Summer Gardening
Gardening in summer is something that frequently takes a back seat to other duties. Children on vacation from school as well as family vacations and parties all take time away from the summer garden. Heat will also reduce the time that you want to spend in the garden on each given day. The best way to keep up with the work, is to put your garden on a summer garden maintenance routine.
A typical garden maintenance routine might be:
Take each flower or vegetable bed , one at a time, and weed for a few minutes each evening, say 15 to 30 minutes. My favorite weeding tool is a hoe that loosens up the top soil layer and breaks the small roots away from the weeds. There is no need to remove these tiny weeds as they will dehydrate quickly in the heat. A hoe is also a great tool for those who cannot kneel down to weed.
If you like annuals, pick one that will bloom continuously without dead heading as that will take time to do.
Put soaker hoses around the flowerbeds to water on a timer. This way you save time dragging hoses around to from one garden area to another.
Walk around the garden on a regular schedule and note any bug or fungal problems that may accur. Deal with these problems immediately so that you don't have a major infestation to deal with later. Taking a tomato horn worm off the plant before it eats its way to the base, is also important if you want any tomatoes.
Make a point to save time to sit and look at your garden too, for there is no reason to have a garden unless you can relax in it.
