
Gardening Green with Doug
Summer Maintenance and Bargains
By Doug Oster
July 17, 2024
There was a little white round table at my local nursery filled with plants. A big six pack of coleus was discounted, but the rest of the plants were not priced. I was joined at the table by an employee who obviously wanted to get rid of the plants and I left with the best feeling one can have exiting the garden center, with the joy of getting bargains. It’s something I write about a lot, especially this time of the year, but I bring it up now for everyone who things the window for starting a garden has closed and for like minded gardeners who continue planting all season. This is the start of what I call the third season of gardening, and it’s a lovely time to plant.
The rush of early and late spring planting is over, and why not add annual flowers to the garden. Our season is longer than it was even a decade ago, frost is coming later, so we can enjoy the flowers for many more months. One of the thrills of adding plants to the garden now is finding things that need a little TLC.
At the same nursery there were tired-looking hanging baskets filled with petunias for five dollars. They were pulled from their smaller pots and transplanted with added planting mix to larger hanging baskets saved from last season and into other containers.
A dose of liquid organic fertilizer now and then whenever they are watered, and the plants will thrive again. Although the window is closing for many tomato varieties, there’s still time to add a big plant from the garden center or a nice-looking cherry tomato, which comes to fruition quickly. ‘Sungold’ only needs about 47 days after transplanting to reach maturity.
Big containers (15 gallons or larger) are a good home for a tomato plant or a couple of hot peppers. When a pot filled with spring crops is harvested, those hot peppers are the perfect plant to replace the cool weather variety, there’s plenty of time for them to do their thing.
A packet of bush beans could be sowed in the garden now to harvest beans in as little as six weeks, and they will continue to produce until frost. Kale seeds planted mid-summer will provide greens into winter. Beets, Swiss chard, arugula, and many other seeds can be planted now too.
Containers can be spruced up with fresh plants; maybe there’s a spot in the pot that needs filled. At this point in the season, try to wait on planting trees or shrubs, unless you can be dedicated to watering. They are so much happier being planted in the fall. Perennials on the other hand can be added to the garden right now too and found on sale.
There’s a beautiful lily blooming in my vegetable garden that was bought last season as a withered green stick. Once lilies lose their flowers at the nursery, they are hard to sell. When you buy a plant in a one-gallon container, you’re not only getting a bulb, but a complete, fully developed root system. The lily which was bought last season didn’t have a plant tag, providing a wonderful surprise as the plant reached over eight feet tall and is filled with beautiful flowers.
Another important summer job is deadheaded annual flowers to keep them blooming strong. Marigolds and zinnias are great examples. Pinching off the spent blooms will encourage more flowers. When rain is scarce, it’s the gardener’s job to get out in the garden and water. The job is best done in the morning, which allows foliage to dry off, thus hopefully preventing fungal diseases. Soak the bottom of the plant, don’t just sprinkle. A deep watering means deep roots. Freshening mulch is a good summer task too. A new layer of straw in the vegetable garden will keep weeds down and keep the soil evenly moist. Mulch should never touch the bottom of the plant and should look like a donut not a volcano. Enjoy the summer garden and don’t forget to spend a few minutes sitting and soaking up the beauty.





Hi Doug, what Thursday are you on PTL? Barb