Rain Barrels

These fast, fleeting summer showers are the perfect opportunity to be grabbing some free water for your garden...the only thing better is a deal on rain barrels!
Ran across this supplier, 2 for $80, all set up with a spigot, an overflow valve and a bug screen. Marietta at Sandy Plains Rd.

http://atlanta.craigslist.org/nat/grd/1885439370.html

As the AC bill goes up, at least there is something you can do about your water bill :-)

Lyn

Keep your roses blooming

August is the last month you should be applying fertilizer to your plants, so give them one last shot at blooms with an application this month of an organic such as fish emulsion. While you are at it, hit the container plants, too. I recently learned that is what they use at Butchart Gardens in Victoria, BC and they had the best looking containers I have ever seen! Be sure to water in well when first applied.

The other important ongoing chore for those of you with roses, is to keep the weeds and falling leaves out of the plant bed, and to deadhead the blooms. If you are having trouble with pests, try spraying with strong blast of water in early morning, followed by an insecticidal soap spray while the day is still young. (Never apply fertilizers or pesticides in the heat of the day.) If you need something stronger, try treating with Orthonex, which will work for both pests and fungus. I recommend using the organics first and if that doesn't work, move up to something stronger. Towards the end of the month, work in some Mills MagicTM to build up the soil quality before getting ready for fall and winter.

This is one of the beauties (Midas Touch, USA) from my recent trip to the northwest, where they have a lot of rain...a double edged sword with roses. Have a blooming great weekend! Lyn

Coffee or Tea for your plants

Use leftover tea and coffee grounds to acidify the soil of azaleas, rhododendrons, camellias, gardenias and blueberries. Add about a quarter of an inch around the base to the outside width of the plant, once a month to keep these acid lovers happy. wise composting ;-) Lyn

Musical Slideshow, The Butchart Gardens

Personalize a photo album

First Video on Gardening TIps

With the help of my friends Dave and Suzanne Rimmer, whose front landscape we renovated early this summer, I am showing how to cut back select perennials and give them new life again. If your plants are looking leggy and weak, even if they are still flowering, it is time to take the shears to them and boost them with a little fertilizer. This will give them a fresh and healthy flush of new growth to take them through September looking great. Here is the link to the YouTube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QsBCUTU4BEM The variety of plant we are pruning here is the Veronica 'Goodness Grows'. In the garden, Lyn