Landscape Garden Summer Chores

Posted by Georgene A. Bramlage Aug 18, 2008

The Dog Days of Summer - July 3 to Aug. 11 - are past, but my lists of garden chores continue to grow. I am hampered by arthritis in my right hip and so move slower and slower. As the lists grow, so does my frustration. Delightfully, my love of growing new plants and excitement about design have not slowed.

Landscape garden inspection and the resulting lists of garden chores are essential. They :

• are part of the répertoire of any good plantsperson;
• keep us focused;
• allow us to intimately know our garden landscapes;
• allow an organized approach to detecting plant problems and solutions;
• help us learn and quickly apply correct solutions to plant problems; and
• allow minor garden maintenance to reduce major landscape renovations.

Late summer days are:

• good for planning what we need to fill in less colorful spaces in our landscapes;
• perfect for seeing how spring-blooming flower beds fit into existing perennial beds;
• times for planning and designing spring-blooming bulb beds.

August and September are:

• usually hot and may not have much rain;
• times to survey garden centers and nurseries for what's blooming now; and
• periods to do book and online research about late-season plants.

A tape measure properly used identifies physical garden space for plans and new designs. When you have a plan, end-of-season sales are perfect for buying and planting woody ornamentals. Plans, well-thought-out in August and September, also allow taking advantage of early spring sales. Plants are ready for planting as soon as the ground thaws and warms.

These days are perfect times for seeing new plants and designs while visiting other gardens. A camera and notebook for recording these visits allows for dreaming and planning on into the winter months. Recording ideas is a great way to say a slow good-bye to summer.