Late June early July Gardening in Minnesota

This is your last chance this summer to trim your evergreens. You do not want to trim evergreens much after mid July. Trimming promotes new growth, if that happens too late in the season, the new growth will not harden off before winter and can turn brown. Most deciduous shrubs can be lightly sheared if you like a more formal look, but stay away from the Lilacs, Azaleas, Rhododendrons, Forsythias and other plants that bloom early in the spring, for they have already started setting next years flower buds. Shrubs planted in heavier shade can be trimmed to encourage more branching. Shrubs that flower on new wood like most Spireas, can be sheared to promote a second flowering.
Keep feeding annuals and roses. Things that are long blooming, are heavy feeders and need to be fertilized more often. This time of year you can use Miracle Grow and water. Only fertilize things you have been watering regularly. Do not feed drought stressed plants. Things such as hanging baskets and Hibiscus that get almost daily waterings, should be fed more often, as the frequent watering leeches out the nutrients.
Keep watering your lawn, it should receive one inch of water EVERY week. Keep the mower blade set to one of the highest settings, around three inches. Cutting the grass shorter during hot, dry periods will stress the grass and promote weed growth. Taller grass shades the ground and keeps it cooler. You do not mow the grass because it is tall, you mow it because it grows unevenly. Newly mowed grass at 3", looks just as nice as newly mowed grass at 1". Keep your mower blade sharp to make clean cuts. Dull blades beat and rip grass and cause stress.

Perennial Flowers That Bloom in Spring Through Summer

Dianthus

Dianthus is an old-fashion flower that performs well in cottage gardens, formal gardens and rock gardens. The height of dianthus ranges from 5 inches tall up to 2 feet tall, according to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. The old-fashioned varieties have clove-scented flowers. Deadhead the faded flowers to encourage new blooms to form and to keep the seed from dropping into the garden. At the end of the season, allow a few seeds to drop to make sure the plants do not die out over the winter. Dianthuses are shallow-rooted plants, according to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, so mulch the existing plants well. Dianthus begins blooming in April and, depending variety, will continue blooming into September.

Salvia

Salvia is an easy-to-grow perennial plant that, once established, is drought-tolerant. There are both perennial and annual varieties of Salvia, so be sure to read the tag to see if the variety you choose is hardy to U.S. Department of Agriculture Hardiness Zone 4. There are many varieties of Salvia to choose from, including the culinary sage that is popular in holiday dressing. Hummingbirds, butterflies and bees frequent these plants during their long bloom season. To encourage continual bloom and discourage self-seeding, regular deadheading is necessary. Salvia begins blooming in June and continues through October.

Yarrow

The fern-like foliage of yarrow adds texture to the garden, which is an important design element. The flowers that come in a multitude of colors including white, yellow, red and pink attract a variety of bees, butterflies and beneficial insects into the garden. The flowers are excellent for cutting. Yarrow is an easy-to-care-for plant that is drought-tolerant once established. Yarrow will spread, even in poor soil, so plan to divide this plant every couple of years to keep it under control. The blooms start in June and continue through October.

WET WEATHER GARDENING

Avoid Soil Compaction

Let’s start with the main “don’t”. Do not work the soil when it is wet. Nothing destroys soil structure faster than ploughing, or digging in soggy soil. Soil damaged in this way gets compacted easily, with the associated consequences of reduced air percolation and impeded drainage.

Do’s

It’s a good time to set cuttings of most shrubs to root. You’ll have to be careful with cuttings of “softer” plants such as impatiens and coleus, which tend to rot easier than shrubs, so provide some protection from the rains.

It’s also a good time to circumpose plants such as croton, mussaenda, roses, hibiscus, allamanda, as sap flows freely during the wet weather.

Keep up your spraying program, especially for diseases such as black spot fungus on roses, leaf spots and blights. You may have to increase the spray cycle to every 5-7 days, and be sure to add a surfactant or sticker to the mixture.

Finally, check drainage channels, and clear or reinforce where necessary.

What Plants Keep Rabbits Out of a Garden?

While there tend to be several plants that almost always repel deer, there is no single plant that works to repel rabbits all the time. Many variables control what a rabbit will and will not eat including population and what other foods are available to them nearby. However, you can minimize your rabbit problem and sometimes eliminate it altogether by just growing plants that rabbits usually won't eat.

Wax Begonia

Rabbits tend to avoid wax begonias in gardens. These flowers grow 6 to 12 inches tall and do very well in containers. They bloom well into the growing season and thrive in sun or partial shade. Wax begonias work well in borders and beds. Well-drained soil that is fertile, rich, and loose is the best soil for this plant. They are also very resistant to insects and disease. Wax begonias can be brought indoors when the weather gets too cold.

