An August Weekend Garden Update

I spent a good deal of time this weekend getting out into the garden to get some long past due chores done. Summertime is one of those stretches where the garden seems to find itself a but neglected.  It makes sense. The kids are going back to school, the weather is hot and humid, and this year the mosquitoes are terrible. Don’t forget about all the rain we’ve had keeping the gardener indoors when he would rather be out digging in the dirt.  The grass is growing at rates that make losing the children in the grass a likely event!  So this weekend I played a little catch up in my garden.

I weeded various spots, harvested a few peppers from the garden, mowed and trimmed the lawn, and most importantly protected some areas from the deer.  The area in question was my extra tomato bed.  The deer have nibbled on it over the summer and prevented me from gaining any produce.  I’ll tell you this, it is extremely frustrating to have 30 tomato plants with no produce because of two creatures!  I still have time though.  Mid-October is the normal first frost date for our area which gives me six weeks for those plants to put on a few tomatoes. Their root systems are well established so it’s just a matter of being left alone to produce some fruit.  I protected them with bird netting which should prevent the deer from nibbling. I should have done it a few weeks ago.

I also transplanted several ‘Shasta’ viburnums this weekend.  It’s one of my favorite shrubs but these probably won’t be for my garden.  I’ll sell them with my plant business.  I set up a mister system using a patio mist kit, a timer and some plastic sheeting which has worked fantastic.  The root systems for these viburnums are strong and thick in just a few weeks.  I’ll be trying this for more plants since it worked so well and I may have to expand my system.

My side garden remodel is coming along slowly.  I planted a ‘Limelight’ hydrangea and a few hostas underneath the crape myrtles.  I have quite a few plants to move before I can cut down my Bradford pear tree.

I hope you had a productive weekend too!  What did you get done over the weekend?