Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
SALT LAKE CITY — The color is fading. The lawn is shadowed. The beds feel thin. Summer is showing up in our yards, and with high heat and low water, the options are a bit limited, but not impossible.
Brian Lloyd with Olson's Greenhouse shared realistic ways to refresh your summer landscape through the hottest days of the season.
"We don't have a lot of energy this time of year in the heat anyway ourselves," he said. "I've got really simple tips to make a big difference in your yard."
Keep pests at bay
Lloyd explained that in the summer, healthy-looking petunias may suddenly stop producing flowers.
"Petunias are the most popular plant here in Utah, but they have one problem. They get this budworm." he said. "Your plant can be healthy and green, but you won't get any blooms if you don't treat."
Lloyd said to use a product called BT. Mix it in a spray bottle and apply it in the evening. That's when the caterpillars start eating.
"If you're starting to lose bloom power, it's probably budworm," he emphasized.
Give baskets and containers a regular haircut
Pruning healthy plants feels wrong, but Lloyd said it's one of the best things you can do during the heat of summer.
"This is kinda painful to do, but it's necessary," he explained. "They start to get leggy and long, and they lose their bloom power."
He explained that you could take almost a third to a half of the plant off. It might look drastic at first, but Lloyd said the results are worth it.
"It's only gonna take a couple weeks to come back. I promise," he emphasized.
Feed flowers & clean them up
Once plants have been trimmed back, Lloyd said it's important to feed them.
"This is as simple as using any water-soluble fertilizer," he explained. "It takes nutrients to create all these blooms, and if you don't supply the nutrients, they're gone, and it'll stop blooming."
For the best results, he suggested doing it once a week. Even if you can't fertilize that often, every two weeks is still better than doing nothing.
"Everything about the plant will be healthier," he said. "Bigger, brighter blooms, but more blooms especially."
Some plants really just need the old blooms removed. The key is taking off more than just the flower petals.
"Geraniums and dahlias especially," Lloyd said. "You don't wanna just take the tip of the flower off. You wanna get that whole stem back."
Deadheading redirects the plant's energy into producing new flowers rather than maintaining the old ones.
"Clean those up, and that'll encourage the new blooms to come out," Lloyd explained.
Keep browsing the garden centers
You might assume spring is the only time to shop for flowers, but Lloyd said not to give up on the garden centers. Perennials bloom at different times throughout the season, which means you'll find new options well into summer.
"We only ship them in when they're blooming," Lloyd said. "You've gotta go back to the garden center every month or so and see what's new."
If you want to add fresh color despite the heat, he recommended summer-blooming perennials.
"We have bee balm and Shasta daisies and coneflowers here," he said. "They're all drought-tolerant, especially the summer-blooming perennials."
Find more garden inspiration at ogg.com.
