Organic Gardening News

July is when a lawn stops coasting. Through spring the grass more or less runs itself, growing fast and green. Heat changes that. Rainfall turns unreliable and the days run long. The lawn that looked effortless in May starts thinning at the edges and going pale in patches. What it needs now is nothing like what it wanted in spring.

None of it is complicated, though. Good July lawn care is a few habits that hold moisture in and keep grass from cooking, plus the one mistake that undoes them. Get those right and the lawn rides out the worst of summer. The mistake is cutting the lawn too short right when it needs protection the most.

1. Raise the Mowing Height

(Image credit: triocean / Getty Images)

Cutting the grass too short is the classic July mistake, usually with good intentions – mow low now, skip a mow later. The trouble shows up at the soil line. Bare ground takes full sun and heats fast, the root zone loses what moisture it had, and weed seeds get their opening. Taller grass does the reverse: the blades shade their own roots, and the soil beneath stays cooler and damper.

For cool-season grasses in summer, 3 to 4 inches (8 to 10cm) is the height to hold, and cutting more than a third of the blade at once tips the plant into shock. Several light mows beat one hard cut. A clean edge matters as much. A dull blade shreds the tips instead of slicing them, and frayed tips brown and invite disease, so a handheld tool like this Smith's mower blade sharpener from Amazon earns a place in the shed for a mid-season pass.

2. Water Deep, Water Early

(Image credit: Nico De Pasquale Photography / Getty Images)

An established lawn wants about an inch of water a week (2.5cm) in heat, though how it goes down counts for as much as the amount. A light sprinkle every evening barely helps. It wets the top half-inch and no more, drawing roots up into the layer of soil that dries out first each afternoon. One or two deep soakings a week pull them back down. That's the point of watering the lawn less often, not more.

What time you water the lawn is the other half. Earlier is better – water put down at dawn sinks in instead of steaming off the blades, and the lawn has all day to dry rather than sitting wet overnight. That overnight damp is the opening a lot of turf fungus needs. Whether you've hit that inch is hard to judge by eye, so an AcuRite glass rain gauge from Home Depot does the job, reading rainfall and sprinkler output.

3. Leave the Clippings Where They Land

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Grass clippings get blamed for thatch, and that reputation sends a lot of them to the curb. It's misplaced. Clippings off a routine mow are thin and green, breaking down in a week or two – too fast to pile up into anything. What they leave is a modest dose of nitrogen and a fine layer that slows the soil drying out.

The catch is that the clippings stay short. Let the grass go long and shaggy first, and the clumps that fall smother what's below – which loops back to mowing often and never scalping. Cut on schedule, drop the clippings, and the lawn feeds itself.

4. Ease Off the Fertilizer

(Image credit: New Africa / Shutterstock)

When a lawn looks stressed, the instinct is to feed it. In peak summer that backfires, at least for cool-season grasses. A heavy dose of nitrogen forces tender new growth right when the plant is trying to conserve energy and ride out the heat, and that soft growth scorches, pulling water the roots can't spare.

It depends on the grass. Cool-season types like fescue and ryegrass are better left alone until early fall, when a feeding helps them recover. Warm-season grasses such as Bermuda and zoysia are the exception – they grow through the heat and can take a light summer feeding. For a struggling cool-season lawn, the July answer is patience, not fertilizer. Feeding it now does more harm than good.

5. Scout for Summer Pests

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A brown patch that keeps widening no matter how much you water usually points to something other than drought. Two pests cause this kind of damage in summer, and they come at the lawn from opposite ends. Above ground, chinch bugs (Blissus leucopterus) tap the stems and siphon them dry; the yellowing turns brown and spreads fastest in the driest spells. Below it, the larvae of Japanese beetles (Popillia japonica) – the common white grub – chew through roots until the turf loses its grip and peels back like carpet.

A quick check settles it: tug at a brown patch, and if it lifts with pale grubs curled beneath, there's the answer. Grubs are simplest to control with a granular treatment – a product like Scotts GrubEx from Walmart, applied to a dry lawn and watered in, covers both over a good stretch. Catch them before the patches join up and it's a spot treatment, not reseeding in fall.

The heat that can come with the month of July can undo all of your hard gardening work from the spring. You water everything, it looks spectacular, and then the sun comes in and bakes everything. By the next morning, the soil is crumbly and dry, looking neglected, and your plants are no better off than when they started. The problem isn’t lack of effort, that’s for sure; it’s the method you’re using.

Most surface watering, no matter how good your intentions are, never gets deep enough to give your trees and shrubs what they actually need. If you’ve been pondering why your trees look stressed despite you regularly watering them in the summer, the answer probably isn’t what you’re not doing, but where the water is going (and where it isn’t). If you’re looking for a broader look at getting the most out of watering your garden, check out our guide to watering the garden before you continue reading.

Why Shallow Watering Is Quietly Sabotaging Your Trees

Corona Tools Rootirrigator

When you’re going about your tree watering routine, two things happen when it lands on the surface: some of it evaporates right away, and the rest encourages the roots to grow upward toward the moisture rather than down into the earth. After a period of time, that will create a shallow, surface-level root system that will be highly vulnerable to drought, heat stress, and wind. The tree may look well-established from the outside, but inside, the roots are camping just below the surface and are way too dependent on their next watering from you.

Deep roots, however, make trees super resilient to whatever Mother Nature throws at them. When roots grow downward (about 1-2 feet into the soil) they have access to moisture reserves that surface heat can’t reach. It also helps them stay anchored when it’s really windy and will help sustain them through droughts without the need for constant watering from you. Essentially, the goal of summer watering isn’t to just keep the tree alive – you’re training it to look after itself.

The Tool That Changes How You Water

Corona Tools Rootirrigator

The Corona Tools LG 3710 RootIRRIGATOR (available on Amazon) is a 46-inch deep-watering probe designed to do exactly one thing: get water directly to your roots, bypassing the surface entirely. It’s super easy to use, as you can connect it to any standard garden hose, insert the probe into the soil near the plant's base, and water flows straight down to where roots actually live.

It has 3 depth markers at 12, 18, and 24 inches that take the guesswork out of how deep you're irrigating. For watering newly planted trees, 12 inches is usually enough, while established trees need watering at the 18- to 24-inch mark where feeder roots are most active.

There is a detachable 3-inch brass shut-off valve that gives you exact control over the flow rate, so you can slow it right down and let water absorb gradually rather than rushing through compacted soil. Plus, the ComfortGEL grip makes this considerably easier to use than it might sound. That means no blisters, no tired hands, even in hard or rocky soil.

What It Works On and How to Use It

The RootIRRIGATOR is most valuable for:

Trees: Both newly planted and long-established. New trees need deep watering every few days during their first summer, while established trees benefit most from a slow, deep session once a week during heat waves rather than a bunch of shallow sprinkles.

Shrubs: Especially the large, deep-rooted varieties like hydrangeas, roses, and viburnum that tend to struggle when only the surface stays moist.

Compacted or clay soil: Where surface water tends to run off before it can penetrate, the probe delivers water directly past that super hard layer to where the soil is easier to penetrate.

The technique is quite simple: Insert the probe about 6 to 8 inches from the trunk. It’s a common mistake to insert the probe at the base of the tree, but feeder roots actually extend outward, not straight down.

Slowly open the valve and allow water to flow for 30 seconds to 1 minute per insertion point. Move the probe around to about 2 or 3 different positions around the drip line of the tree (this is the outer edge of the canopy where root uptake is most active) for the most coverage. If you’re working on clay soil, insert and remove the probe slowly to avoid compressing the surrounding soil.

Corona Tools Rootirrigator

A Bonus Use Most People Miss

The RootIRRIGATOR pulls double duty as it also works as a delivery tool for fertilizer. Liquid fertilizers can be applied directly through the probe to the root zone, where uptake is much more efficient than simple surface application.

It’s especially useful for trees that are showing signs of iron deficiency or for giving newly planted ones a boost in their first season. It may seem like a small detail, but it makes an already useful tool even more versatile.

If you've been watering your trees constantly and wondering why they still look like they're dying in July, this is probably the missing puzzle piece you’ve been looking for.

Pick a handful of basil at seven in the morning and again at three in the afternoon from the same plant and taste them side by side. The morning leaves will undoubtedly taste better – sharper, more perfumed, the flavor sitting right up front. The afternoon leaves will likely be flatter, a little grassy, and missing whatever it was that made them worth growing. But nothing about the plant changed, only the clock did.

There is chemistry behind this change and it’s important to understand why flavor is so different depending on what time you harvest vegetables and herbs. Knowing how to harvest vegetables at the right hour turns out to matter about as much as knowing when plants are ready to pick. Water moves through a plant on a daily cycle. So do its sugars and the volatile oils that carry aroma, though not all of plants’ flavor peak at the same time.

Pick plants at the right point in the cycle and you’ll taste the difference. Harvest at the wrong time and the flavor will fall flat. I’ll share the best time of day to harvest some common vegetables and herbs for the peak flavor.

Why Flavor Changes

Overnight, a plant refills. With the sun down, transpiration more or less stops while the roots keep pushing water upward. So, by dawn, the cells are packed tight and under pressure. Pressure is what you're hearing when a cucumber snaps rather than bends.

Harvest a head of lettuce at first light and it will stay crisp in the fridge for days. Cut the same head at noon and it goes limp much quicker, having never had the chance to fill back up before harvesting.

Volatile oils follow their own schedule, too. In herbs, the compounds that carry aroma build up through the cool hours and start burning off as leaf temperature climbs, which is exactly what you're smelling when you brush past a rosemary bush on a hot afternoon. That perfume in the air is the flavor that has already left the plant.

Sugars run the opposite direction, accumulating through the day as photosynthesis does its work, which sets up a small conflict worth being aware of.

(Image credit: ARTFULLY PHOTOGRAPHER / Shutterstock)Plants That Change Flavor the Most

There are herbs that shift in flavor more depending on the time of day you harvest them. Basil carries its character in essential oils that thin out under direct sun, and mint, oregano, and thyme behave the same way.

Cut them early in the day when the oil content is at its peak. A pair of Fiskars micro-tip snips from Amazon makes clean cuts that don't crush the stem tissue, which can make herbs lose even more flavor – a mashed stem bleeds oils you were trying to preserve.

Then there are the leafy greens. Heat turns lettuce bitter. Warmth nudges the plant toward bolting and the milky latex sitting in those ribs results in bitterness in your salad.

Cucumbers pull a similar trick under stress, concentrating cucurbitacin. Corn is its own separate headache. Sugar in a harvested ear starts turning to starch right away and an ear picked in the heat of the afternoon does this quicker than one picked in the cool of the morning.

(Image credit: Getty Images)The Best Time to Harvest Veggies & Herbs

The best time to harvest herbs and vegetables is in the early morning, once the dew has dried, but before the sun has any real heat in it. Somewhere in that window – an hour or two after sunrise – is ideal.

The plant is at full turgor, the oils are still where they belong, and the tissue itself is cool enough that it won't start breaking down the moment it's off the vine. But wet foliage is something that needs to be avoided, too, since water sitting on cut surfaces invites rot in storage. So wait for dew to dry.

Get the harvest out of the sun quickly. A Fiskars harvest basket from Walmart lets produce be rinsed and drained in the same container into which it was picked.

For a big morning's harvest, a basic cooler chest from Target parked in the shade holds everything at temperature until it goes inside to your fridge. Field heat is the enemy here. Every degree a vegetable or herb carries into the kitchen means respiration eating its sugars.

Evening after the heat has broken makes a reasonable second choice for the best produce picking time. It’s better than harvesting at noon by a wide margin, and much better than not picking at all.

(Image credit: Peter Cade / Getty Images)The Worst Time to Harvest Veggies & Herbs

Mid-afternoon on a hot day is the worst time to harvest. The plant has been losing water for hours, the leaves are slightly wilted even if they don't look it, and the volatile compounds have been cooking off since mid-morning.

Anything picked then arrives warm, soft, and already expending its own sugars to stay alive. Refrigerating produce slows that down, but it doesn't reverse anything. Once an herb's oils are gone, no amount of careful storage brings them back.

There is one complication, though. Because sugars build up through the day, some crops like carrots, certain tomatoes, and sweet corn can taste measurably sweeter when picked in late afternoon or early evening than when harvested at dawn.

Growers who care about sugar content sometimes pick at that time, accepting the wilt and cooling the harvest fast to compensate. But for the average garden, morning still wins, since crispness and aroma are what a home cook notices most.

I've always had a bit of an understanding with the squirrels that visit my garden. They don't cause too much trouble, and in return, I don't let my overzealous lurcher out if I spot one happily wandering across the lawn.

It might sound silly, but I quite enjoy watching them scamper along the fence or bury the odd acorn before disappearing again. And, to be fair to my local squirrels, they know which side their bread is buttered (or should that be, which side their nut is buttered?), as they prefer to keep their visits fleeting so as not to run into my aforementioned mutt.

Not everyone has a squirrel-deterring dog at their disposal, though. My mother-in-law and several of my neighbors, for example, have spent years trying to stop squirrels from digging up flower beds, nibbling vegetables, and unearthing newly planted bulbs. Rather than turning to traps or chemical repellents, they've had surprising success with a much prettier (and much more natural) solution: marigolds.

Do Marigolds Really Deter Squirrels?

Marigolds, you say? Deter squirrels, you gasp? Yes, while these cheerful flowers have long been a staple in cottage gardens and vegetable patches, they're more than just a colorful annual. Many gardeners believe marigolds can help deter squirrels and other unwanted visitors, all thanks to their distinctive scent.

Now, a caveat before we delve any deeper; the scientific evidence specifically linking marigolds to squirrel deterrence is scanty. Still, the idea has been passed down among gardeners for generations, and all hinges on the fact that these pretty flowers produce a strong aroma – one that some people believe squirrels find so unpleasant that it encourages them to forage elsewhere.

(Image credit: Schnuddel / Getty Images)

Whether it's the scent itself or simply the fact that marigolds are often planted as part of a diverse and healthy garden (they make excellent companion plants!), plenty of gardeners say they've noticed fewer curious diggers after adding them to their beds.

