Container plants and ponds in Platte City, Missouri
Posted by RS Landscape
Container Plants and Ponds Need Your Attention in August
It is a hot time in Platte City, Missouri and sometimes the attention to gardening details can slip out of our immediate thoughts. However, it is important to continue weeding, working with your container plants, and checking on your ponds.
When you are weeding the borders of your gardening beds pay attention to the self-sown seedlings. At first, the idea of extra, free plants seems like a gardener’s dream come true, and it might be are you willing to gamble with what is growing? If your garden is regimented (all pink inpatients in one spot, all purple inpatients there, or all white flowers in your border) then these freebies might not be welcome. Most hybrids of plants will not reproduce true from seeds, but the seedlings that emerge can produce variations in flower color, growth pattern, and even leaf color. If you’re game to have any flowers then leave te seedlings. If not, you might want to go ahead and pull them out.
The heat of the summer can make watering your container plants a challenge. Consider grouping containers together or moving them into the shade. Both of these moves make the heat less stressful for your plants. The shade helps slow the evaporation rate and grouping them together helps when watering. Additionally, when you move the containers around you perk up the design of your landscape.
Pay attention to the water levels of your pond. The heat evaporates water quickly, so you may need to add water on a regular basis throughout August. At the same time you need to walk around your pond and remove any debris that is around the edges. Yes, it makes your pond look better, but it also keeps rotting leaves from adding nutrients to the water. Unlike adding nutrients to your garden and seeing a positive result, the growth that nutrients encourages in a pond can be negative. The increased nutrient content in the water will initiate algae growth. Algae growth can be a real problem, killing other plants, inhibiting wild life, and causing your pond to become stagnant.
If time is an issue, give the land scape experts and R&S Lawn Service a call today to set up some solutions for your time and garden!