5 GARDEN TASKS TO DO NOW

It's more or less the middle of the gardening season here in my zone 5 garden. It's the point at which some areas of the garden are cruising along and others, neglected still, are looking worse than ever. They'll be dealt with when time, temperature and the mosquito population allows. The urge is to sit back, relax and enjoy the garden.

And you should, but don't rest on your gardening laurels for too long as suddenly the good parts of the garden will start to look like the neglected bits.

So in the spirit of doing a little something in the garden—but not too much—here are five things you can do in your garden now.

1. DEADHEAD

Stay on top of the deadheading or else the flowers that just faded may be your last. In my garden right now I'm mostly going after spent roses (cut back to a set of five leaves) and just starting to keep a close eye on the dahlias. Here's a quick video I did on deadheading dahlias if you're not sure how.

2. SPOT WEED

If you've gotten all the big weeding out of the way, you'll just have to worry about the little guys that poke up. Oxalis is a common one in my garden. The good news about this kind of weeding is that you can usually do it with just your fingers and you can definitely do it one handed, leaving the other one free to hold a cup of coffee, a glass of wine or a gin and tonic.

3. WATER

It's a drag, I know, but this is high season for watering. The good news is that watering can be kind of cathartic, so consider it a bit of a mental break. Don't forget to fertilize containers regularly. Even if you added time release fertilizer when you planted, most container plants are getting big enough by this point in the year that they need more nourishment.

This Spirea is still looking pretty good but about half the blooms are spent  and it's time to prune. Cutting it back deadheads it and allows me to shape it for next year. 

4. PRUNE

For a lot of shrubs, the time to prune is right after the flower. Many shrubs bloom on the previous year's growth, so pruning right after they finish blooming allows time for them to put on new growth and next year's flower buds.  I've pruned most of my Spireas in the past couple weeks to keep them a little in check without sacrificing next year's flowers.

5. MAKE MENTAL NOTES

Odds are your garden is nearing its peak. If something isn't looking just right, make a note about what you could change for the long term to get it there.

Check off that list and then get back to that first thing we talked about: sitting back and enjoying your garden. You deserve it.

HOW TO DEADHEAD DAHLIAS FOR BLOOMS ALL SEASON LONG

It is mid-October and the dahlias in my yard are looking the best they have all summer. Most have been blooming since July, basically nonstop and I'd be hard pressed to find another flower that puts out that kind of performance. Some of their success is part of the nature of dahlias, but the reason they are still blooming, and blooming better than ever, is because I have been good about deadheading them. If you keep on top the deadheading, dahlias will bloom right up until frost.

Sometimes it's easy to identify spent blooms on deadhead. The petals wilt and start falling off and there's no doubt that flower needs to go.

But if you miss that stage, which is not uncommon when you have a plant laden with blooms, it can be hard to tell the buds that are about to open from what's left of the spent flowers.

Turns out, it's all in the shape. New buds that will still flower are round. Spent flowers have a triangular, pointy shape. In the photo below, the bud yet to open is on the left and the spent flower is on the right.

 You can look a little closer to see the differences as well, but the shape should tell you quickly what's what. After you've identified which bits need to go, trace the flower stem all the way back to its intersection to a leaf and use a pruner to clip it off there. That will promote more blooms and avoid unslightly flowerless stems sticking out here and there.

Even though this spent bud is still slightly open at the top, its elongated shape is a sure sign that it needs to be removed

A closer look at a round bud show petals waiting to unfurl. 

Of course, if you're just passing by and you see a spent bloom that needs to go, feel free to nip it off with your fingers. That's far better than doing nothing and you can come back later to take care of the bare stem.

It's as simple as that. If it's a triangle, take it off, if it's round, let it stay attached to the ground. See what I did there? The good news is that it's so easy, you don't need my less-than-catchy rhyming device to remember it.

Now get out there and deadhead some dahlias!