Gardening Tips for Late Spring and Early Summer

Late May and June are the times of year when gardening is at its best! Your beds look beautiful and your summer vegetables and fruits are thriving. Here are some gardening tips for the transitional time between spring and summer.

1. Protect plants from slugs and other pests

Slugs and snails love young growth, especially delphiniums and hostas, and can attack young sprouts before they’ve even emerged from the ground. Deterrents to these pests are commercially produced slug pellets, eggshells, and even copper tape.

2. Plant Out Vegetables

Since there is definitely no longer a threat of frost in Texas in May, it’s safe to plant out your more tender plants such as leeks, artichokes and zucchini.

3. Move Pots Outside

Now is a great time to bring any of your tender or exotic plants, like citrus plants, that have been indoors outdoors. Make sure you acclimate them gradually to outdoor temperatures so they have less of a sudden change that will cause their leaves to droop.

4. Keep Watering

With temperatures rising, it’s important to keep your plants well watered, especially those that have just been planted. Once your plants have matured and have a more effective root system, they will need less regular watering. Your truly established plants only need a good watering in dry conditions if they show signs of wilting.

5. Harvest Fruit

This is the time of year to remove cloches from fruit so the fruit can ripen in the summer sun. Tuck straw under the developing fruits to keep them dry and away from the moist soil. Keep all of your fruit well watered in the dry spells to ensure a good crop of quality fruits throughout the summer.

6. Plant Summer Bedding

Your beds and borders that were planted with spring borders can be cleared out and be planted with tender summer bedding plants, such as Bacopa. This is also the time to plant some hardy annuals, transplant seeds and remove bulbs.

7. Trip Hedges

Formal hedging, such as your boxwoods, should be occasionally trimmed by hand now. Using a mechanical hedger during this time of year can bruise your leaves leaving brown and unsightly foliage. When you do trim, just trim it regularly enough for the hedge to keep its shape. Also make sure you are pruning your flowering shrubs at this time of year.

(Source: HGTV and Huffington Post)