Marigold

Marigolds are one of the most common anti-rabbit plants. The key is to pick a marigold with the strongest scent you can find. Plant two rows of marigolds next to each other in order for this plant to be most effective. Marigolds are very tough plants and come in colors ranging from rust, to gold, to yellow. Grown near vegetable gardens, this plant also repels insects. Soil for marigolds should be rich, well-drained, and kept moist. Generally marigolds require very little attention once they're established and can adapt to slightly drier soil conditions. Pinch off dead blooms to keep them blooming longer through the season.

Bee Balm

Bee balm is a plant that rabbits will avoid if they can help it. This hardy perennial grows strongest and best inside zones four through nine and can grow 24 to 48 inches high. Bee balm blooms from July to August and prefers full sun but can handle partial shade. Bee balm is also known as bergamot. Bee balm attracts butterflies for those who want butterflies but not rabbits in their garden. For best growing conditions, soil should be rich and moist with a pH of 6.5. If you grow this plant in partial shade, watch out for snails.

Hyacinth

Hyacinth is another plant you'll rarely see a rabbit eat and a great part of a rabbit-unfriendly garden. Hyacinths flower in the springtime and produce very fragrant blooms. These flowers grow from 6 to 12 inches tall and come in a multitude of colors including: blue, purple, lavender, red, pink, white, orange, and yellow. Since flowers sometimes become smaller after the first year, some prefer to plant new bulbs yearly and treat them as annuals. Wear gloves when handling hyacinth bulbs if you have sensitive skin since they can make your hands itch. Hyacinths prefer full hot sun for best results.

Eastern Tent Caterpillars

The caterpillars feed on leaves of these host trees, and may cause significant defoliation when present in large numbers. Caterpillars wander when they are ready to pupate, crawling on houses and decks.
First, be sure you have eastern tent caterpillars, and not another similar pest. Eastern tent caterpillars build their tents in the crotches of tree branches and appear in early spring.
Eastern tent caterpillars rarely infest ornamental trees in large enough numbers to kill your landscape plants. Because they appear in early spring and complete their life cycle by summer, the host trees have time to produce more leaves after being defoliated. If you have a few caterpillar tents in an apple or cherry tree, don't panic. Control of the pests may not be necessary at all. If the infestation is significant or you just can't stand the sight of caterpillar tents in your trees, there are some things you can do.
Remove the caterpillars by hand. The caterpillars will rest inside their tent after they feed. When you see a large group of caterpillars in the tent, use a stick or gloved hands to pull the tent from the branches, caterpillars and all. For a large tent, you can wind the silk around a stick as you pull it from the tree. You can crush the caterpillars or drop them in a pan of soapy water. In the fall, once leaves have fallen, look for egg masses on twigs of the host trees. Prune out any you find, or scrape them from the branch and destroy them.
Young larvae may be treated with Bacillus thuringiensis var kurstaki, or Bt. Bt is a naturally occurring bacteria that interferes with the caterpillar's ability to digest food. It must be applied to the foliage of the infested trees. The caterpillars ingest Bt as they eat, and will stop eating immediately and die within a few days. You do not need to spray the tents or the caterpillars.

Minnesota Weather and Mulch

We have been getting lots of questions about what type of mulch to use in your garden beds, rock or a shredded wood.  Both are good to use in their own applications, but the plant type plays a more important part in picking the type of mulch.  For example if you have a sunny garden bed and use are planting perennials you would want to use a wood mulch, and here is why.  The rock on a sunny day gets hot under the sun as you well know, but when perennials are added you can stress out and at times even kill these plants by the intense heat.  The sun hits the plants from above and the rock bakes them from under, way to much stress.  A shredded wood be the perfect mulch for water retention and to not hold so much heat.
A rock mulch works better with shrubs and trees because of the age of the shrub or tree is a few years.  They can handle more of heat from the sun mixed in with the heat of the rocks.

June Weather

It seems that Minnesota will never have spring?  One day it's over 100 degrees and the next we drop down to 54 degrees.  So much has been going on at Halla Nursery this past month that I have forgotten to write in our blog.  Well I promise from this day forward, even if its something small I will write.
So lets catch you up to date here. 
The retail store is is all done for the 2011 remodel, and the store has its new layout.  Our staff has changed, with us hiring people with the plant knowledge that I will put up against any nursery any day.
As far as garden tips go, its not to late to start your vegetable gardens, and here at Halla we have hundreds of plants to choose from.