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Take time to enjoy the beauty of your garden

Extensive rain and a few hot days have lead to lush, colorful gardens.Take time to enjoy the gardens but do not be critical if they contain a weed or two. Gardeners that care about their soil will not walk in their flowerbeds when the soil is wet as ruins the soil structure. In times of excessive moisture, weeds flourish.

Extensive rain and a few hot days have lead to lush, colorful gardens.

Take time to enjoy the gardens but do not be critical if they contain a weed or two. Gardeners that care about their soil will not walk in their flowerbeds when the soil is wet as ruins the soil structure. In times of excessive moisture, weeds flourish.

Weeding also depends on how the beds are planted. Plants that grow close together usually stay moister and have fewer weeds than sparsely planted flowerbeds. At this time of year it can be just about impossible to get the weeds in some flowerbeds without disturbing or destroying some of the plants within the bed. To weed or not is an individual gardeners decision.

It is important to keep removing spent blooms on perennials and annuals that will produce seed. It improves the look of the garden, saves future weeding, encourages more flowers, and helps retain the plants energy.

There are seed pods that are very ornamental. Keep these in the garden until they mature but remove them before the seeds are spilled.

Allowing plants to seed randomly often results in a number of unwanted plants emerging next spring. In the case of some plants such as the Himalayan Impatient there will be hundreds of unwanted plants through out the flowerbed or yard.

Plants that are prolific seeders can become a problem as they invade native areas, pastures, and ditches. Once plants have escaped cultivation it is just about impossible to eradicate them.

Deadheading removes illuminates the seed pods and encourages the plants to produce more flowers to produce seeds. This is nature’s way of insuring that the species will continue. Removing spent flowers from perennials, such as peonies, that will only bloom once, allows the plant to put its excess energy into the plant itself resulting in a larger, healthier plant.

Spending time now to remove spent lilac blooms will ensure that the plant will produce more blooms next year. Lilacs develop next year’s flowerbuds soon after flowering. Pruning too late in the season will mean fewer flowers next spring.

Excess rain or hard rain can cause a hard crust to form on the soil. Once the soil begins dry or is dry lightly cultivate the surface to encourage air and moisture to penetrate the surface. Deep cultivation close to plants will disturb the roots.

Take the time when the soil is most to edge sidewalks and beds. A defined edge adds to the clean look of the garden and helps keep the lawn where it belongs.

August is fast approaching. If you plan to fertilize trees, shrubs, perennials or the lawn do it now while the plant has time to absorb the extra nutrients and get ready for winter. Plants that are fertilized in August tend to be putting out top growth in September when they should be storing nutrients in their roots. Any growth that is not hardened off will winter kill.

Enjoy your garden. Take time to walk through the garden and make notes and take pictures to help plan for next year.

Note what looks good and should be repeated. Areas that need improvement also need to be documented; include some suggestions for next season. At the same time take pictures of other gardens as they will offer ideas of what has worked well.

If your friends are not gardeners, join a garden tour.

Local gardening clubs have a number of tours during the summer months allowing members and nonmembers to see some of the best yards in the area. These outings are rarely a disappointment.

Linda Tomlinson is a horticulturalist and educator living in Rocky Mountain House. You can contact her at your_garden@hotmail.com.