That makes marigolds an easy, low-risk option to try if you want to deter squirrels in a kinder, more natural way. They're inexpensive, easy to grow from seed (we love the Burpee range of marigold seeds) or young plants, and bloom for months with very little fuss.

Better still, they're loved by bees, butterflies, and other beneficial pollinators (including your birth month bug), which means they can support the wider health of your garden while potentially helping to keep squirrels at bay.

(Image credit: Alamy)

If squirrels are constantly digging up bulbs or helping themselves to your vegetable patch, try planting marigolds around the edges of raised beds and vegetable gardens.

It is also a good shout to plant them bear tulips, crocuses, and other bulbs squirrels love to dig up, along pathways and garden borders, or in containers in spots where squirrels often wander. French marigolds (like these HOME GROWN Petite French Marigold Seeds) are often recommended because they have a particularly strong fragrance, although any marigold variety can make a striking addition to sunny borders.

All that being said, marigolds aren't a magic fix; hungry squirrels are remarkably persistent, especially in late summer and fall when they're busy storing food for winter. Still, as part of a wildlife-friendly approach that also includes clearing up fallen birdseed, protecting newly planted bulbs with wire mesh, and reducing easy food sources, they may help make your garden a less inviting place for these bushy-tailed vagrants to linger.

Shop Three More Plants That Help Deter Squirrels:

LAVENDER

CZ Grain Lavender Plant Plugs Live for Planting

Lavender is as useful as it is beautiful. While people love its calming fragrance, many gardeners believe squirrels are less enthusiastic about its strong aroma

PEPPERMINT

Bonnie Plants Peppermint, Live Plant

The powerful menthol scent of peppermint is thought to overwhelm squirrels' sensitive noses, making them less likely to investigate nearby plants.

DAFFODILS

Marde Ross & Company 5 Jersey Lace Narcissus Bulbs

Daffodils contain naturally occurring compounds that make them unappealing to many animals, including squirrels. Plant then alongside more vulnerable bulbs.

One of the nicest things about planting marigolds is that, even if they don't solve your squirrel problem overnight, you've still added months of vibrant color to your yard (there are so many reasons why it is such a popular annual to grow!).

If you want to deter squirrels, there are rarely any guarantees; these clever little animals quickly adapt to new surroundings, and what works in one neighborhood may not work in another. Still, if you're looking for a simple, affordable, and wildlife-friendly alternative to traps, marigolds are certainly worth a place in your garden, especially as they might encourage those furry visitors to move on to someone else's flower bed instead.

And if all else fails? I can really recommend the ever-barking lurcher option (although, fair warning, your lawn will not thank you for it!).

Summer is a gorgeous season, but unfortunately pests adore it too and come out in abundance. It can be tough to keep pests at bay and ensure that your plants are protected - I know I've definitely woken up to my berries all eaten and my plant beds thoroughly trampled on before!

There are so many pest prevention solutions out there, from fences to chemicals and traps. But if you're looking for something easy to use that won't harm your plants you might need to look no further than in your kitchen cupboards.

Cayenne pepper is an excellent summer pest deterrent, detested by so many different animals and insects. And the best part is that it's cheap and chemical free! (You can even find cayenne pepper in bulk on Amazon). I talked to an assortment of gardening pros to learn exactly why it's so effective at deterring pests and the best ways to use it in a yard. Your plants will definitely be thanking you.

Why Do Pests Hate Cayenne Pepper?

Cayenne pepper is hated by common garden pests because it's a form of irritant. Its strong scent and spicy flavor profile is a lot for a pest's nose, eyes or paws to bear, encouraging them to steer clear.

As Jessica Mercer a horticulturalist at Plant Addicts, explains: "Cayenne pepper works as a pest deterrent because it contains capsaicin, the compound responsible for the pepper's spicy heat. It is an irritant to mammals, including rabbits, squirrels, chipmunks, voles, raccoons, and deer, as well as soft-bodied insects. Cayenne irritates the mouth, nose, and mucous membranes, so the pests may avoid treated plants or soil after they smell or taste it."

There are many different ways to harness the humane, organic pest-banishing power of cayenne pepper, so there's bound to be something that works for you and your garden.

What are the Best Ways to Use Cayenne Pepper in the Garden?

(Image credit: Helin Loik-Tomson / Getty Images)

There are three primary ways to use cayenne pepper as a pest deterrent in your yard: in its powder form, diluted with water, or diluted with a mixture of water and super mild soap.

If you're using cayenne in its powder form Lindsey Chastain of Waddle and Cluck recommends targeting the base of your plants or the borders of beds. This way, there's a barrier created between your pests and your greenery using the cayenne pepper.

She explains: "Just sprinkle it around the edges of garden beds or around the base of plants. Crawling pests like slugs and ants won't want to crawl over it and it will also keep rabbits, squirrels, and deer away. Anything that feels the irritation will back off."

Combining the cayenne pepper with a bit of water can elevate the hack, providing you with a spray you can use on the leaves of your plants to stop pests from munching on them.

Adding a small amount of mild soap can help the cayenne and water solution to better adhere to leaves, especially if you live in a rainy area and don't want the cayenne to rapidly wash away. Though be sure to use something extremely gentle like a baby soap in small doses.

Are There Any Downsides to This Hack?

(Image credit: Nitr / Shutterstock)

The main downside to this hack is that the cayenne pepper will dilute and/or wash away when it rains, so it will need reapplying. If you live in an area with less rainfall this hack may be better suited for your needs.

Lindsey also noted to me that cayenne will irritate people's pets as well so if you have pets, it's important to consider whether they will be able to access the areas where you plan to use the pepper.

Jessica added that birds don't react to capsaicin in the same way that other pests do, so if you specifically have a bird problem the cayenne pepper may not work to discourage them or they will just get used to it.

If this is the case, the hack will work more effectively alongside other pest prevention methods for birds such as using netting like the Sukh Garden Mesh from Amazon or physical barriers like these Amazon Plant Protectors to shield your plants.

Summers today are hotter than summers in yesteryear. But for those of us who want to enjoy the sights and sounds of backyard birds in summer, it’s important to keep our little friends hydrated in the best way, despite the rising temperatures. Birds feel the same discomfort in hot weather as humans do, but birds don’t sweat. Instead, they try to regulate their body temperature by panting. This can all take a toll on garden birds, resulting in rapid moisture loss.

Your bird bath can help garden birds make it through the summer – but simply setting out water isn’t always enough to attract your bird friends, especially when intense heat quickens the rate of evaporation and encourages the potential for algae. When temperatures spike above 90 degrees Fahrenheit (32°C), you quickly wind up with a stagnant, sun-baked bird bath or an empty bowl. Providing consistently chilled, reliable hydration will boost your bird numbers, but how do you ensure this in a way that isn’t too draining on your own time?

If you don’t want your bird bath to become a hot tub or an empty bowl, and want to save yourself some time while enjoying the view, this trick is perfect for you. Discover how a simple Tupperware tub holds the key to happy, hydrated birds that stay cool and refreshed for longer, freeing up more of your time for relaxing in the yard!

Birds Just Want to Stay Cool

A garden without birds is more like a photo than a living ecosystem. It’s the butterflies winging by, the hum of bees, and, mostly, the twitter of wild birds in the trees that make a landscape come alive. When the heat is oppressive, birds suffer just like we do, and the most important survival step is to stay hydrated. While we can open the refrigerator and pull out a bottle of cool water, cardinals and robins cannot – and that bird bath needs to work extra hard when temperatures soar.

During peak July heatwaves, you can fill a shallow bird bath in the morning, only to find it bone-dry or hot enough to steep tea by noon. Constantly running out with the hose or watering can is a chore that quickly loses its charm, and birds won’t visit your bird bath if it is left to stagnate. Added to which, warm, stagnant water is a breeding ground for harmful bacteria and mosquito larvae.

(Image credit: Chelsea Sampson / Getty Images)

Keeping water fresh and cool is the single best way to prevent the transmission of avian diseases in summer, as well as keeping them refreshed. But unless there happens to be a sheltered river running through a forest near your property, it’s up to you to take action to keep your local finches, sparrows, robins, cardinals and bluebirds hydrated in a heatwave. Luckily, the following trick really can help you protect birds from heat exhaustion and illness, while sparing yourself endless trips to and from the faucet.

Keeping a Bird Bath Cool in a Heatwave

(Image credit: Peter B Nyren / 500px / Getty Images)

Icecubes are a wonderful thing in a heatwave. Have you ever taken a tall kitchen glass full of ice cubes and water or lemonade out to the patio during summer heat? The beverage stays cooler longer, giving you more time to finish the drink at a nice temperature. Well, you can also use the ice cube principle to keep your birdbath cool in summer heat. First, make sure your bird basin is placed in dappled shade, under trees or shrubs. Water features are best in areas that receive some afternoon shade to naturally block out the most punishing UV rays.

As for the bath, ceramic and stone bowls are ideal. One great ceramic option is the Sunnydaze Avignon Freestanding Ceramic Bird Bath from Walmart. Exercise caution with metal bowls. A thin, cheap metal dish in direct sunlight can quickly reach temperatures that are painful to avian feet. However, heavy-duty cast iron or shaded aluminum baths can work under dense tree cover with a cooling element. There are also some excellent plastic and resin options, such as the popular Best Choice Vintage Fleur de Lis Standing Bird Bath from Amazon. With these elements in hand, you’re ready to deploy the secret weapon for thirsty birds: the giant ice cube!

Using the Tupperware Trick

(Image credit: Pashkov Andrey / Alamy)

Now, our ice cubes are designed to fit into glasses and beakers. These small pieces of ice would cool off the bird bath water, but only for a short period of time. Just set an ice cube on the deck in the next heatwave and see how fast it turns into a puddle of water. Instead, you need to make a large ice cube, specially for the birds. For this, you need to use a tupperware or other large, plastic container. It’s all about the surface area-to-volume ratio. Tiny household ice cubes melt in mere minutes under a hot July sun because of their high surface area. However, a dense block of ice in a standard 32 or 64-ounce Tupperware container has a much lower surface area relative to its thermal mass, so it takes a lot longer to thaw.

(Image credit: Wirestock / Getty Images)

Ensure your container is made of flexible, freezer-safe plastic, so the frozen block slides out easily after a quick rinse under the tap. If you haven’t got any Tupperware, you can pick up packs of mixed-size food storage containers online. The Rubbermaid EasyStore 18-Piece Set from Walmart is a good option for freezing large, easy-release blocks of ice. You can also get GladWare DeepDish Containers (64 oz) in packs of three from Amazon. Fill your tub with water and freeze it overnight. In the early morning, add your giant ice cube to the bird bath. As it slowly melts, it will create chilled water for your wild birds to enjoy.

Variations on the Tupperware Trick

(Image credit: Kyryl Gorlov / Alamy)

Alternatively, you can use small plastic water bottles to freeze the water. By freezing water inside sealed, reusable plastic bottles, the cooling effect is transferred directly through the plastic barrier without raising the water level of your bath as it thaws. Fill each one up about three-quarters of the way before you freeze them. This gives the water room to expand as it freezes. In the morning, change out the water in the bird bath. Then take out one or two bottles and lay them directly in the water. These act as big ice cubes, cooling the water in the bowl for hours. Later in the day, switch these out for new bottles and refreeze the old ones.

(Image credit: Ray Kennedy / Alamy)

For an extra touch of summer fun, use your giant ice cubes or bottles of ice alongside a floating solar aerator. A solar-powered floating fountain will create sparkles and splashes to attract your birds. Furthermore, mosquitoes require still water to lay their eggs, so a moving, chilled bath disrupts their breeding cycle. Try the Mademax Solar Bird Bath Fountain Upgrade from Amazon, which can be dropped into an existing bath and runs without wiring.

Other Summer Bird Bath Essentials

(Image credit: Tomazl / Getty Images)

Your giant ice cube will keep water cool for longer and save you loads of time at the faucet – but it’s still important to keep an eye on the general cleanliness of things every few days. Make sure your bird bath is kept free of organic debris, bird droppings, and algae. It’s a good idea to scrub your bird bath once or twice a week using a stiff brush, such as the Songbird Essentials Bird Brush from Amazon. Use a simple solution of nine parts water to one part white vinegar. Rinse and dry completely before refilling.

For a more relaxing way of keeping your bird bath water clean, try using a copper disc into the bowl. You can pick these up inexpensively online. Our team loves the Melbree Bird Bath Purification Discs, also available from Amazon. They are a simple way of preventing algae buildup, helping to keep the basins cleaner for even longer.

Shop Bird Bath Extras

Ready to finetune your summer bird sanctuary? These curated backyard essentials are guaranteed to keep your feathered friends happy, hydrated, and returning to your yard even when summer temperatures spike. Slide these avian treasures into place as summer heats up, so birds know your backyard is the place to be!

Perfect Play

Mademax Mademax Solar Bird Bath Fountain Pump

Keep birdies amused as well as hydrated at the bird bath with one of these popular solar-powered fountains. Floating on the water, they are a great way to maintain bird activity and as a bonus, they help to deter mosquitoes from laying eggs. A lovely way to keep birds coming back over summer.

Clean Sweep

Modanu Modanu Ergonomic Brush for Bird Feeders and Baths

Keeping your summer bird bath clean is a breeze with this heavy-duty, ergonomic utility brush. The stiff, durable bristles easily strip away stubborn green algae and mineral deposits without scratching delicate ceramic or stone basins. Pair it with a simple splash of white vinegar for a safe, non-toxic deep clean.

Extra Splashing

Bakayoyo Bakayoyo Ceramic Bird Bath for Decks. and Balconies

Communal water stations are key to happy birds, but don't rely solely on one. You can place this splashing basin near your main bathing bowl so more birds can refresh and hydrate. This pretty ceramic dish is shallow, safe, and sturdy, and makes the perfect accompaniment to your main ice-cool bathing zone.

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If you love to cook, you already know how much herbs add to a recipe. But what if, instead of using dried herbs or quick-grown packaged herbs from the grocery store, you could pluck fresh, tasty herbs right from your own backyard? Because you'll be shocked how much more flavorful homegrown herbs are.

