High Summer in the Garden
This will reach you in the
beginning of June. It is now high summer. Spring has come and gone. We have
enjoyed all the spring bulbs including the crocus, the daffodils, the tulips
and the hyacinths. And we have enjoyed the flowering of all the spring trees
and shrubs including the forsythia, the azaleas, the magnolias, the dogwoods,
the crabapples, the cherries and the plums. Mothers Day is the traditional time
to plant annuals and that date has passed, but it is still not too late to do
so. You can also wait and take advantage of end of spring sales. I have picked
up flats of annuals for a dollar each at the end of season. Get some pots and
fill them with flowers for spots of color on your porch or throughout the yard
and garden. Use hanging baskets to get color up in the air. Use plant stands to
raise pots off the ground. Put window boxes on your house.
Take Time to Enjoy it All
During the middle of summer
we are all very busy with our lives and work and vacations and all the wonderful
summer activities. This is an ideal time to get outside and enjoy our yards and
gardens. Pull a table and a couple of
chairs out in the yard and have meals there. Get one of those tables with an
umbrella for shade while you sit at the table. Summer is the time for
barbecues. Make it a point to BBQ often.
The Sound of Water
There is almost no sweeter
sound in the garden than the sound of splashing water. This is especially true
in the middle of a hot summer day. Very small pumps with integrated nozzles are
available inexpensively and can be used to create a small fountain that will
give you the sound you want. Simply put it in a container big enough to contain
the splashing and to hold a couple of inches or so of water. There are lots of
options for the container, from preformed ponds to half barrels but the
simplest way to go is just a bucket. You can bury it almost up to the rim and
put the pump on a stone or some bricks to get it at the right level. Adjust the
nozzle and flow rate for the fountain effect you want. Be sure to plug the
electrical cord into a GFI protected outlet.
Other Inexpensive Additions to the Yard and Garden
Another beautiful sound in
the garden is the sound of birds. Birds help keep insects in balance too.
Adding a bird feeder and birdbath are both inexpensive things you can do. Put
them both close to trees and shrubs so the birds have somewhere safe to retreat
to.
How about a wind chime? There
are many varieties to add a distinctive note in your garden.
Vegetable Gardens
Those of you with vegetable
gardens may already have them planted, but it is not too late to start some
short growing season crops or even to put a small garden together from larger
plants. This is a fun thing to do with your children. My interest in gardening
stems, in part, to the small garden my mother planted with me and my 4
brothers. Try some radishes and lettuce and carrots and tomatoes and have your
children plant and tend their own rows. Put their names on sticks to mark their
areas.
Foundation Plantings
Recently I have noticed that
some houses in the neighborhood are missing their foundation plantings. What
are foundation plantings? Foundation plantings are the evergreen shrubs that
are usually planted close to the front of a house. They have a couple of
purposes. The first purpose is that they soften and hide the ugly line where
the ground meets the front wall of a house. Secondly, they provide insulation
and a windbreak in the winter and relief from heat in the summer. They also cut
down on traffic noises in the home. Evergreens are typically used because they
give coverage year round. These are expensive plantings to replace and should
only be removed after careful consideration and with a plan for their
replacements. In our neighborhood we have the advantage of mature plantings.
Some of them have become overgrown and block the view from windows or intrude
on front porches. The good news is that many of these evergreens can be cut
back substantially without worry of killing them. Identify what you have. Yews
and Arborvitaes can be substantially trimmed but try not to remove more than
1/3 of the plant per season. Hedge materials like forsythia and golden vicary
and boxwood can be cut almost to the ground and will recover. At first the
hedge will look dead, but soon new shoots will develop and with regular
trimming the new surface will fill in.
Dandelions and Crabgrass and Violets and Replacing a Lawn
Are you plagued by dandelions
or crabgrass or violets in your lawn, or all three? There
are specific things you can do to have a beautiful and healthy lawn. Seldom is
complete replacement required. I will cover these subjects, either in a future
article in the newsletter or in an article posted on the Yorkshire Woods
website. See the address below and keep an eye out for it.
More Info on the Net
As always, this article is
posted on the internet with links to additional information. See it here:
http://www.sportpilot.info/sp/Gardening5.htm
Yorkshire Woods Website
Here is the Yorkshire Woods
Website address. Type it into your browser and save it as a favorite.
http://www.sportpilot.info/sp/YorkshireWoods.htm
Please email any questions or
suggestions to me at bczygan@yahoo.com
Bill Czygan 05 MAY 2006