Midsummer Landscape Care

A little midsummer care can keep your landscape looking its best throughout the remainder of the season.

Cut back fading perennials like bleeding heart. Pop in a new perennial or annual to mask the hole left by this spring bloomer.

Shear summer blooming spirea to encourage another flush of flowers. Hand pruners make the best cut, but hedge shears can speed things up on big jobs. Just clip off old blooms and wait for the next colorful display.

Remove or trim back discolored foliage, allowing the flowers to remain the center of attention.

Stake flopping perennials so their flowers are visible for all to see. Use bamboo stakes and ties to keep hollyhocks in clear view. Mark next years calendar to remind you to put stakes in place earlier in the season.

A bit more information: Put an end to flopping peonies. Simply cut a piece of bird netting the size of the peony clump. Place it on the ground in spring as the peony stems start to emerge. The stems will grow through and lift the netting as the leaves appear and stems elongate. The netting holds the stems together as they bend and blow in different directions. This type of binding allows movement in the plant while preventing stems from flopping.