Most are so simple to grow, too. Many home cooks assume growing herbs is only for the greenest of thumbs, but these plants are very forgiving. Our selection of beginner-friendly herbs are especially easy to grow, and you don't need to have any specialist gardening knowledge to raise them successfully. All thrive in containers, too, so even if your garden space is a doorstep or a balcony, you can grow them. Not only do homegrown herbs taste so much better, they'll save you money, too.

There are many varieties to choose from that you simply can't buy in stores, so there's a world of flavors waiting to be explored. Be warned, though: once you start a herb garden and realise the difference adding fresh leaves makes to all your dishes, you'll want to grow more.

Why Herbs Are Great for Beginner Gardeners

Most popular culinary herbs originate from countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea such as Italy, Greece and Spain. There they evolved to thrive in a hot, dry climate, often in poor, sandy soil – and this makes them very easy to grow. Get the basics right (and they're detailed below), and you can't go wrong.

The varieties we’ve chosen here are particularly forgiving and are the best herbs for beginner gardeners, and can be grown in beds or containers. Many gardeners like to grow herbs in a raised garden bed with wheels such as this from Amazon. This puts your herbs at a good height for harvesting and keeps them away from slugs and snails, and you can wheel the planter from back door to barbecue to outdoor dining table for easy pickings.

To replicate the fast-draining conditions herbs have evolved in, grow your plants in fast-draining soil. You can buy potting soil designed especially for herbs such as Rosy Soil Herb, available from Amazon, or use a multipurpose potting mix with moisture control such as Miracle Gro Moisture Control Potting Mix, also available from Amazon.

The Easy Herbs Every Cook Should Grow1. Basil

(Image credit: Ilona.Shorokhova / Shutterstock)

Topping our list of easy herbs to grow, basil is often known as the king of herbs for its elegant aroma and flavor. It’s a must-have herb in Italian dishes, including pizza, pastas, pesto, and any recipe with tomatoes. Basil grows quickly from seed and is highly productive, giving even first-time gardeners a good harvest.

Grow basil in a warm spot that gets at least 6 hours of sun a day. Harvest early and often by pinching off leaves, which encourages more growth. Don’t let flowers develop, though, as this changes the flavor of the leaves – just pinch flowerbuds off as you spot them.

Basil doesn't tolerate the cold so in most zones, it's best to sow anew every spring, or take the pot indoors over winter. It can be overwintered outside in zones 10 and 11. There are all sorts of basil varieties to choose from, offering a surprising spectrum of flavors, from classic Italian Genovese to sweet Purple Petra and citrus Lemon Basil, with seeds available from Botanical Interests. If you don't want to wait for seeds to grow, then you can buy Sweet Basil plants from Lowes.

2. Mint

(Image credit: Paul Maguire / Shutterstock)

Mint is a versatile culinary herb, useful for everything from meats and salads to teas and desserts. It’s also good for your digestion, and it's quick and easy to steep leaves in just-boiled water to make an after-dinner herb tea. Harvest leaves regularly by pinching or snipping off entire stems.

Mint is among the easiest of all plants – not just herbs – to grow in sun or partial shade. In fact, it's so enthusiastic that you should only grow mint in a pot, and stand that container on hard ground lest the roots escape from the drainage hole. Grown in the ground, runners will shoot out in all directions and can take over big areas.

Hardy in zones 3 through 11, once you've planted mint it will be with you practically forever! Regular common mint is quick and easy to grow from seed, and you can buy seed from Amazon. There are over 7,500 varieties of mint though, and each has its own flavor, so do explore. A great one to try is Chocolate Mint which has a mint-choc-chip flavor, and plants are available from Nature Hills Nursery.

3. Chives

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Chives provide a delicate onion flavor perfect for potato dishes, dips, eggs, and salads. It’s very easy to grow chives in a variety of conditions, even partial shade, as long as the soil drains well. Chive plants are hardy in zones 3–10 and are quick to grow from seed, and Burpee has some flavorful varieties to choose from.

The flowers are also edible, and very pretty, making chives one of the best herbs to grow. There are even varieties that have been bred to be more ornamental with bigger flowers, with the leaves just as flavorful, such as Chivette Chives, and plants are available from Nature Hills Nursery.

To harvest chives, use a sharp pair of scissors to snip leaves off at the base. Do not pull them out by the root. Harvest chives regularly not just to enjoy them in the kitchen, but also to keep the plant from getting too crowded.

4. Parsley

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Parsley is one of the most versatile of culinary herbs and a workhorse in the kitchen. Use it whenever you want a green herby flavor to lighten a heavy dish. It works well in stocks, soups, and stews, and in parsley-heavy condiments and salads, like chimichurri and tabouleh.

Parsley is hardy in zones 5 through 9, though it's a short-lived plant so it's easier to sow fresh every year, in all zones. Burpee stocks a great selection of seeds, including the very flavorful flat-leafed parsley. Or, if you're impatient to get cooking, Flat Italian Parsley plants are available from Lowes.

You can grow parsley in full sun or partial shade, and harvest by cutting stems at the base from the outside of the plant, not the centre.

5. Thyme

(Image credit: DimaBerlin / Shutterstock)

Thyme works well in heavy, flavorful dishes, including stews, cooked meats, and roasted vegetables. In the garden, thyme is a drought- and heat-tolerant sun-lover that thrives even when neglected. Grow thyme in soil that drains very well, as this plant can even cope with sandy or rocky conditions. In zones 5 through 9, thyme plants will last for years.

You can buy culinary thyme seeds from Eden Brothers, or skip straight to the good bit with English Thyme plants from Lowes. To harvest thyme, trim off the tender, non-woody stem tips frequently throughout the growing season.

6. Rosemary

(Image credit: ARTFULLY PHOTOGRAPHER / Shutterstock)

Like thyme, rosemary is a forgiving herb that grows well even in dry, hot conditions. Also like thyme, it needs full sun and very good drainage, and won’t tolerate soggy soil or wet roots. A plant will last for years and you can grow rosemary outdoors year-round in zones 8-11; if you grow this herb in cooler climates, then it needs to be overwintered indoors.

Rosemary is very slow and tricky to grow from seed, so buy an established plant, available from Lowes.

Harvest rosemary by snipping off the tender green tips of stems and enjoy their bold, piney flavor in robust dishes such as stews, roasted meats and vegetables, and sauces. It’s even good in baked goods like breads, scones, and crackers.

7. Oregano

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Oregano is a staple in many Mediterranean dishes and also commonly used in Mexican recipes, so this is a versatile herb with an earthy flavor you can use in many ways. It pairs very well with tomatoes and roasted vegetables, and is a must on pizza.

Oregano grows readily in full sun and hot conditions. Once established, it won’t need to be watered often, and thrives outdoors in zones 4 through 10. This isn't the easiest plant to grow from seed, so we recommend buying a plant, and Italian Oregano is available from Lowes.

Harvest leaves by snipping off tips and stems before the plant blooms, as flower development changes the flavor.

8. Cilantro

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Yet another versatile herb on this list, cilantro is popular in Mexican, Asian, and Middle Eastern cuisines. It is a divisive herb and you either love it or you hate it! If you love cilantro, you’re in luck because it’s quick and easy to grow from seed, with a good selection stocked by Burpee. If you're a big cilantro fan then regular cilantro is for you; if not then do try Confetti Cilantro which as a more subtle taste.

Most folk in all zones grow cilantro fresh from seed every year as it's so fast-growing, though plants will survive outdoors year-round in zones 8-11. However, cilantro tends to bolt (go to seed) very quickly in temperatures above 50°F, when the taste becomes bitter. In hotter zones, grow new variety Calypso Cilantro, which is far slower to bolt and also available from Burpee.

Harvest cilantro by plucking leaves and stems from the outside of the plant.

Expert Herb-Growing Tips

While growing herbs is generally easy, these expert growing tips will ensure a bountiful, flavorful harvest:

• Read the plant label or online description to understand what conditions it will thrive in.
• You can plant herbs that like the same conditions in one planter. Thyme pairs well with rosemary as they both like dry conditions, while cilantro is a good pot-mate for basil as they both prefer more moisture. If you're planting your herbs in a raised bed, simply put those that like drier conditions at one end and those that prefer more moisture at the other. It's best to give mint its own pot as it's a bully of a housemate!
• If you're growing herbs in pots, they'll need watering regularly as the soil will dry out more quickly than if they were planted in the ground. Be careful not to overwater, though, especially with Mediterranean herbs like rosemary, thyme, and oregano.
• Don’t bother with fertilizer as most herbs don’t need it. In fact, too much feeding can reduce the concentration of flavorful oils in the leaves.
• Harvest your herbs regularly. Not only does this give you a steady supply of culinary ingredients, but it also encourages the plant to grow more.
• Extend the growing season by bringing pots indoors for winter. Place them by sunny windows to get year-round harvests.

Common Herb-Growing Mistakes

These herbs are very forgiving, even for newbies, but it’s still possible to make mistakes. Avoid these common pitfalls:

• Overwatering – this is the number one killer of new herb plants!
• Harvesting more than one-third of the plant at a time. It's important to leave enough leaves for the plant to photosynthesize.
• Letting herbs flower, also known as bolting, which stops leaf production and changes the flavor.

Fresh herbs offer some of the biggest gardening rewards for the least effort. If you like to cook but are new to gardening, don’t be intimidated. Herbs are much easier to grow than you think, especially if you start with these beginner-friendly options.

A natural, calorie-free sweetener you can grow in your own home garden? Sign me up! You may have seen powdered stevia sweetener on grocery store aisles, but you can grow your own much more cheaply and use your harvest year-round.

The stevia plant (Stevia rebaudiana) is an herb native to Brazil and Paraguay and hardy in USDA Zones 9-11. However, you can grow it as an annual in other zones and it makes a particularly nice container plant or addition to a kitchen garden.

Unlike artificial sweeteners, stevia is a natural source of sweetness and, unlike sugar or honey, it has zero calories. You can grow stevia from seed or buy a live stevia plant from Hirt’s Gardens on Amazon. Let’s explore how to grow and use stevia as a natural, homegrown sweetener!

How to Grow Stevia Plants

Did you know that stevia is 200-300 times sweeter than white sugar? Pretty impressive for such a lowkey plant, and you can easily grow your own to sweeten any recipe.

Stevia plants like warmth and well-drained soil. While they are perennial herbs in USDA Zones 9-11, they can be overwintered indoors in cooler climates or planted anew every spring. Plant your stevia plants 18 inches apart in the ground or a raised bed, or plant one in a 12-inch porch pot.

Stevia likes consistent moisture but you shouldn’t let the soil become soggy. A simple soil moisture meter from Amazon will help you to keep track of the moisture levels, or water when the top inch of soil is dry.

Ensure your stevia plants get 6 or more hours of sunlight, and cut off any flowers that might pop up to help the leaves retain their sweetness.

Stevia leaves are most sweet during the fall when temperatures begin to cool off, but they can still be harvested and enjoyed through the spring and summer.

How to Use Stevia Plants as a Natural, Sugar-Free Sweetener

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There are a couple different ways to use stevia leaves to sweeten your culinary adventures. Leaves can be used fresh, dried, or as an infusion. Stevia plant leaves are about a quarter of the sweetness of commercially available stevia powders, so it is harder to over-sweeten things.

Note: Stevia leaves and commercial stevia powders should not be consumed during pregnancy without first consulting your doctor.

1. Using Fresh Stevia Leaves

A great way to use your homegrown stevia is fresh off the plant! Take a leaf, drop it in a mug and pour your hot tea or coffee over it to extract its sweetness.

You could do the same thing if making a batch of iced tea this summer! Boil water, place tea bags and 4-5 stevia leaves in your pitcher, and pour the water in. Let it cool and add some ice for a sugar-free taste of summer!

(Image credit: Olga Pankova / Getty Images)2. Using Dried Stevia Leaves

Again, your stevia will be the sweetest at the end of the growing season, but you can harvest all season long. In order to save the sweetness for your cups of tea this fall and winter, harvest and dry your leaves to use as a powder.

Snip off stevia stems and strip the leaves off of them. Place the leaves on a kitchen towel in the sun to dry out for a couple days or use a food dehydrator like this highly-rated one from Amazon to speed things up. Once the leaves are dry, blitz them in a food processor or spice grinder to turn them into a powder that can be stored in an airtight container.

Take a little pinch and add it to your food and beverages for a boost of sweetness!

3. Make a Stevia Leaf Infusion

A great way to use your stevia leaves is in an infusion. You can make an infusion with water, or by using vodka and cooking off the alcohol in it.

To make an infusion with water, rinse and coarsely chop ½ cup of stevia leaves. Place in a jar and pour 1 cup of warm water over top. Steep for 24-36 hours and strain out the leaves. You could also use a teapot with a removable tea infuser basket like this one from Amazon. Store your infusion in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 1-2 weeks.

To make an infusion with vodka, rinse and coarsely chop 1 cup of stevia leaves. Place leaves in a lidded jar with 1 cup of any brand of vodka, cover, and shake the jar. Ensure all the leaves are covered by the vodka and let sit for no more than 48 hours. Strain out the leaves and pour the infusion into a small saucepot. Simmer the vodka infusion on the stove for 5-7 minutes to cook off the alcohol and store in an airtight container in the fridge for 2-3 months.

Stevia is a wonderful way to sweeten beverages and food naturally without adding sugar and extra calories. Add this unique herb to your garden and get ready for a sweet reward!

The Fiskars SmartFit Steel Bypass Pruner P68 is a classic, lightweight model of one-handed pruning shears, designed to perform a wide range of pruning tasks toward the easier-going end of the pruning spectrum.

These shears can delicately prune soft plants, remove dead flower heads, cut woody shrub branches, and – with a bit of effort – cut relatively thin tree branches. Do bear in mind that the P68 has a maximum cutting width of 5/8", which will limit your options when it comes to pruning trees.

One of the key reasons to choose this pruner, rather than another pair of bypass pruning shears, is affordability. The P68 costs far less than high-performing alternative models such as the Felco No. 6 pruners, which we also reviewed here.

