If you or someone you know is interested in a job opportunity in the horticulture field, consider one of the positions we currently have available:

Landscape Foreman - runs a 2-3 person crew to install landscape plantings, patios, walks, retaining walls and ponds. Must have a valid driver's license and some exposure to landscape construction. For more information, call A.R. Willey (609) 737-7644

Gardening in Dry Weather
Suzanne Cammerano

Summer is upon us, and here in the northeast, that typically means a dry spell that lasts most of the season. If you don't have an irrigation system, your garden can start to look pretty motley during the dry season. Here are some tips to help keep your garden looking fresh through the whole summer.

Soil Preparation is an important first step when you plant a new garden bed, or install a new plant in an existing garden. Incorporating moisture-retentive soil amendments now will save time and water later.

When you dig a new bed, incorporate several inches of compost/humus or peat moss into the existing soil. Peat moss is quite acidic, so if you use peat moss, check the pH afterward to see if you need to add lime to bring the pH into the 6 to 6 ½ range (lower is fine if you are planting acid-loving plants). If it is a small bed, you may want to also dig in a little Soil Moist, a polymer that absorbs many times its weight in water and releases it slowly into the soil as it is needed. If you are installing a single new plant, add compost to the backfill; Soil Moist is appropriate here, too.

Plant Selection is extremely important in planning for a fresh-looking summer garden. In general, plants that bloom later will hold up to summer heat and drought better than plants that bloom early; after all, late bloomers are "designed" to shine under summer conditions. There are also plenty of spring bloomers that are drought tolerant, and their foliage will hold up better in the summer months. If you want a flush of early spring color, try some spring ephemerals with a succession planting of summer or fall bloomers to hide the dying or disappearing foliage.

Site Selection can make all the difference in a plant's performance in hot, dry weather. Don't try to plant shade loving plants like rhododendron in the baking sun; they will never thrive and will surely disappoint. Sun-lovers that are planted in too much shade will become leggy and bloom poorly. Plants that prefer partial or light shade will often do well in full sun if they are kept moist.

Efficient watering techniques can keep your garden from looking tired through the summer. Ideally, plants that are planted in the ground (vs. containers, see below) should receive about an inch of rain or supplemental watering every week; new plantings may require more.

Every gardener should keep a simple rain gauge to determine the amount of natural rainfall over the past week. Those quick downpours seem to provide a lot of water, but may actually only produce a small fraction of an inch of rain, much of which runs off before it can soak into the ground. In fact, it may seem counterintuitive, but if you are expecting rain, try wetting the top of the soil in advance to help the rainfall soak in.