It’s quite unbelievable that August is already here! August is a month of intense heat here in the mid-south. This is a time you really need to maintain ] your landscaping to keep it looking beautiful. August is primarily a maintenance month, it is critically important to make sure your landscape is properly watered and weed free. Here are some tips to ensure your landscape stays in tip top shape:
- Make sure your plants are getting enough water, especially newly installed landscaping. You’ll want to keep the soil moist, but resist the urge to overwater your plants.
- A basic guideline to follow: Yellow leaves means you are giving plants too much water and brown leaves mean not enough water.
- Either water early in the morning or in the early afternoon. The best time is in the morning as plants make best use of water at this time and this helps prevent rot and fungus.
- It’s been a hot summer, so you’ll want to take care of your lawn. Only feed your lawn with slow-acting fertilizers and be sure to mow your lawn and trim the edges regularly.
- Do not mow your lawn too short! This is a common mistake that is unnecessarily hard on your lawn, and actually promotes the growth of noxious weeds.
- To prevent a heat stressed lawn, cut your fescue grasses at 3 – 3 ½” or higher.
- If you notice any yellow patches or areas of your lawn that aren’t growing well, make sure you increase the water distribution. Look for areas that are getting overwatered and underwatered and take steps to correct this imbalance.
- During the summer heat, continue to weed your garden bed areas. You can weed by either spraying selective weed killer or pulling weeds by hand. If you’re hand weeding the best time to do it is when the soil is damp- it’ll be much easier.
- Summer is a great time to do light pruning and clean up and improve the health and look of your landscaping. Remove any dry leaves from your perennials and annuals and any faded blooms.
- Add or replace mulch around trees, shrubs & in bed areas to a depth of 3” to 4″ This helps maintain moisture during dry weather.
- Make sure you’re monitoring your plants for insects and disease damage. If you notice any, treat the area as needed. There has been a large increase in insect pests due to mild winters. Spray as needed!
- Wait to plant your fall perennials until the outside temperatures begin to drop over night. This typically will be some time in September.