Despite their reasonable price, Fiskars pruners have some great design features that earned the brand a place on the list of the best pruners experts recommend. The blades on this particular pair of Fiskars pruners are made with hardened steel – ideal for long-term performance with minimal upkeep required. Meanwhile, the handles are made with a combination of durable, lightweight aluminum and soft-surfaced plastic, ensuring easy, comfortable usage.

We assessed this pruner by using it to perform a variety of pruning tasks around the yard. In keeping with the tool’s advertised capabilities, our test activities included deadheading, cutting soft plant stems, and pruning slender tree branches.

The UK equivalent to the P68 is the Fiskars Solid Bypass Pruner P121. The two models are similar in most respects, although UK readers should note that the P121 does not feature the "SmartFit" lever used to adjust the width of handle opening on the P68. A Fiskars P121 is shown in the testing photographs.

Overview

Finnish brand Fiskars is one of the biggest-names in affordable cutting tools for the home and garden. Founded in 1649, the company has a remarkably long history of designing and making useful, accessible products – especially scissors and shears.

The SmartFit Bypass Pruner P68 continues Fiskars’ fine tradition, offering a great combination of effective design and economical manufacture. A good pair of bypass shears is one of the 3 types of pruners every gardener should have and these are a good beginner model.

It’s usually possible to get hold of a Fiskars P68 for less than $20, from big box retailers such as Lowe's and Walmart. Readers in the UK who are seeking a similar option that’s available in their region can turn to the Fiskars Solid Bypass Pruner P121 on Amazon, for example..

(Image credit: Future)Key Specs

Type

Bypass pruner

Cutting capacity

5/8″

Blade material

Hardened steel

Handedness

Left or right

Accessories

N/A

Performance

The Fiskars P68 is designed for all-purpose pruning, from delicate tasks like deadheading to cutting relatively thin tree branches and twigs. So, our reviewer tested the shears by using them to perform a variety of tasks around the yard.

We started with the relatively tough task of cutting tree branches. The P68 proved capable of doing this type of work, although we had to put in a little more effort than was necessary when doing similar tasks with higher-spec bypass pruners. Nonetheless, the P68 cut a variety of tree branches effectively.

(Image credit: Pete Wise)

The P68 also proved capable of carrying out lighter pruning work, such as deadheading and cutting the stems of tender plants. We were satisfied with the clean, hygienic cuts the P68 made across the stems.

All things considered, the P68 is by no means the right pruner for every pruning task. However, this tool is a good option to cover most of the bases, from precision plant pruning to light tree pruning tasks.

This is an affordable model of pruner and you will usually get what you pay for, when it comes to product quality. The P68 won’t last you a lifetime, but based on our hands-on testing, these shears could indeed give you effective pruning in the short-to-medium term.

Should You Buy?

Attribute

Notes

Rating

Price & availability

Unbeatable, budget-friendly price.

5/5

Design

An effective design with comfy ergonomic handles.

4/5

Performance

Reasonably good performance across tree and plant pruning tasks.

3/5

Buy It If...

Value for money is a factor.

The Fiskars P68 gives you decent pruning capabilities, at a far lower price than some premium alternatives.

You have small tree branches to prune.

These bypass shears are very good at cutting relatively thin tree branches (although they may struggle with thicker ones).

There’s a lot of pruning to do.

Lightweight and easy on the hand, the P68 is a convenient option for users who have lots of pruning to do around the yard.

Don't Buy It If...

Long-term use is your priority.

While the blades of the P68 are hardened for long-lasting sharpness, the overall build quality of the tool means you might be using these shears for years, but probably not decades.

You have thick tree branches to cut.

Any branches over one-inch thick are an unsuitable match for the P68. For wide branches, consider a higher-capacity pruner instead.

Traditional style matters to you.

This pruner has a smart, modern aesthetic which will appeal to many users. However, it’s a world away from the style of a traditional pair of secateurs.

(Image credit: Pete Wise)How Does It Compare?

While we would gladly recommend the Fiskars P68 to users who value affordability and versatility, some other readers will be better served with an alternative model.

FELCO F6 Pruning Shears

The Felco 6 Bypass Pruner is similar to the P68. However, the Felco pruners give you better cutting performance, and far greater longevity thanks to their build quality and ease of maintenance. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the cult-favorite Felco pruners cost about four times as much as the Fiskars P68.

Fiskars Bypass Pruning Shears

If you're looking for a pruner that's even more affordable, these shears from Fiskars are a crowd-pleasing favorite. At just $12, you really can't get more budget-friendly. They are also steel and can cut up to 5/8" like the P68, but they don't have the ergonomic adjustable handles.

Greenworks Greenworks 24v 6" Mini Chainsaw Cordless

If you have lots of thick tree branches to prune, then we’d suggest looking at an entirely different type of pruner – not just a different model. For example, the Greenworks 24V 6" Brushless Pruning Saw is our top-rated solution specifically for branch-cutting.

How We Tested

Our reviewer tested the Fiskars SmartFit Steel Bypass Pruner P68 by using it to prune various plants around the yard. He tested the shears on a wide range of plants, from marigolds with juicy stems to half-inch-thick crabapple tree branches.

“Here comes the sun,” goes the classic Beatles song. “Here comes the sun, and I say, ‘It’s all right.’” But some 60 years later, the summer sun is not always a sign of hope, and it can cause issues in the garden.

I just got back to San Francisco after some months in France. April and May were a delight but late June and early July brought a heat wave – with the highest temperatures ever recorded in the country (think 107 degrees F).

These temperatures killed off some of my favorite garden shrubs and made me rethink what to plant in the future. Let’s take stock of some traditional garden plants that struggle (or give up the ghost) in extreme heat as well as some great, heat-tolerant replacements.

1. Hydrangea (Hydrangea spp.)

(Image credit: Getty Images)

I have never seen my hydrangeas looking better than they did in April and May. I have three bigleafs, (Hydrangea macrophylla) two mopheads and one lacecap variety. They were stunning in spring, totally covered with the huge flowers, and even the leaves were starting to look baked.

Hydrangeas generally prefer morning sun and afternoon shade, so I have all of my plants planted where they don’t get much direct afternoon sun, but that did not save them. After one week of 100-plus temperatures, the pink and blue flowers had turned brown or green and when I left, they were beginning to drop.

Plant instead: Pentas (Pentas lanceolata)

(Image credit: Getty Images/Future)

We’ve found the perfect, heat-proof alternative. Pentas love intense sunshine and thrive in high heat. That’s why they are so popular in Florida. And they look a bit like hydrangeas with their blossom clusters. Their star-shaped flowers are a target for hummingbirds and butterflies.

Pentas "Star Bright Mix" 3 Pack

2. Peonies (Paeonia spp.)

(Image credit: Phil Carpenter / 500px / Getty Images)

With large, fragrant, long-flowering blooms, peonies are one of those shrubs that grace many a garden. These classic flowers need a site with mucho sunshine - at least 6 hours a day! But that doesn’t mean they will thrive in heatwaves.

The type of intense, direct hot sunshine we saw this summer does not make a peony happy. I saw my peony leaves scorch in two days, and the third day, the gorgeous petals began to fade and wilt. It’s enough to make a grown gardener weep!

Plant instead: Heat Tolerant Roses (Rosa spp.)

(Image credit: Knock Out Roses)

Most rose plants need some direct sun, but only a few, heat-tolerant roses survive temperatures of 100 degrees F for more than a few minutes. The ones that do share these traits: thick, leathery foliage; lots and lots of petals; and their own roots rather than grafted roots.

We recommend "Belinda’s Dream," said to be the top pick for the Deep South. Its huge pink flowers are intensely fragrant and don’t blink in 100-degree weather. "Julia Child" comes in next, with its continuous clusters of buttery yellow, licorice-scented blooms, even when summer heat hits news highs. Roses in the "Knock Out" family are also amazingly heat resistant. heat, their blooms may temporarily shrink or fade.

Julia Child Rose

3. Astilbe (Astilbe spp.)

(Image credit: Alex Manders / Getty Images)

Many of us have astilbes in the garden since they are known to be one of the easiest perennial flowers to grow. Their flowers are unusual as well, plume-like blooms in soft shades of white, pink, purple, and red. They rise above the airy foliage on stiff stocks. I can tell you from personal knowledge that these are extremely low maintenance additions to the shade garden, requiring only moisture and damp, loamy soil.

All these positive features are negatives as the summer temperatures rise. As summers turn hotter and drier, the feathery foliage actually burns - look for brown, crispy edges on the leaves - and wilting, browning blossoms. The plants just can’t uptake water fast enough to keep its flowers looking good.

Plant instead: Russian Sage (Salvia yangii)

(Image credit: Anmbph / Getty Images)

With its soft but dramatic spikes of lavender flowers lasting for up to four months, Russian sage offers the same type of unusual eye candy to the garden that makes astilbe stand out. But as summers swelter, Russian sage just keeps getting prettier while astilbe just cooks. Don’t even think of planting this salvia in shade! It will cause the stems to become weak, lax, and prone to flopping.

Better Versions® Crazyblue Russian Sage Plant

4. Bleeding Heart (Lamprocapnos spectabilis)

(Image credit: Sodel Vladyslav / Shutterstock)

Old-fashioned bleeding heart is both stunning and darling, with its unique, dangling heart-shaped flowers and finely divided foliage. It just makes you happy to see it in the garden - and that’s why it is so popular with gardeners.

But a bleeding heart plant needs shade - partial to full - and also moist soil. They work well in woodland settings and require consistent moisture and full protection from hot afternoon sun. Obviously, sizzling summer temperatures will not do any favors for these favorites. They won’t survive anything hotter than 75 degrees F.

Plant instead: Foamy Bells (Heucherella spp.)

(Image credit: Alamy)

Heucherella is a plant that does double duty. It displays fabulous foliage as well as darling little blossoms. Known as foamy bells, this perennial is a hybrid of Heuchera (coral bells) and Tiarella (foamflower), carrying the best traits of both. Like Heuchera, the leaves come in a wild variety of colors, sometimes streaked with intricate veining. Like its other parent foamflower, Heucherella grows tall stems with delicate frothy flowers on tall stems that dance in a gentle breeze.

Plant Heucherella foamy bells in filtered, dappled shade. Once installed, they tolerate heat and humidity, thriving in southern regions. If you choose Heucherella (foamy bells) varieties with Heuchera villosa parentage - like Heucherella ‘Sweet Tea’ - your plants have superior heat and humidity tolerance.

Proven Winners "Hopscotch" Foamy Bells Plant

5. Lily of the Valley (Convallaria majalis)

(Image credit: Xxposure / Shutterstock)

Lily of the valley is a woodland flowering plant , known for its pure white, bell-shaped pendant flowers and unforgettable perfume. It is often used as a shade-loving ground cover since it has a dense root system that will eventually crowd out weeds and create a lush carpet of green.

These plants do not do well in hot, dry areas. Harsh sun and high heat dry out their shallow root systems and kill the plants.

Plant instead: Creeping Lilyturf (Liriope spicata)

(Image credit: Getty Images)

For hotter, drier summers, replace lily of the valley with hardy, heat-tolerant ground cover creeping lilyturf. These plants create a dense mat with long, grass-like leaves and pale violet or off-white flowers on short rachis. It suppresses weeds like lilies of the valley but survives intense heat waves while staying green.

Variegated Liriope Plant

6. Cosmos (Cosmos bipinnatus)

(Image credit: Gyro / Getty Images)

Cosmos are native to Mexico, which means that they generally like warm weather and direct sun. This extremely popular showy annual can grow to 2-4 feet (1m) tall on erect stems, carrying saucer-shaped, daisy-like flowers with red, pink or white petals and yellow centers. They bloom constantly from early summer to frost.

However, cosmos plants suffer in hot and humid summer climates. The flowers simply stop opening and the lovely colors fade. As temperatures climb, the plants can even wilt.

Plant instead: Purple Coneflower (Echinacea purpurea)

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Looking for a flower that will thrive in soaring temperatures and dry soil? Look at the purple coneflowers. These North American natives also grow large, daisy-like petals with prominent, spiky center cones. But they are hardy perennials that have evolved to grow in extreme temperatures and lean, dry soil.

Cheyenne Spirit Echinacea

Lavender is one of the classic sun-loving, drought-tolerant plants from the south of France and Italy, so it’s easy to think that it’s tough enough to take whatever summer extremes come your way. But this iconic beauty with its vibrant purple blooms and aromatic foliage needs some help to make it through the season. July can bring sweltering heatwaves and intense bouts of sunshine that can wilt many a perennial. So a little midsummer TLC is key to sustaining those vibrant hues and potent oils.

Just because lavender originates on sun-baked Mediterranean hillsides, that doesn’t mean it thrives on neglect. While established plants are drought tolerant, some midsummer lavender care can make all the difference to its vitality and longevity. If you leave your lavender to its own devices during a hot July, you risk accelerating its transition into seed production, which shuts down the flowering cycle early. Worse, improper care now can trigger root rot or stunt growth, leading to that leggy look every grower dreads.

Fortunately, keeping your lavender in peak health is easy. By dedicating less than an hour this week to these 5 simple checks, you will promote a lasting splash of purple vigor and vitality throughout the season, guaranteeing a garden filled with humming pollinators and intoxicating scent all summer long.

How to Help Your Lavender in July

It’s finally July and time to reach for the sunscreen! As the month begins, your garden is thriving, and hopefully you’ll be seeing flowers everywhere. However, the scorching sunshine and limited rain will soon take its toll, wilting blooms and baking leaves. Certain perennials do very well in hot sun, and lavender is actually one of them. But these timely lavender care tasks will help you to get even more from your blooms, both in terms of flowering windows and aromatic potency.

How you approach midsummer care will depend on the type of lavender you are growing and your local climate. The three main lavenders are English lavender (Lavandula angustifolia, such as Hidcote or Munstead), French or Spanish lavender (L. stoechas), and the robust hybrid Lavandins (L. x intermedia, like Grosso). These respond slightly differently to the midsummer elements. English lavenders are cold-hardy (USDA zones 5-8) but can struggle with excessive humidity, while Spanish types thrive in warmer hardiness zones (7-10) but have a shorter individual lifespan and a different blooming rhythm that peaks earlier.

