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Garden Talks
1. Right now there are lots of desirable plants and other items on sale for great deals for you. We are talking about fresh Skillin's stock!
Click HERE for more details and to see what else is ON SALE at Skillin's!
2. August can be a challenging gardening gardening month for sure. The weather has been steamy; the thrill of Spring can be gone. But there are opportunities galore to neaten our gardens. This makes our gardens more pleasing to our eyes and gives us motivation to not stop gardening but rather to press on! Leaves that are not up to snuff for a variety of reasons should be cut back. Edges and borders that are overgrown can be edged back and those borders will look snazzy and sharp! Finally keep pulling the weeds. Each weed pulled now saves many more to be pulled lately. Positive steps create positive momentum--less stress! And when a gardening job is done, that spot will look great. Pat yourself on the back!
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No Tidy Rows Here But a Very Well Cared for Garden |
3. Be smart about where and when you garden. I just wrote about edging. Well just a few days ago on a very hot day in Skillin's Country I noticed the front border on one of my beds was getting overgrown with grass where the mower could not quite reach. At that moment and for the next 30 minutes or so that area would be bathed in cool shade--perfect timing for a quick edging and pulling of grass growing tall. A humdrum job was made much better by the comfort and when I was done that little garden looked much better. Great feelings all around that gave me motivation to head to the next task!
4. Gardening guru KCB wants you to be aware of the need for thorough waterings of your newly planted material. Check out the latest Skillin's Moisture Meter HERE for more details about watering.
5. Just as annuals and perennials need to have sub par growth trimmed back so do trees and shrubs. Keep an eye out for half snapped or browning branches. Trim them out. Also trim out "suckers"--growth that comes from the base of many flowering and fruit bearing trees. Trim the suckers back to the ground so the roots can put more energy into growing the top growth of the plant. Trees and shrubs that look to be suffering a little with the heat and dry we have had could use a good deep watering. Let a hose run water nice and slowly around the base of any valued tree or shrub that may look stressed. If the water is running slowly let the water run for even several hours. This could really help your tree and shrub--and you--become less stressed!
6. Mike's Must Have Perennial for the Week is the Rudbeckia Goldstrum aka perennial "Black Eyed Susan".
Okay the Goldstrum is not a hard to find or even uncommon plant. BUT in my opinion it is a necessity in the perennial garden. Why you ask?
Let me count the ways:
1)The brilliant gold color with the contrasting dark eye is "electric". That means when you are gazing over your garden your eye will....STOP and look and look at this flower. Electric.
2) The flowers are long lasting. The Goldstrum will flower for weeks--and long-term "showy" plants in the heat of August are indeed a blessing.
3) The Goldstrum is hardy as "all get out". (That means it is a tough durable plant--very reliable).
4) The Goldstrum will spread and if you have space that is a good thing. IF it infringes too much on other plants the unwanted growth is easily pulled. I would not categorize this plant as invasive.
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Rudbeckia Goldstrum--a Mike's Must Have! |
7. For even more early August gardening tips (including more details about Mike's Must Have Perennial for the Week; vegetable gardening tips; echinacea--prune or not?-- and Skillin's Moisture Meter) check out our garden blog--the Skillin's Garden Log!
It has been a couple of weeks since our last email and since then we also published some very valuable late July gardening tips! Time flies!
Our 2011 nursery and perennial catalogs are now ONLINE! Check them out!
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