It’s August, and you thought it was time to sit back, relax and enjoy your garden. Yes, and no, according to Deborah Brown, U of M Extension Horticulturist. She agrees that Minnesota flower gardens have been glorious this year. What could be more pleasant than pulling up a comfy lawn chair, pouring yourself a glass of iced tea, and basking in the beauty you’ve helped create? But, as Brown points out, people are rarely perfectly content with their gardens. Most of us consider each garden to be a work in progress. Usually by summer’s end we already have ideas we’re itching to implement the following year. There are new plants that we’ve read about and would like to try, or spectacular plant combinations that we’ve seen on garden tours or in our friend’s gardens. We might be tempted to extend the boundaries of our gardens, or even start an entirely new garden to accommodate more plants. Who wants to mow all that lawn anyway? Brown says that late summer through early fall is the time for “taking care of business” in perennial gardens. Even though perennials are often planted with the idea that they are easier to take care of than flowering annuals, we must remember that no plant is truly maintenance-free. By mid-August it will be time to dig up and divide perennials that have grown too large or spread too wide, encroa-ching on neighboring plants. It’s time to lift iris to cut away the oldest, woody part of their rhizomes and then replant them. It’s also time to move plants that are growing in the wrong place based on size, flower color or bloom time. And, Brown reminds us, it’s an excellent time to visit your favorite garden center to buy new perennials to add to your collection. Whether you divide and replant existing perennials or shop for new ones, prepare the soil as you would for spring planting. Incorporate plenty of peat moss, compost or other organic matter along with some slow-release fertilizer. Water the plants well and then spread a couple of inches of mulch around them such as woodchips, shredded bark, cocoa bean hulls, chopped leaves, pine needles or dried grass clippings. Do not use woody mulch material if the soil is going to be turned over at the end of the season. Because we often run into hot, dry weather this time of year, be sure to provide a regular supply of moisture for those newly divided and planted perennials. Water less frequently as temperatures grow cooler or if rainfall is ample. Then, when the soil begins to freeze, usually sometime in November, cover the plants with a protective mulch. Brown says that 4-6 inches of straw or marsh hay is ideal. She recommends 10-12 inches of leaves over the plants if leaves are your choice of mulch. Leaves tend to pack down, so they don’t insulate as effectively as straw or hay with hollow stems. Brown concludes by saying, “With any luck we’ll have better snow cover this coming winter, and all our plants will survive to bloom and thrive another year.”