(Image credit: RGBStudio / Alamy)

Whether you’re growing your lavender in the ground or in containers presents its own challenges. Ground-based lavender benefits from an expansive, deep root system that can search for subterranean moisture, making it resilient against all but the most severe droughts. In contrast, container lavender lives in an artificial microclimate. The limited soil volume inside a pot will heat up rapidly under the July sun, drying out within hours and running the risk of baking the delicate root network.

Take a few minutes to check your soil’s existing condition. Investing in a multi-purpose soil diagnostic tool like the Raintrip 4-In-1 Meter, available from Amazon, is an excellent way to eliminate the guesswork, allowing you to check root-zone moisture and also light levels. If need be, amend with a little coarse sand or perlite to ensure the site is well draining before starting on these tasks.

1. Water Deeply but Infrequently

(Image credit: Iiievgeniy / Getty Images)

Lavender is not a plant that needs a lot of water. In fact, keeping lavender’s soil wet is a sure way to kill the shrub. But that doesn’t mean that lavender has no need for water. While lavender is very drought tolerant, every plant needs some moisture, and that need comes to the fore in summer. The question is not whether to water lavender in summer, but how to do it.

In July, water your lavender deeply, once a week. Prioritize depth over frequency. When you give a plant a frequent, shallow sprinkle of water, you encourage its root system to stay near the surface of the soil, where it remains vulnerable to being scorched by the afternoon heat. Watering deeply gets water to the bottom of the plant’s roots, around 24 inches (60cm) below the soil surface.

By applying a slow, deliberate drench directly at the base of the plant once a week, you encourage the roots to plunge deeply into the ground, reinforcing the plant’s natural drought defenses. This is especially true for heavy-blooming English varieties like Munstead, which require a reliable touch of moisture to sustain their heavy flower flushes without dropping their lower leaves.

Use a targeted delivery system like the Teknor Apex Zero-G Lightweight Vinyl Hose from Walmart to deliver a gentle stream at the soil line. For containerized lavenders, check them every 2-3 days using a moisture probe. When the top couple of inches (2cm) of compost feel dry, drench until water leaks from the drainage holes.

2. Move Containers into Full Sun

(Image credit: Westend61 / Getty Images)

Lavender loves full sun, so July is a perfect time to check the positioning of all potted plants. Just because your container was in full sun back in May, that doesn’t mean it is still getting adequate light in July. As trees leaf out and neighboring perennials reach maximum height, a potted lavender can easily get thrown into partial shade.

If your plant doesn’t get 6-8 hours of unobstructed sunlight daily, its essential oil production plunges, stems grow weak and floppy, and soil stays damp for longer. Avoid tucked-away corners, north-facing shadows of walls, or dense groupings beneath patio umbrellas. And where you see potted lavender sulking in the shade, this is your time to take action and move it somewhere with more direct sunshine.

At the same time, check the soil in the container. Be sure that it is sandy or gravelly so that it drains well. If you find that the soil is clay, repot the plant and mix gravel or sand to allow the water to drain away from the roots. If your container plants are struggling with dense, compacted soil, add a little Miracle-Gro Potting Mix, available from Home Depot, along with some coarse grit or sand for the perfect porous base.

3. Avoid Pruning Lavender in July

(Image credit: Nieriss / Shutterstock)

Lavender plant care involves both actions you need to take and actions you must avoid. You probably pruned your lavender plant in spring to clean it up after winter. Another pruning is needed – but the timing is important. You need to prune lavender for the second time after the plant has stopped blooming, and that time is not July.

Pruning stimulates aggressive new, tender green growth. In the middle of July, these young shoots will be scorched by the intense sun, draining the plant's core energy reserves and leaving it susceptible to winter dieback. So resist any structural pruning until late August or early September, once the final flowering cycle has concluded.

However, you can (and should) deadhead spent lavender blooms through July. Remove faded flower spikes down to the first set of clean leaves, just above where new buds are forming. This channels plant energy into a second summer flush of color. To do this cleanly without crushing stems, use a razor-sharp tool like team favorite Fiskars Bypass Pruning Shears, available from Amazon.

4. Monitor for Pests and Diseases

(Image credit: Valeriy_G / Getty Images)

Lavender has grown happily on sun-baked Mediterranean hillsides for thousands of years. The general idea in France is: plant it in direct sun, give it top drainage, and leave it be. But you need to watch out for two different threats in midsummer. The first (and worst) is a plant disease known as root rot. It results from wet soil and can kill the plant.

If your plant seems to be turning brown or yellow, dig in the soil and look at the roots. If they are black or mushy, pull out and toss the plant. In July, root rot is likely caused by overwatering, which means you can avoid this problem if you water your plant appropriately and check air flow. Where plants are healthy, drenching the surrounding soil with a little Arber Organic Bio-Fungicide from Walmart can help suppress the fungal spores and protect adjacent healthy tissue.

Pests are the second threat, though less serious. Keep a look-out for aphids, whiteflies, and spittlebugs. Wash them off with the hose, or apply an insecticidal soap. Avoid harsh chemical pesticides that wipe out bees and butterflies. Instead, opt for a gentle blast of water from the hose, or use a pre-mixed, pollinator-safe soap, like Bonide Ready-to-Use Insect Soap from Amazon.

5. Add Mulch to Keep Down Weeds

(Image credit: Iryna Yakovets / Getty Images)

Usually, you mulch plants to help hold moisture in the soil. This is not the case with lavender, which does best in dry, well-drained conditions. Traditional mulches, such as shredded hardwood or bark chips, are not a good idea. These trap moisture and form a cool, damp layer over the soil surface, inducing wood rot and fungal blight.

That said, you do still need to add a layer of mulch beneath your lavender. The idea is to keep down weeds and prevent the soil from getting too hot. But the best mulch for lavender is mineral based. A two-inch (5cm) layer of clean pea gravel, washed river stone, or crushed white quartzite helps to reflect heat, bouncing the intense July sunlight back up into the lower canopy of the shrub.

This extra light exposure directly stimulates the oil glands within the foliage, resulting in a noticeably more fragrant growing space. Furthermore, these stones dry out instantly after a summer storm, keeping the crown dry. For a quick and efficient lavender mulch, buy light-colored Fantian Pea Pebbles from Amazon and distribute them precisely around the base.

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At Hastings Park, the newly completed Freedom Mobile Arch is giving Vancouver a new kind of cultural landmark: a covered outdoor venue designed for concerts, festivals and public gatherings of up to 10,000 people.

Completed in June, and host to the city’s FIFA Fan Festival, the amphitheatre is defined by a sweeping mass-timber roof that shelters audiences while preserving the feeling of being outdoors. It’s a civic room that frames the sky and North Shore mountains.

For Venelin Kokalov of Revery Architecture, who designed this building, the finished venue closely reflects their original vision, but with one important difference: the atmosphere can now be felt.

“On drawings, it’s a structure. In reality, it becomes a feeling. What I’m most happy about is that it still feels open. You’re covered, but you never lose the sky, the air, the mountains. That was the original idea, and standing here now, you can feel it working,” he says.

Raised roof beams

The amphitheatre’s defining gesture is its roof: a starburst mass-timber canopy spanning 105 metres, arcs rising 25 metres high. Comprising 60 arches arranged in six vaulted segments, it has the drama of a landmark, with the softness of a natural material.

For Kokalov, the design begins with the visitor’s emotional experience, not only with form.

“The main design inspiration for the new (amphitheatre) was people’s well-being and the human experience. Our creative process always begins with people — how they perceive, feel, and interact with a space,” he says.

That ambition gives the venue its aspirational quality. It is not only a place to sit, listen and watch. It is a place to gather under a structure that feels protective and open.

An open-air landmark

The beauty of the amphitheatre depends on a complex structural idea that appears effortless. For Robert Jackson, partner at Fast + Epp, the structural engineers on this project, precision was required across the full team.

“The roof was incredibly complex and required a high level of precision and immense co-ordination across every discipline. From the early design phase through to the suppliers, fabricators, and the on-site construction team, everyone had to be fully aligned to achieve what we’ve done here,” he says.

The roof is a hybrid system, with steel carrying the heavy lifting in the valley arches and timber taking on the secondary structure. Jackson says the lesson was knowing when to use each material.

“It’s about putting the right material in the right place, not defaulting to one system for the whole roof,” he says.

Warmth and connection

More than 2,000 cubic metres of mass timber were used in the landmark roof. The venue is 100 per cent electric, powered by renewable hydroelectric energy, and is targeting Zero Carbon Building certification through the Canada Green Building Council.

For Jackson, mass timber supported both the project’s environmental goals and long-span needs.

“Mass timber was the right choice for this project for several reasons. It supported the client’s sustainability goals as a renewable material that stores carbon throughout the life of the building. Structurally, it has excellent compression capacity and performs well in long-span applications, making it ideal for a roof of this scale,” says Jackson.

Kokalov points to the feeling of the material overhead:

“From an experiential perspective, the natural, exposed wooden arches not only evoke a sense of wonder with the unprecedented scale of their profiles, but radiate a warm and comforting finish to the roof’s underside.”

A civic stage for the world

Accessibility, acoustics and landscape are all part of the design. The venue is targeting Rick Hansen Accessibility Foundation Gold, and its roof, walls and sound system have been shaped to improve the concert experience while reducing noise impacts on neighbours. Indigenous artists from the local nations have been integrated into the project, with local Indigenous languages also being incorporated into signage and place names.

Now, as Vancouver has welcomed the world, the amphitheatre has served as a gathering place.

For Jackson, that global debut carries a wider message.

“It has been extremely rewarding to see the success of the venue in hosting the FIFA Fan Festival. We hope this project sets a precedent for future projects to also explore the possibilities of this approach,” says Jackson.

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There’s just something undeniably charming and romantic about a wood trellis full of roses or jasmine. It can instantly add a bit of atmosphere to a garden wall, turn a bare fence into an enchanting privacy screen, and give vertical gardening all the height and structure it needs to do its best work.

In a smaller outdoor space, trellises in particular are one of the most powerful tools you can have. You can train climbing roses up a frame that seriously draws the eye upwards, as well as making a courtyard feel larger and even creating a habitat for pollinators or nesting birds. A wall covered in fragrant jasmine or flowering clematis is a completely different garden to one without.

But the real truth about wooded trellis is that it just doesn’t last. The softwood versions you find in most garden centers at a budget-friendly price often need replacing every 3 to 5 years, as they can rot, crack, swell when they get wet, and eventually become more of a liability than a supporting act in your garden.

If you’ve ever had a climbing plant that you spent years training come crashing down around you due to a wooden trellis that just gave up, you’ll understand the appeal to a more permanent solution. So, what is that solution?

The 7 Best Metal Trellises to Buy Right Now

Forget wooden trellis; the new trend is metal. Because, yes, powder-coated iron and steel trellises have really gone up in popularity due to the fact that they look just as pretty, support heavier climbing plants like roses and wisteria (without the structural drama), and will stay standing for decades with little to no maintenance.

Whether you prefer a more modern panel, a cottage-style arch or an ornate Victorian design, there’s a metal trellis for you. And the best part? Most of them are available online these days and can be delivered straight to your door.

If you want more information before you start your shopping, check out our pick of the beautiful trellises that turn climbing plants into garden stars.

1. Amagabeli Garden Trellis

This is truly the workhorse trellis for gardeners who want the best coverage but at a reasonable price. It has a 4-panel pack, meaning you can line a full fence section, create a garden screening arrangement, or put them in raised bed corners for a beautiful, structured look.

These are made from thick welded iron wire with a rust-resistant black powder coat, and they’re built to withstand the weight of super heavy climbers like rose or clematis without bending.

Amagabeli Garden Trellis 4 Pack 72”x21”

This metal trellis has two rotatable pot supports that are built into each panel, meaning it’s quite useful for mixed planting.

You can put a clematis in a pot at the base and train a climbing rose up the top half for a really luxurious, layered effect. It’s best suited to cottage gardens, raised beds, and any fence or wall that needs a real proper covering rather than a simple decorative accent.

2. H Potter Trellis

(Image credit: Shugsfishing / Getty Images)

If you want something that looks like it belongs in a walled kitchen garden on a country estate, but still prove durable than wooden trellis, this is the option for you.

Weighing in at 60 pounds, H Potter's scrollwork iron trellis is a really substantial piece of garden architecture. The charcoal brown powder coat with its hand-rubbed faux finish gives it an antique, weathered quality that looks so romantic behind climbing roses, clematis, or honeysuckle.

H Potter Garden Trellis - 72" Tall

This trellis looks best in traditional cottage gardens, (or anywhere you want a statement piece that you don’t want to have to replace year after year).

It's beautiful enough to stand alone as garden art through winter when plants are dormant, and serious enough to support heavy perennial vines for years to come.

Cover yours in this non-invasive flowering vine that keeps homes cool and hummingbirds happy all summer long, we say!

3. Macteyia Wire Lattice Grid

The Macteyia wire grid is clean, modern, and super versatile, making it the go-to when you want a garden where the plants take center stage rather than the structure behind them. As such, it is an ideal backdrop for large-flowered clematis, jasmine, or sweet peas.

Macteyia Wire Lattice Grid Panel

The open lattice of this trellis's design gives climbers plenty of anchor points without adding visual weight.

At almost six feet tall, it's a proper garden screening tool. You can use two panels side by side to create a privacy divider on a patio, or line them along a fence for a fast but fancy-looking vertical garden look.

The integrated ground spikes can be anchored directly into your soil, and the panels disassemble for easy storage during the colder months. It’s best for contemporary and minimalist garden styles, patios, and container gardening setups where a chic backdrop is needed.

4. SCENDOR Cupid Arrow Design

(Image credit: magicflute002 / Getty Images)

The SCENDOR Cupid Arrow trellis is the perfect sweet spot between decorative and functional. The ornate arched top gives it enough personality to work as a garden focal point on its own, while the open lattice body gives climbing roses, wisteria, jasmine, and morning glories plenty to work with.

SCENDOR Scendor Garden Trellis for Climbing Plants, 70" H X 21.7" W Heavy Duty Metal Trellis, 6ft Rustproof Black Iron Vine Support Trellis With 9.2" Ground Stakes, Decorative Cupid Arrow Design Roses, Vines

This trellis is stable enough for vigorous climbers, and the powder-coated black iron is properly weatherproof rather than just being paint over wire.

