It’s time to check in on your container plants and newly planted perennials and shrubs.

I feel bad when I see people/plant relationships go bad.  Here’s a solution for you to try on your own.

It seems that not just your children need attention, but your plants do too.  Fertilizer and water are on the menu for the day and NO ONE’s complaining.  So often you pick out a beautiful plant from the garden store back in May with the intent of it being THAT dang beautiful in the months to come.  The foliage is thick and green, the flowers and buds are plentiful too.  Then something goes terribly wrong.  The flowers go away and the foliage gets spotted and yellow.  Those people at the local garden center tell you that maybe you aren’t as good of a waterer as you thought–please don’t take offense, because those garden center people have killed more plants in a week than you will all summer.  (Believe it or not, it’s because of failing that we learn how to succeed.)

So how am I going to tell you how to succeed?  I’m going to ask you to water your outdoor pots once a day really well (maybe even if it’s rained the night before).  Then I’m going to ask you to water with a liquid fertilizer once a week, and on that day you should water well, then water after with the fertilizer (that way your fertilizer application won’t run through the pot and out the bottom).

Now if you are like my dear friend, who shall remain nameless for this blog, you have a pot with NO drainage and you water your plants to death every year.  So take my above advice with a bit of caution and adjust to meet the needs of your outdoor garden pot.

Please ask us questions we are happy to help.  Garden center workers have seen it all and are really ok with coaching you through the gardening season.