Episode of the Week
browse by: date
September 3rd, 2011
Help out the wildlife in heat and drought with Habitat Steward Meredith O'Reilly's summer survival tips. Visit her blog, Great Stems, for her birds-eye perceptions in her certified Backyard Habitat.
Plant of the Week: Desert Willow
Tips of the Week
- Put out water basins for toads, lizards, bees and wasps. Provide water for birds. Replenish your hummingbird feeders every few days with fresh water (1 part sugar to 4 parts water). Provide shallow puddling places for butterflies.
- Leave some seed heads on plants to feed starving birds.
- Keep an eye out for spider mites that explode on our plants, including tomatoes, in dry, hot weather. Blast the undersides of the leaves with a water hose every few days to break their cycle.
- Water your trees, including your fruit and nut trees. Go out to the drip line (the canopy of the tree) with a sprinkler.
- Avoid heavy pruning right now. Deadhead as you wish, but do not stress the plants with too much shearing right now. Again, leave some seed heads for the birds.
- Remove vegetable plants that show signs of disease.
- More Tips
Question of the Week
Can I replant raised beds that cats have used as a litter box?
Featured Garden
Related Gardeners