Forget wooden trellis; this one works especially well in pairs of two, flanking a garden gate, framing a seating area, or creating a bit of symmetry along a path.

It looks lovely in romantic, cottage, and traditional gardens, or as a structured focal point in a mixed flower border.

5. Amagabeli 4 Pack Garden Trellis 46" x 15"

(Image credit: Warren Payne / Shutterstock)

At a little less than 4 feet tall, the Amagebeli is the trellis for containers, raised beds, and smaller spaces where a full-height panel would be way too much.

AMAGABELI GARDEN & HOME 4 Pack Garden Trellis for Climbing Plants

The decorative bird and leaf design makes these nice as a standalone garden feature, while the 15-inch width fits neatly into a planting pot or along the edge of a raised bed without taking up a huge amount of space.

Buying a pack of four means you have options; you could create a square support for a climbing rose in a large container, line the corners of a raised bed, or create a low divider along a patio edge.

These wooden trellis alternatives are best for container gardening, balconies, smaller gardens, and for anyone who wants a decorative trellis that also works as a plant support.

6. SCENDOR Black Metal Trellis

This SCENDOR trellis is compact, budget-friendly and well-made, making it a logical pick for gardeners who are looking for a reliable trellis without breaking the piggy bank.

At 45 inches tall, it strikes a perfect balance between a full-height panel and a small pot support. This means it’s useful for smaller climbers like clematis varieties, sweet peas, or even training young climbing roses in their first season.

SCENDOR 2 Pack Black Metal Trellis for Climbing Plants

This trellis can be used freestanding in a bed, leaned up against a fence, or inserted into a large container.

This wooden trellis alternative is not at all flimsy, which you would assume at this price, and the integrated ground spikes push directly into soil without any tools.

It works best for beginners, balconies, first-season climbers, and anyone who wants a solid entry-level metal trellis for a good price.

7. Pure Garden Trellis

(Image credit: Mtreasure / Getty Images)

This Pure Garden trellis is a solid option for gardeners who want a versatile, everyday trellis that works well in flower borders, against a fence or in a large container.

It’s a classic design with an arched top and open lattice and is suitable for clematis, climbing roses, jasmine, sweet peas, or a run of cucumbers on the deck.

Pure Garden 63-Inch Garden Trellis

The powder-coated steel trellis is weatherproof and stakes directly into the ground with no assembly required.

While it doesn’t have the architectural presence of the H Potter or Amagabeli options, at this price point it's a reliable, attractive choice for a first trellis or a supplementary panel in a larger scheme.

Climbing Plants to Pair With Your New Trellis

Wekiva Foliage Clematis Fleuri

This is one of the most beautiful yet reliable clematis varieties to grow. The velvety, violet-purple flowers reach 4 to 6 inches across and cover the plant from middle to late summer.

It’s really hardy in zones 4-8, it climbs about 10 to 12 feet and works beautifully through any of the trellises above. Note: Keep the roots shaded and cool while the flowering stems reach up towards the sun.

CitronellaKing 2 Star Jasmine Plants in 3.5” Cubes

This is a go-to, super fragrant evergreen climber that works wonderfully on a metal trellis or a wall. The glossy dark green foliage is there year-round and produces lovely clusters of scented star-shaped white flowers from late spring through summer.

It’s hardy in zones 7-11, and reaches 10-20 feet when it’s mature. Star-jasmine will cover your trellis with dense, lush growth that looks sleek in every season. The best part is that it’s drought-tolerant and easy to maintain once established.

David Austin Gertrude Jekyll®

This is the climbing rose that gardeners keep returning to again and again and for good reason. The large, super fragrant, deep pink rosettes have exceptional disease resistance and repeatedly flower from summer all the way into autumn.

These would pair beautifully with any of the H Potter scrollwork trellises or the Amagabeli panels, and works especially well trained horizontally along the bottom wires for to get the most flower blooms.

Should You Bother Treating Wooden Trellis?

If you already have a wooden trellis that is sentimental for you, there is a way to extend its life. Paint or treat it once a year with an exterior wood preservative. Look for products that have copper or zinc naphthenate, which penetrate the wood rather than just coating the surface. Do this in dry weather and allow it to cure fully before training any new growth over it. A good-quality pressure-treated softwood trellis can last 8 to 10 years rather than the usual 3 to 5 if you maintain it properly.

That said, every year you spend maintaining a wooden trellis is a year you're not spending in the rest of the garden. Metal doesn't rot, doesn't warp, doesn't need painting, and will still be standing long after the plants growing on it have come and gone several times over.

If you're starting fresh, spend the money once on something that lasts. Trust me when I say you’re future self will be thanking you.

The right lemon tree care in July will have a big impact on the flavor and juiciness of your harvest. These long, hot summer days encourage your lemon tree to produce rapid fruit growth and lush foliage, but they also stress the plant. Too little water, excessive heat, and inadequate nutrients are all risks at this time of year and can affect the quality of your citrus harvest.

Lemon trees are actively investing energy in developing fruit in July. Without appropriate and targeted midsummer lemon tree care, your fruits might stay small, have less flavor, or even drop early. With the right nurturing, though, your tree will remain lush, develop large, flavorful fruits, and even put out new green growth.

The good news is that looking after lemon trees in July doesn’t have to be dramatic or complicated. A few simple and easy tasks will keep your tree healthy through the hottest and potentially most stressful time of the year. These chores also ensure you will enjoy the juiciest harvest.

1. Water Deeply and Consistently

(Image credit: Getty Images)

July heat increases water needs for most plants, including lemon trees. There's no telling how long the current heatwave will last for, which means you might even experience drought conditions during July, making watering lemon trees well a critical step. Even established trees can be stressed by dry summer conditions, and too little water can lead to early fruit drop. Consistency is also important as letting the soil totally dry out before watering can cause split skin on fruits.

The best way to water your lemon tree in July is with regular, deep soaking. Instead of watering lightly daily, water deeply every few days or once a week, depending on weather conditions and rainfall. The exception is for potted plants, which often need daily, or even twice daily, watering, as the soil dries out very quickly. Young trees, both in the ground and in containers, also need extra water as their root systems aren't yet big enough to source enough moisture.

To give a lemon tree a good soaking, use a hose at the base of the tree and let it run for up to 20 minutes. For a tree in a container, water until it begins running out of the drainage hole at the planter base. If you’re ever unsure about whether or not this essential part of July lemon tree care is necessary, stick your finger in the soil: if it’s dry up to your second knuckle, it’s time to water.

2. Fertilize to Support Fruit Development

(Image credit: Cavan Images / Alamy)

July is an active growing period, and your trees are growing new foliage as well as developing fruits. All this growth requires a steady supply of nutrients, making fertilizing lemon trees another essential July gardening job. Nitrogen is a must for new leaves, while potassium and micronutrients support overall health and large, tasty fruits. Skipping this task can lead to yellowing leaves, stunted fruit, and poor-quality fruit.

You can make this task easy by looking for a citrus-specific fertilizer such as this from Amazon. This takes the guesswork out of choosing an appropriate nutrient balance. Overfeeding can be as bad as underfeeding, so follow the product instructions and don’t give more than is recommended, especially if you're growing your lemon tree in a container. Always water thoroughly after applying a fertilizer.

If your weather conditions are severely hot and dry, delay fertilizing. Feeding a tree during these conditions can stress it even more. Focus on water only during these times and feed once the conditions normalize.

3. Prune Lightly But Strategically

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Midsummer is not a time for heavy pruning, but light pruning of suckers and water sprouts is essential for directing the tree’s energy into fruit production. Suckers are new shoots that grow straight up from the ground near the trunk, while water sprouts are those that grow upwards from branches. Both take energy away from the fruits and also reduce airflow around leaves and branches, so add your lemon tree to the list of plants to prune in July.

This task is easy with the right tool. Use sharp, clean pruning shears such as these from Amazon to snip each of these little sprouts at its base. Check for new growth every couple of weeks and prune off whatever you find. You can also remove any dead or damaged growth in July. Generally, avoid pruning heavily in the canopy, as the fruits need shade from the foliage.

4. Watch Out For Summer Pests

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Hot summer weather encourages many pests to accumulate, especially in trees stressed by high temperatures or dry conditions. Catching pest infestations early makes them much easier to manage, so when it comes to what to do with lemon trees in July, checking regularly is a must. Inspect new leaves, the undersides of leaves, fruits, stems, and joints in branches. Common lemon tree pests include aphids, scale, spider mites, and citrus leaf miners.

You'll often see the signs of pests before you see the pesky critters themselves. Typical warning signs include:

• A sticky residue called honeydew, which can attract ants
• Fine webbing
• Tiny bumps on stems
• Black sooty mold
• Curled leaves with silvery trails

(Image credit: Future)

If you catch them early enough, pests can often be managed with a strong blast of water from the hose to knock them off. On a smaller tree, scale insects can simply be wiped off. If necessary, move to neem oil such as this from Amazon, or insecticidal soap like this from Amazon, or remove heavily infested branches and leaves. If you continue to have issues, contact your local extension office for guidance.

5. Support Heavy Fruit and Harvest When Ready

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Exactly when your lemons ripen and become ready to harvest depends on your growing zone and seasonal weather. In warmer areas, your fruits might be ready to pick in July. In other areas, the fruits are probably getting heavy and might need some support to prevent broken branches.

If some branches look particularly heavy or are bending, use a sturdy post fixed in the ground or a soft tie attached to a stronger branch to provide support. You can also remove any damaged or split fruit.

Determine readiness for harvesting lemons by guidelines for your growing area, past experience, and current signs. Ripe lemons have full color, are slightly soft to the touch, and feel heavy for their size. Harvest lemons by snipping them off rather than pulling to avoid damaging the branch.

(Image credit: Future Publishing Ltd)

Lemon tree care in July is all about helping it cope with the stresses of heat and drought while also supporting developing fruit. Watering deeply, feeding appropriately, trimming lightly, supporting fruit and controlling pests will all help keep your tree healthy, productive, and provide you with tasty, fully developed fruit. These steps aren’t difficult and don’t take a lot of time, but they generate big rewards.

(Image credit: Getty Images)

When your neighbors installed saplings along the property line, they were about your height and looked lovely in spring when the new leaves appeared. Now, years later, the saplings have turned into tall, mature trees with full canopies that cast long shadows over your landscape. Your patio is dark and your lawn and garden are in shade.

What’s a neighbor to do with this shade tree problem? You’ll need to act carefully in order not to get in trouble with the law or with Miss Manners. No worries, I’ll help you evaluate your options.

I worked as an attorney before I became a plant-loving writer, so all of my neighbors tend to bring me their issues and ask for advice. One of the most common neighborhood problems involves trees in one yard shading out plants and backyards across the fence. Here's what you can and can't do if a neighbor's tree is blocking all the light in your yard.

What You Can Do

The first thing I say in response is to share the bad news: in the United States, property law generally does not recognize a right to receive light, air, or a scenic view over a neighbor’s property. That means that your neighbor can grow trees as tall or bulky as they like, even if it blocks the next door view or flower garden unless a law or agreement limits this.

Keep this general rule in mind when approaching the neighbor. A threatening attitude is never likely to bring about a good result. Here are four good garden etiquette options that can help, though.

1. Check local ordinances & HOA rules.

(Image credit: Shutterstock)

American law generally doesn’t recognize one neighbor’s right to object to a neighbor’s shade tree. But there is no affirmative law giving one the right to grow tall trees along the property line. Given that, the general rule can be overruled by specific laws or ordinances addressing the issue.

So your first step in a tree dispute is to check out whether there are any such laws or ordinances. If you live in a community with an HOA, check the rules (termed CC&Rs) to see what it says about plants or trees in the yard. Alternatively, if you live in a city, ask at the mayor’s office or ask a local attorney if there are ordinances discussing it. Check for solar-access laws, for example.

In big cities, there are often laws preventing the installation of trees within a certain number of feet from the property boundary line. They sometimes allow one neighbor to compel restoration of a view that existed when they bought their property. If the neighbor is violating the CC&Rs or a city ordinance, you can bring it to your neighbor's attention or to the attention of the authorities.

2. Chat with your neighbor.

(Image credit: golero / Getty Images)

Friends who have had success with this option have played their cards well. First, they invited the neighbor with trees hanging over their backyard into their landscape for a discussion, thereby allowing them to experience the shade themselves. Second, they offered to pay half for pruning the trees.

If you decide to roll this way, remember to be polite and friendly. You’re trying to negotiate an agreement between the two of you, do not yell and scream. That could backfire and make the issue worse.

3. Prune branches in your yard.

(Image credit: Animaflora / Getty Images)

In most states, you have the right to cut back a neighbor’s tree to the extent that it extends over the property line. You can trim a neighbor's overgrown shrubs if they're on your property, too. Use sharp, clean loppers like these ones from Fiskars to make the job easy.

However, you don’t have the right to step into their landscape, so stay on your own side. Nor are you allowed to cause damage to the tree. If you’d like to go this way, double check the property line. This can be tricky unless the border is marked by a fence or wall.

But don’t just think legal rights, consider your relationship with your neighbor as well. You will definitely want to talk to the neighbor first and ask if they would prefer to hire someone to do the trimming. It’s always a good idea to communicate your intentions to the owner before performing any tree work. You have a real interest in maintaining a good relationship with the people who live right next to you.

4. Document a spite fence complaint.

(Image credit: KristineRiba / Shutterstock)

Some states and local governments have laws against spite fences. These are fences built for purely malicious reasons – like to block the neighbor’s view or to shade their garden. If a fence found by the court to have been built out of spite with the intent to injure the neighbor’s enjoyment of their property, they can be ordered to remove it. That's why it's always good to consult your neighbor before building a fence, too.

Trees planted in a line along the property edge can constitute a spite fence and trigger the same protection. If your area has these laws, gather evidence of the neighbor’s malicious intent and the lack of any legitimate purpose. Obviously, this is not a good way to develop a happy relationship with a neighbor, so suing over this issue should be a last resort.

