Summer Garden Tips

Garden CareLighting and IrrigationPlant Health Care
Written By Grahame Hubbard

Baking in the hot Summer sun - your garden, like yourself has needs !

If you are gardening on a rooftop it is 5-10 degrees warmer up there than on the ground from the intense direct sun.

Remember that Pots and planters dry out and suffer a lot quicker than anything that is planted directly into the ground. It is a good idea now ( if you have an irrigation system) to make some summer adjustments.

A good test to see if your planters and pots are moist enough is to grab a small handful of soil, squeeze it really hard in your fist - if when you open your fist the soil retains the shape then it has enough moisture!

Mulching can protect the roots of your plants and seal moisture into the soil by adding a barrier between the sun and the soil. Plant Specialists only mulches up to just about a half an inch away from the trunk of the plant - this reduces the risk of diseases sneaking in and attacking our plants. It also helps keep down the crazy spread of weeds.

Deadheading is removing spent flowers - by doing so you eliminate the plant putting unnecessary resources into making seeds. Annuals like the Petunias and Lantana above will flower prolifically if you continue to dead head.

Weeding - oh yes - that awful job of weeding - don't leave it until the weeds are taller than the plants - or call Plant Specialists - we can do it for you!

This is also a very important time to fertilize.

Common Miracle Grow is great for your flowering Plants, Holly Tone for your evergreens, Tree 27-9-9 for your Trees, Rose Tone for your Roses. As an organic application we use a Fish fertilizer or a seaweed mixed application - just as a word of warning - the fish application is stinky !

Do read the labels carefully if you are applying the fertilizer yourself - you can over fertilize resulting in the burning of the plant. Its always a good idea to really soak the plants once you have fertilized them to wash anything off of the leaves and saturate the soil.

Our Garden Care team can check on your garden all summer long!

Call us !

Don't delay – the sooner the better !

GREENING NEW YORK FOR OVER 53 YEARS !

Article written by our Staff Horticulturist, Peter B Morris, BSc, MSc, MBA

All photographs used with permission @SHUTTERSTOCK 

Grahame Hubbard

Grahame was born in a small village in North Queensland, Australia. He grew up on a
fishing boat with his parents until the age of 12. He was educated via the "Outback School of the Air", a two-way radio-learning system.

Ironically, Grahame ended up amidst the hustle and bustle of New York City -- quite a contrast from the village of sixty people he was born in.
This change was brought about by his overwhelming desire to travel, his passion for experiencing the diversity of the world, and his desire to immerse himself in varying cultures.

After growing up on the sea, Grahame resided in New Zealand for ten years, Thailand for three seasons and then lived for a decade in Canada before making New York City home.

Coming from a gardening family of Orchid experts, Grahame has always been mesmerized by nature. He has a lifelong love of plants, gardens, garden design and all aspects of the horticultural arts and sciences.

Owner of Plant Specialists since 2004, he is proud to be involved with a team that have been Greening New York’s interiors and exteriors since 1972!

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