great deal of stress on annual flower beds. Following a spring of frequent rain, Texas style summer has now set in. We all know it will get hotter and dryer in the coming weeks.

Watch the weather, and apply water appropriately. Keep the soil moist. Newly planted shrubs and flowers will need more frequent irrigation than plants that are established. Annuals in containers may need to be watered daily.

LAWN The lawn turf grass will need water in different amounts, and possibly on a different schedule from the flower beds. When it comes to the lawn, once again, keep the soil moist. However, do not water needlessly. Overwatering your lawn wastes water and promotes disease problems. And here is a no-no: do not water “lightly” every day. A light, daily sprinkling encourages diseases and creates a shallow root system. Here’s the key: apply sufficient water to reach a depth of 6 to 8 inches.

CHINCH BUGS If your grass wilts, turns yellowish brown, dried out, and dies in sunny areas and along sidewalks and driveways, CHECK FOR CHINCH BUGS! While these little guys feed on several types of grasses, St. Augustine and Zoysia are their favorites. They can move across an entire lawn within a few days. Treat with an insecticide, or call a professional such as Lawn Ranger Company’s renowned GREEN LAWN SYSTEM.

MOWING Mow regularly throughout the growing season. St. Augustine grass should be cut about every 7 days, with the mower blade set at a height of no less than 3 inches.

“Mulching- mowers” eliminate the need to bag clippings. By mulching, the clippings return nutrients to the lawn, which assists in “fertilizing” the turf. Our Maintenance Division, we never bags the clippings.

SHRUBS Most summer-flowering shrubs bloom over a relatively long period, compared to spring-flowering shrubs. Faded flowers often linger as new ones are being produced, detracting from the attractiveness of the display. Pull or trim off faded flowers as they occur. In the case of Dwarf Crape Myrtles, Oleanders, and others, trimming of the faded flowers will encourage more blooms to form.

TREES During the first several years after planting a young tree, keep an area at least 1 foot out from the trunk mulched. Young trees do not have well developed bark, and the base of the trunk is easily damaged by mowers and string trimmers. Young trees will grow faster when grass is not allowed to grow close to them.

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