What Not to Do

No matter how annoyed you are by your neighbor, do not take the law into your own hands. These two options are absolute no-nos.

1. Cut down the tree.

(Image credit: Milamai / Getty Images)

You could (and probably would) be arrested for trespassing, vandalism, and destruction of property. Almost everyone these days surveys their yard with computer-linked cameras, so your chances of getting caught are high. Not worth it!

2. Poison the tree.

(Image credit: Mariana Serdynska / Shutterstock)

This is also a big, fat no for all the same reasons as above. If you get caught, you can be charged with vandalism and destruction of property. Even if you don’t get caught, your karma will be terrible going forward. So talk to your neighbors and figure out a solution that will make both of you happy and bring more light into your yard.

The finger test says everything is fine. Push into the top inch of soil and it comes back cool, damp, maybe clinging a bit. Yet the plant above it is drooping by the afternoon, leaf edges going crisp at the margins, and the obvious conclusion – that it needs a drink – leads to more water, which somehow makes it worse.

Wet soil and a thirsty plant are not a contradiction. Watering the garden well means getting moisture into the roots, and there are several ways that hand-off can break down even when the soil around them is holding plenty. Damaged roots can't pull it in. Compacted or water-repellent compost lets it slide right past. On a brutal afternoon, leaves can lose water faster than any root system could resupply.

3 Signs a Plant Is Thirsty in Damp Soil

Three signals tend to show up when a plant is dehydrated in damp soil. Any one on its own might mean something else, though together they make a fairly clear case.

1. Wilting That Doesn't Recover Overnight

(Image credit: Future - Amy Draiss)

Wilting through the hot part of the day is normal enough, and a plant that firms back up by evening is just riding out the heat. The trouble is the one still drooping the next morning, before the sun has done anything to it. Overnight is when a healthy plant catches up, refilling its tissue while transpiration slows to almost nothing. When it doesn't, the roots aren't delivering, and the soil moisture around them has nothing to do with it.

2. Crisp Leaf Margins on New Growth

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Brown, papery edges creeping in around the margins of leaves, particularly the newest growth, while the soil sits damp. Those margins are the last stop on the plant's plumbing, so when water gets scarce inside the plant they're the first tissue to be sacrificed. Whole-leaf yellowing usually points somewhere else – overwatering, or a nutrient problem. It's the dry rim on an otherwise green leaf that suggests the water simply isn't arriving.

3. Water That Runs Straight Through or Beads on Top

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Pour water on and watch what happens. Either it disappears in a couple of seconds, or it sits there beading on the surface and rolls off the side. Opposite behavior, same underlying problem. Compost that has gone completely dry can turn hydrophobic on you, the surface going waxy enough that moisture just sheds off it. Put that in a container and the water does something less obvious – it slips down the gap between the shrunken root ball and the pot wall, out the drainage hole, and you never see it touch a root. The soil seems wet, but the root ball inside it is bone dry.

Why It Happens

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Roots are the common thread. Anything that damages them – rot from a pot that stays saturated, a bad transplant, insects working underground – leaves the plant with less capacity to pull water in, even while it's sitting in it. Root rot is the ironic one, since it comes from too much water and produces symptoms that look exactly like too little.

Heat does something different. Past the mid-90s Fahrenheit (35C), transpiration through the leaves can outrun what the roots can supply no matter how healthy they are, and the plant wilts as a stopgap while the soil stays moist. Soil compaction plays its own part, squeezing out the air pockets roots need to function. If the top of the soil keeps reading damp while the plant argues otherwise, a long-probe moisture meter from Amazon settles it by reading down where the roots actually live.

How to Fix It

Water-repellent soil needs rewetting, not more water. For a container, set the whole pot in a basin of water and leave it for half an hour or so, until the surface goes dark and the bubbling stops – that's the root ball taking it back on. In beds, the same principle applies more slowly: several light passes spaced fifteen minutes apart, letting each one soften the surface for the next. Something like Scotts EveryDrop wetting agent from Home Depot breaks the surface tension and helps water move in instead of running off.

Root problems are less forgiving. Slide a struggling potted plant out and look – healthy roots are pale and firm, while rotted roots ones go brown, soft, and smell sour. Trim off what's dead, repot into fresh mix, and cut back a portion of the top growth so there's less foliage for the reduced root system to support. For heat-stressed plants with roots that are fine, the answer isn't at the roots at all. Shade through the afternoon does more than any amount of watering.

Watering Better Through the Summer

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A few habits make the whole problem less likely. The best time to water is early, while the soil is cool and what goes down has time to move into the root zone before the day pulls it back out. Go deep rather than often, since a long slow soak reaches roots that a daily sprinkle never will, and this soaker hose from Walmart delivers it at ground level without wetting the foliage. Mulch on top slows evaporation and keeps the surface from baking into a crust.

Check before watering rather than on a schedule, and check deeper than a fingertip reaches. Two inches (5cm) down tells you more than the surface ever does. Container plants in July might need water twice a day while the bed beside them wants a soak once a week – same weather, entirely different situations. When in doubt during a heat wave, look at the plant in the morning rather than the afternoon, since that is when it tells the truth.

Every summer – and I really do mean every single summer now – I notice the same thing happening in my garden. The plants that looked unstoppable in May? They suddenly start looking tired by July, with flowers fading, foliage drooping and everything seeming to slow down just when I want my borders to be bursting with color.

As hotter summers become the norm across much of the world (US absolutely included), I find myself idly dreaming about which flowering perennials will take one look at a 95°F forecast and think, 'Finally!' My time to shine!'

Basically, I want plants that like heat and full sun. I want vibrant blooms, buzzing pollinators and weeks (sometimes months) of color, even when I'm dripping with sweat and find myself subsisting entirely on ice creams.

Flowering Perennials That Like It Hot

For those who want flowering perennials that like it hot, the secret is choosing those plants that have evolved to thrive in sunshine, dry conditions and soaring temperatures (aka deep roots, silvery foliage or naturally drought-tolerant habits) as this will help them stay fresh long after more delicate plants have thrown in the towel.

So, if your borders tend to lose their sparkle once the weather warms up, these are the flowering perennials I'd plant every single time.

1. Blanket Flower

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If you want a plant that looks like sunshine bottled into a flower, blanket flower is hard to beat. Cheerful red, orange and golden-yellow blooms appear from early summer right through fall, often carrying on long after other perennials have called it quits.

Native to North America, it's happiest basking in full sun and copes brilliantly with heat and dry soil. Butterflies adore it, bees can't get enough of it and you'll love how little effort it asks for in return. If you want to go super bold, the SpinTop™ Red Blanket Gaillardia from Nature Hills blooms nonstop until the first frost.

2. Coneflower

(Image credit: Molly Shannon / Shutterstock)

Coneflowers are one of those plants I recommend again and again because they simply never let me down. Their bold daisy-like flowers bloom for weeks on end, bringing vibrant color while turning your borders into a magnet for bees and butterflies.

Once established, they're wonderfully drought tolerant, making them one of the easiest ways to keep a garden looking lush through the hottest part of summer. Why not swerve the usual purple in favor of the Sunseekers™ Rainbow Coneflower from Nature Hills? You'll end up with orange, pink, rose, and yellow blooms all on one plant!

3. Black-Eyed Susan

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Few flowers capture the feeling of high summer quite like black-eyed Susan. Their golden petals seem to glow in the sunshine, and with regular deadheading they'll keep blooming for weeks.

This tough native perennial shrugs off heat, humidity and less-than-perfect soil, making it one of the most dependable flowers you can grow. The Prairie Glow Black - Eyed Susan from Nature Hills offers a vibrant bi-colored twist to the usual uniform yellow.

4. Russian Sage

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No surprises here, but if you want flowering perennials that will thrive in 95°F climes, Russian sage was well and truly made for heatwaves. Silvery foliage shimmers in bright sunshine while airy lavender-blue flower spikes seem to float above the border, creating movement and softness even on the hottest days.

It's also one of the stars of water-wise gardens, thriving where many thirstier plants struggle. If you're short on room, opt for a compact variety like the stunning Blue Jean Baby Russian Sage from Nature Hills.

5. Catmint

(Image credit: Katsiaryna Yeudakimava / Getty Images)

Look, don't underestimate catmint. It might be easygoing, but it's also one of the hardest-working perennials in the garden... especially if things are feeling hot, hot, hot. Give it a quick trim after its first flush of flowers and it'll often reward you with another spectacular display.

Bees absolutely love it, while deer and rabbits usually leave it alone – that's what I call a win-win. Personally, I will always choose Cat's Pajamas Catmint for the name alone.

6. Tickseed

(Image credit: Ali Majdfar / Getty Images)

Tickseed is the sort of flowering perennial that seems determined to keep flowering whatever summer throws its way. Its cheerful blooms can brighten borders for months, bringing a light, airy feel that's perfect for prairie-style planting or cottage gardens.

Once established, it's impressively drought tolerant and asks for very little beyond the occasional deadhead. The Big Bang™ Cosmic Eye Coreopsis from Nature Hills is a great way to make a splash in your garden.

7. Lantana

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If you've ever visited a Southern garden in midsummer, chances are you've seen lantana stealing the show. While other flowers wilt in scorching temperatures, lantana just keeps pumping out vibrant clusters of orange, pink, yellow and red blooms.

Butterflies flock to it, it positively thrives in hot sunshine and, in warmer USDA zones, comes back year after year with very little fuss. You can grab some Clovers Garden Lantana Camara Flowers from Amazon easily enough.

Bonus: Rattlesnake Master

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If your style leans a little more naturalistic, rattlesnake master deserves a spot on your planting list. Its distinctive globe-shaped flowers and sword-like foliage bring architectural drama to sunny borders, while its prairie roots mean it positively thrives in blazing heat and dry conditions.

It isn't as brightly colored as some of the other flowering perennials on this list, sure, but it's one of the very best plants for attracting bees, butterflies and beneficial insects (and it pairs beautifully with coneflowers, blanket flowers and black-eyed Susans in a heat-loving prairie-style planting, so what's not to love?).

Build A Rattlesnake Master Planting Scheme:

Clovers Garden Purple Coneflower

Purple coneflowers are an obvious choice for hot weather planting, but they are a beautifully reliable (or a reliably beautiful) one, too!

CZ Grain Rattlesnake Master Plug Plant

Working well in containers or beds, this prairie favorite has been making waves in the UK as gardeners look for more drought-tolerant plants.

Clovers Garden Black Eyed Susan

You can add an instant pop of color to any prairie planting scheme with a slew of Black-Eyed Susans.

Clovers Garden Black Eyed Susan

You can add an instant pop of color to any prairie planting scheme with a slew of Black-Eyed Susans.

These plants might be built for the heat, but I’m not quite there yet. You’ll find me indoors, fan on full blast, cold drink in hand, and quietly wishing I had the same summer survival skills as the flowers in this list.

Are there any flowers that ask nothing of you but give you so much in return? Let me introduce you to the unicorn of the garden world: zinnias. Bright, cheerful, drought-tolerant, and apparently immune to the kind of neglect that kills lesser plants. Zinnias cope just fine in this heatwave weather, too.

But the best news? Zinnias are among the fast-growing, heat-loving blooms that you can still start from seed in July.

No wonder, then, that Zinnias are seriously having a moment right now. A recent Instagram video from Brianne Martin capturing their riotous summer color is a great reminder of exactly why. In the caption, she wrote, "They're one of the easiest cut flowers to grow – and once you plant them, you'll probably grow them every year."

Why Everyone Is Growing Zinnias Right Now

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This extreme heatwave weather we're experiencing this summer is probably the number one reason why zinnias are having a moment right now. And as forecasts predict the hot weather looks set to continue all summer, we are all turning away from thirsty hydrangeas and astilbe to choose tough, heat-tolerant flowers that practically grow themselves.

Joe DeFrancesco from Farmer Joe’s Gardens, whose family has farmed in Connecticut for four generations and who grows zinnias commercially, puts it plainly: "Zinnias are having a moment because they deliver maximum impact with minimum fuss." His farm grows several varieties – State Fair Mix, Thumbelina, and Cut and Come Again – and he calls them "probably the most reliable summer annual we offer."

Megan Proska, Associate Vice President of Horticulture and Collections at the Dallas Arboretum, where zinnias are trialled every year in one of the most rigorous plant testing programmes in the country, agrees. "Zinnias continue to stand out as a summer annual because they're fast-growing, heat-loving, and bloom continuously with minimal care. They thrive in full sun, tolerate Texas heat extremely well, and perform beautifully in landscape beds, in containers, and cut flower gardens."

And with over 200 varieties, there really is the right zinnia for every garden, whatever zone you're in.

(Image credit: Marcia Straub/Getty Images)

There's also the pollinator angle, which is driving part of their popularity as people become more considerate about planting to help their local wildlife. Shelby Lucero of Growing Spaces, who grows zinnias both inside greenhouses and outdoors, has noticed something interesting about colour preference. "Butterflies are most attracted to red, pink, and orange zinnia colours – these colours appear to glow to butterflies. Purple varieties attract bees more effectively because this colour signals a high pollen source to them."

Hummingbirds and hummingbird moths are fans too, which is the kind of garden wildlife list that makes you want to go and plant some immediately.

And while pollinators love zinnias, deer hate them. "Almost all of our outdoor flowers get decimated by the local deer population," Lucero says, "but deer don't touch the zinnias." If you've ever watched a deer methodically destroy an entire border, you'll understand why this is practically a selling point on its own.

Because they're annuals, completing their life cycle in less than one year, zinnias are extremely quick to grow, too, with some varieties speeding from seed to flower in as few as 60 days.

And did I mention that zinnias make great cut flowers?

How to Grow Zinnias Well

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It's super-easy to grow zinnias, even if you're a beginner gardener. Proska's advice is straightforward: "Sow zinnias in warm soil with plenty of airflow, water at the base of the plant, and deadhead regularly to encourage flowering. Succession sowing every few weeks also helps extend the display."

DeFrancesco adds that their drought resistance, once established, is genuinely impressive. "They actually prefer lean soil and can handle neglect better than most flowers." Which is basically the dream!

