Summer Gardening Tips

• Newly planted trees and shrubs should be soaked once a week throughout the month if there is no significant rain.
• Keep newly planted trees and shrubs well mulched to conserve moisture during the hot and dry summer months. However, make sure not to let the mulch touch the trunks of the plant which can lead to disease and other damage.
• Late flowering rhododendrons and mountain laurel may be pruned as soon as they finish flowering. Do not wait too long. It is now too late to prune early flowering azaleas, camellias and rhododendrons as they have started setting flower buds for next spring’s blooms.
• Groom roses constantly. Dead head spent blooms and prune away dead or dying stems as they can spread disease. Although not required, even Knockout roses benefit from deadheading and it makes the plant look neater. If Japanese beetles are a problem, rose varieties that will bloom throughout the season can be cut back by half (light fertilization may also be done at this time). This will discourage the Japanese beetles and at the end of July when the beetles are mostly gone the roses will be ready to bloom again.
• Water roses if the weather is dry. A soaker hose will keep leaves dry and help avoid diseases.
• Encourage birds in your garden by providing clean water and housing or habitat. Purple martins and other insect eating birds can help keep the mosquito population down in your yard.
• Cut bearded iris leaves back in a fan after the tips begin to brown.
• Keep annuals deadheaded and they will reward you with continuous flowering.
• Keep tomatoes evenly watered, not giving them too much but not allowing them to dry out.
• Harvest and prune herbs regularly to keep them from getting leggy and going to seed.
• Mid summer is not a time to fertilize your lawn. That is best done in the fall.
• Mow fescue lawns to only 3 to 3 1/2 inches high—no lower. This will discourage weeds and make a healthier lawn.

Garden Help

Local gardening help can be obtained from the Fairfax Master Gardeners and the Virginia Cooperative Extension Office at: Fairfax Master Gardeners

Local Resources

Washington Area Butterfly Club
Reston Association
Walker Nature Center
Virginia Tech Cooperative Extension
Fairfax Park Authority
Virginia Native Plant Society
National Wildlife Federation
Potomac Conservancy

Nearby Gardens

American Horticultural Society
Brookside Gardens
Chanticleer Garden
Dumbarton Oaks
Green Spring Garden Park
Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens
Longwood Gardens
Meadowlark Gardens
Monticello
Mount Vernon Estate & Gardens
National Botanic Garden
State Arboretum of Virginia, Blandy Experimental Farm
US Botanic Garden
US National Arboretum