Water, Water, Water!   Ok, maybe that’s a bit excessive.   Make sure that you are supplementing mother nature with water.  In the hot times, plants that are established may only need to be watered once or twice a summer, but those that are newer and have undeveloped roots need more.  Water new plantings 3 times a week with a nickel sized stream of water, keeping the hose on each plant for 5 seconds.  Make sure that the water is soaking in, not running off.  The idea is to soak the entire root zone of the plant, then let it dry out between waterings.  More water, less often

Sod is a totally different story.  Keep the top _” of new sod moist (watering every day) for the first 2 weeks.  After that, decrease the watering frequency and increase the time to soak deeper into the soil. Pull up a corner of the sod to check soil moisture and look for white roots that will go down into the soil for moisture.

Seed should be moistened every day for the first two weeks, also.  Ground temperature needs to be 50 degrees for germination, so don’t seed from October 15th through April 1st.  Summer seeding is also risky, since the hot sun can burn tender shoots and damage the stand of grass.  Most recommend not seeding from June 15th to August 15th to prevent this burning.

A layer of mulch helps keep plants from drying out, but be careful not to get the mulch more than 3’ deep, as this can pack down and create runoff instead of soaking in water.

Use a pre-emergent herbicide such as Preen to help control weeds.  Pre-emergents will kill seeds of any plant, so they need to be applied early to control germination.  Check the label on your favorite and reapply as directed for longer control.  

Avoid dividing and moving plants during the summer to prevent stress…

Plants for the summer garden:
Caryopteris:  Blue Mist Spirea is one of our favorites.  A soft blue bloom in August.  Attracts butterflies (and bees…)  but complements other summer colors.  Also “Longwood Blue”  - a darker blue.

Daylilies:  One of the hardiest of all perennials, daylilies will grow in poor soil conditions, especially dry conditions.  Look for repeat bloomers like “Stella d’ Oro” (gold), “Pardon Me” (Red), “Happy Returns” (Yellow), and “Little Grapette” (purple).  All of the daylilies will tend to have an orange cast, as this was the original daylily color.

Black Eyed Susans:  Great splash of color for later summer

Purple Coneflower:  One of the longer bloom times of any perennial.  Give it some room, it can get 3’ tall.

Coreopsis:  Another hardy perennial for dry spots.  Usually yellow, but reds and pinks are being grown, also.

Astilbe:  Shade loving perennial.  “Pumilla” is a dwarf grower that has a nice lavender bloom in August.