| our late summer garden seen better days? If | | | | the plant being attached and give the plant a good |
| your outdoor paradise is getting a little ragged, | | | | tap or shake. Whatever pest is the culprit should |
| and you would like some easy and cheap | | | | fall onto the paper for easy identification. If |
| gardening tips to get it back into shape in time for | | | | you’re stumped, pop it in a jar and take it |
| fall, keep reading! | | | | to your local nursery for identification and advice |
| Most gardens, no matter how well they are | | | | on how to eradicate it while doing the least |
| designed will have periods without a lot of bloom. | | | | damage to beneficial bugs. Remember, we need |
| But a late summer garden is more than just lack | | | | those bees! Don’t’ poison them. |
| of bloom; it’s overgrown plants, ratty | | | | If you have annuals planted in containers or beds |
| leaves, spindly annuals and brown spots in the | | | | that have seen better days, cut them back hard. |
| lawn. Here’s how to fix these garden | | | | Apply a good dose of water soluble fertilizer and |
| problems. | | | | they will bounce back and start re-blooming for |
| Cut back your blooming perennials by half. This will | | | | you. Petunias, alyssum and geraniums all need a |
| stimulate new growth, and create need for | | | | good rejuvenation this time of year, but will bloom |
| another flush of flowers in the fall for many | | | | well into fall if you try this trick. |
| varieties. It will also clean up the overgrown look | | | | If your lawn has developed some dry spots, try |
| of your flower beds. | | | | raking in an organic compost or fine bark to |
| If you still have brown foliage from spring bulbs | | | | protect the soil and hold in moisture. Water |
| showing, it is safe to cut them to the ground | | | | frequently during the day for a week or two until |
| now. They have already stored all the energy | | | | you start to see new green growth. Cut back on |
| they need for spring bloom, and the dead plant | | | | the watering gradually, but be consistent until the |
| matter isn’t doing anything for the look of | | | | lawn is once again green in the spot. |
| your garden. | | | | A late summer garden may seem to have gone |
| If you have a pest problem, you should be | | | | to sleep, but its pretty easy to throw a big |
| addressing it. You can use commercially available | | | | basket of water on it and wake it back up. (Both |
| Sevin dust for many of the most common | | | | literally, and figuratively!) Use these easy and |
| predators, or seek out an organic alternative. One | | | | cheap gardening tips to renew your garden, and |
| good way to identify what is eating your plants is | | | | have a beautiful spot to spend those quiet |
| place a piece of white paper under the leaves of | | | | autumn afternoons. |