For cut flowers specifically, he recommends planting tall varieties like State Fair Mix and pinching out the first blooms to encourage bushier growth. Lucero's cutting technique is precise: "Determine the desired stem length and cut them at an angle with sharp shears just above a set of leaves." These Fiskars Pruning scissors on Amazonare just the job.

Common Zinnia Mistakes To Avoid

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Both overwatering and over-fertilizing are all too easy if you're growing zinnias in a bed among other more demanding flowering plants. "The biggest mistake new gardeners make is overwatering – zinnias hate wet feet and will develop powdery mildew," says DeFrancesco. Proska flags the same issue from another angle: watering the foliage rather than the base is a fast route to powdery mildew later in the season.

Giving zinnias room to breathe rather than growing plants too closely together is another good way to avoid powdery mildew, as good airflow is the best defence. If you live in a humid zone where powdery mildew is more common, then there's an even easier solution. Profusion zinnias have been bred to have strong resistance to this problem. They're self-cleaning, too, which means they don’t need deadheading, as new blooms continuously replace old ones. Eden Brothers sell a good number of Profusion zinnias including 'Profusion Apricot',, Profusion Red-Yellow Bicolor', 'Profusion Double Fire' and 'Profusion Double Hot Cherry'.

On fertilizer, Lucero is direct: "Zinnias do best in poor soil conditions. Excess nitrogen will result in more foliage growth, but fewer blooms." Less really is more here.

The Best Zinnia Varieties to Grow Now

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Proska's recommendations come with serious credentials – all of the following have won an Arboretum Approved or Flameproof award in the Dallas Arboretum's trial programme, and seeds of many are available from Eden Brothers: Zydeco Series, Profusion Series, Zesty Series, Benary's Giant, Magellan Series and Zahara. Lucero's favorites, all available from Botanical Interests, are Cactus Flower Blend, Cut and Come Again and California Giants.

My personal favorite is Benary’s Giant Wine, with tall, fully double blooms in a deep magenta. Seeds are available from Eden Brothers.

Can't decide? Sow this Zinnia Crazy Blend from Amazon, with 12 different varieties.

Pick one, sow somewhere sunny, keep seeds and young seedlings watered until the plants are grown roots deep enough to find moisture for themselves, and your zinnias will do the rest.

Summer in the garden is all about flowers. If you plan your beds and containers right, you should have a profusion of color through July and August. Many of these summer beauties need deadheading to continue producing blooms. Snipping off spent flowers signals to the plant to put energy into making more.

If you feel like your entire summer revolves around deadheading in order to keep the flowers coming, there’s good news. Some flowers bloom all summer without deadheading. They either simply keep producing in spite of spent blooms or are so-called self-cleaning plants that naturally shed their flowers.

I’ve curated a list here of my favorite no-fuss summer flowers that provide non-stop color without the chore of deadheading.

Tips for Keeping Your Flowers Blooming Longer

Choosing plants that bloom continuously is only the first step to getting summer-long flowers. Even these reliable summer producers can struggle without the right care. Here’s how to ensure they keep blooming and stay healthy:

• Water your bedding flowers deeply and less frequently to encourage stronger, healthier roots.
• Potted plants need to be watered more often, even every day, when it’s not raining, as they dry out quickly.
• Use a bloom-boosting fertilizer to ensure plants have the nutrients they need to keep flowering.
• Most repeat-blooming flowers need full sun to perform optimally. This means at least six hours of direct sunlight per day.
• Use mulch around flowers to keep weeds at bay, regulate soil temperature, and keep more moisture in the soil.

Bloom-Boosting Essentials

Scotts Super Bloom Water-Soluble Plant Food

Keep the flowers coming with this high-phosphorus plant feed that helps plants bloom. Feed every 1–2 weeks for best results.

East Urban Home Self-Watering Rattan-Style Hanging Baskets

This attractive pair of hanging baskets features self-watering inserts. Not only does this cut down on watering, but it keeps plants moist so they can keep blooming.

Back to the Roots Organic Expanding Coconut Husk Mulch

This expanding mulch helps lock moisture and nutrients in the soil while keeping down weeds – so plants can focus on flowering rather than surviving.

Flowers That Bloom All Summer With No Deadheading

With the right flowers and these pro tips, you can expect an abundance of blooms all summer with minimal effort and no more deadheading.

1. Lantana

(Image credit: Fernando Trabanco Fotografía / Getty Images)

Lantana is a tough plant that flowers all summer and thrives even in very hot weather and in poor, dry soil. You can pick up a set of two mixed-color lantana live plants from Walmart to fill your garden with color this summer. The attractive clusters of small flowers are multi-colored, draw in pollinators, and naturally fade as new blooms appear.

Lantana can be an issue in some areas where it is invasive. Its toughness is what helps it outcompete native plants. If you live in cooler climates, use lantana as an annual. In areas where it will survive winter, grow it in containers.

2. Summer Snapdragon

(Image credit: Hanna Yohanna / Shutterstock)

Summer snapdragon – aka angelonia – is a perennial in zones 9 through 11 and an annual in cooler climates. It produces fresh spikes of colorful flowers all summer without the chore of deadheading. I love the blue-purple varieties, like this Angelface Blue Summer Snapdragon from Plant Addicts.

Angelonia thrives in the heat of July and August and won’t let you down even when conditions get tough for other plants.

These flowers are great for beds, borders, and containers. They need soil that drains very well and full sun. They won’t need frequent watering, but you should fertilize monthly to keep the flowers going.

3. Supertunias

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Petunias have long been popular summer annuals with their large, trumpet-shaped flowers that come in a wide range of colors. Traditional petunias need deadheading to keep flowering, but the newer Supertunia varieties are self-cleaning. They’ll drop their spent flowers and keep producing more without your help.

Walmart stocks a good color range, including this four-pack of vivid watermelon-hued Proven Winners Pink Supertunia Vista Paradise.

Supertunias have a trailing habit, so they are great for borders, edges, containers, and hanging baskets. They need full sun and well-drained soil to thrive. Use a bloom-boosting fertilizer every couple of weeks for the best results.

4. Madagascar Periwinkle

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Also known as annual vinca, this type of vinca is hardy only in very warm climates and is an annual in most gardens. It thrives in summer weather and continuously produces new flowers as old ones fade, so there’s no need to deadhead them.

Pick up a glorious multicolor vinca hanging basket from Lowe's.

Madagascar periwinkle is very heat and drought-tolerant and grows well along borders and in containers in full sun and well-drained soil. Unlike some repeat bloomers, this type of vinca doesn’t need a lot of feeding to keep producing.

5. Million Bells

(Image credit: Shutterstock)

Million bells, or calibrachoa, is yet another annual in cool climates that doesn’t require deadheading. It is naturally self-cleaning, producing hundreds of small, trumpet-shaped flowers all summer. Million bells look especially nice in containers, including hanging baskets and window boxes, as their trailing stems spill over the sides.

Plant Addicts stocks a fantastic collection of calibrachoa plants, but I have a soft spot for this Pink Lemonade variety.

Provide million bells plants with full sun and soil that drains well but stays moist with regular watering. Because they bloom so heavily, you will need to feed these plants with a bloom-specific product all summer.

6. Wax Begonias

(Image credit: Shutterstock)

This classic and perennially popular flower is a staple for shade gardening. An annual in most climates, wax begonia has characteristic waxy leaves and small bright flowers that persist all summer. Pick up a three-color mix from Walmart. The blooms are self-cleaning, naturally dropping as new flowers form.

You can grow wax begonias in beds or containers as long as they don’t get too much sun. Partial shade is ideal, but they’ll also grow in full shade. Use moist, rich soil that drains well and feed monthly to keep the flowers coming.

7. Impatiens

(Image credit: Ekakusuma / Shutterstock)

Impatiens is the other classic shade annual. Like begonias, they readily drop their spent blooms, and new ones will quickly take their place. Also like begonias, impatiens grow best in moist, rich soil and partial or even full shade. Plant Addicts stocks a lovely range of Impatiens.

For the best results from your impatiens, make sure the soil never totally dries out and feed the plants at least every three weeks with a flower-focused fertilizer. In addition to standard impatiens, look for New Guinea impatiens, which are larger plants with bigger leaves and flowers. They’ll also tolerate more sun.

8. Sweet Alyssum

(Image credit: Nature's Clicks / Shutterstock)

Sweet alyssum blooms in summer in a carpet of tiny flowers, often white but also pink or purple. Traditional varieties stop flowering in July, but new, sterile hybrids keep going and don’t need deadheading. They put all their energy into their sweet-scented flowers. Grow sweet alyssum along edges of beds and as the “spiller” element in mixed containers.

Sweet alyssum grows best in full sun or partial shade and doesn’t require rich soil. It flowers best when watered consistently. Examples of sterile varieties for ongoing flowers include ‘Snow Princess,’ ‘White Knight,’ available as a four-pack from Lowe's, and ‘Blushing Princess.’

While visiting an outstanding display of new plant trials at Smith Gardens in Marysville, Wash., a few weeks ago, I noticed several interesting trends.

I had the opportunity to see how the plants from so many companies from around the world compared with each other. They represent some of the best international plant breeders and it was interesting to see where hybridization is going and the specific traits they see as important for the future.

It was a very hot, sunny day and all the trial plants were in full sun, either in containers, or in raised ground beds. Annuals dominated these trials, but perennials were close behind. Another notable feature was the short time these plants had been in the ground. Most of them had only very recently been set out and had a very short timeline to become established. Within the gardening community, that’s a key ingredient for success.

The biggest concern today is weather tolerance. Heat and drought are now two major challenges plants face, and it was great to see how the plants were holding up. Begonias of all types are expanding in popularity, and I was amazed at how these formerly labelled “shade” plants were standing up. Last year, my top pick was a large-flowered European variety called Fragrant Falls and it didn’t disappoint. We grew them this year and I was very impressed with their quality, disease resistance and sun tolerance. Although more upright in nature, they do still have a nice spillover habit making them ideal for hanging baskets.

There were more traditional sun loving begonia baskets on display from many companies, but some of the most impressive were the Beauvilia series from Europe. The colour range was from dark salmon and orange to brilliant red.

The Benary Company from Germany featured a unique fibrous begonia called b. Wookie Pink Splash that really caught my eye, particularly because it was started from seed. It was an attractive pink and white bicolour with a gently trailing habit.

Still one of the most impressive large flowering begonias was the I’Conia series. Portofino Yellow, Portofino Valencia Pink, and Bachelorette Red were all out in the full hot sun with no signs of burning on their foliage or flowers.

Back again was my favourite new giant flowered fibrous begonia series called Mega Cool. Featured in a wide range of colours, their flowers were so impressive in large containers, making them a must-have for hot patios and balconies.

Not to be outdone, I Candy XL begonias from Syngenta, headquartered in Switzerland, were also very impressive. Being sun tolerant, with a beautiful trailing habit and spectacular blooms in a wide range of colours will make them sought after for containers and hanging baskets. Now that Syngenta and Dummen Orange companies have joined forces, we will see quite a collection of new plants in the coming years.

Following on the heat tolerance trend, I was delighted to see Ball Flora Plant’s new series of lobelia called Heatopias. On display were deep blue, soft blue and magenta, performing nicely out in the full hot sun. This will be a huge boost for summer containers and baskets needing a touch of these colours.

Most every company has their own series of incredibly heat tolerant bidens. Usually available mostly in yellows, they have now branched out into orange and red shades, white, and a white and yellow bicolour. On display was a lovely pink bidens called Pink Treat from Danziger. It’s a standout, with a more upright habit, making it ideal for garden beds and containers. This new colour opens up so many possibilities for new plant combinations.

Perennial gaura is quickly becoming more popular because of its brilliant pink, red, and white continuously blooming flowers that attract not only pollinators but butterflies as well. They are becoming hardier, down to Zone 5, and out-bloom most perennials in our summer gardens. The Graceful series from Dummen Orange was truly spectacular. With their rich burgundy foliage, they were easily one of the most impressive flowers in the trials.

Gaillardias, too, were notable for their long flowering period and the Spin Top varieties from Dummen Orange really stood out.

It was great to see so many new heuchera varieties out in the full sun, too. They can now be part of our summer plantings, as opposed to suiting just fall and winter gardens. The Indian Summer Mixed series from Green Trade Horticulture in Escondido, Calif., was quite striking with a vibrant new colour range.

One of the most dramatic new introductions was a persicaria called Glowing Reviews from Walters Gardens in Michigan. With its vibrant foliage, this new hot lime variety will spice up any perennial garden or container. It’s going to be in high demand.

The echinacea collections were most impressive, with huge flowers in a wide range of colours. A series that caught my eye were the Sun Seekers, which had exceptionally large flowers and a good range of colours.

Another standout was the brilliant red flowers of geum Firestarter. Green Trade Horticulture introduced this knockout, which featured a unique colour for the geum family.

There were quite a number of compact delphiniums ideal for smaller gardens, coming in a wide range of colours, but especially blues and purples. One variety of note was Magical Atlanta, again from Green Trade Horticulture.

Of course, coreopsis are one of the longest flowering perennials in any garden, but today there are so many varieties available it’s becoming hard to select just one of them. Some that really shone were the Uptick series from Darwin Plants. There was Uptick Red, but Uptick Yellow and Red, and Uptick Gold and Bronze were among the finest bicolours on display.

Another jewel was a new compact, very dark blue salvia called s. Nemorosa Salvatini. The beauty of this perennial salvia was the fact that it’s a seed variety from Pan American. So many new plants today are only available as vegetative cuttings and there is a trend now of going back to seed. The quality of so many seed hybrids has improved greatly over the past few years, and it is a less expensive way to grow high quality plants. One of my favourites last year, a silver foliaged salvia called s. Lancelot, is a prime example. It is magic in a container, with its pure silver leaves and lavender flowers, and hummingbirds love it.

New plant trials are so important in our industry, not only to develop and discover new plants, but to evaluate their ability to tolerate more demanding weather conditions and to observe their relationship with pollinators and wildlife. I’m happy to share some of these upcoming great new plants with you.

Related

• Brian Minter: Now is the perfect time to plant for late summer colour and harvests
• Brian Minter: How can your garden survive extreme heat? First look to the soil