Flower beds
- black earth + mulch + fertilizer every spring
Lawn
Top-dressing and overseeding
Ahead of time:
- Buy top dress soil (30 1kg bags)
- Buy seed and fertilizer mix (2 4kg bags)
Day before:
- Mow quite short
- Rake to break up the thatch layer so the seed can land on soil instead of grass (don’t try to remove currently dry grass, which will revive over time)
Day of:
- Cut top soil bags and spread on lawn
- Using the back of a hard rake, evenly spread the soil into the grass, breaking up the pieces as you go
- Using a seed spreader, spread a generous amount of seed + fertilizer mix (avoiding areas that shouldn’t have seed)
- By hand, spread a generous amount of seed along the edges
- Rake again to mix the seed into the soil
- Water everything moderately
Afterwards:
- For first week, keep seeds moist by watering moderately 4 times per day
- Once seeds sprout, water generously once per day for a week (at 5pm)
- In week 3, water generously once every two days
- In week 4, water generously once every three days
Repeat each spring and fall.
Links:
- https://www.google.ca/search?q=lawn+seed+top+dress
- Topdressing a Lawn: The Benefits and How to Do It • Lawnstarter 📖
- Overseeding • Weed Man 📖
- The Ultimate Guide to Watering Your Lawn • Weed Man 📖
Plants
How to water plants well: helping your plants in the heat
Hello! Sending a note to remind you that your plants may need a little extra support due to the hot, windy days we’re experiencing. Look out for drooping leaves or stems. Try to water either first thing in the morning or early evening and if not using a soaker hose, direct water at the base of plants rather than watering from above, keeping water off the foliage.
These hot, humid conditions can really promote the growth of powdery mildew (highly prone plants: roses, peonies, serviceberries, lilacs, phlox, monarda, & vining vegetables like squash). Read more about this and how to prevent/treat it here: Powdery mildew
Annuals planted in containers will likely need to be checked/watered twice a day; those in the ground should be checked once a day. Newly planted shrubs, trees & perennials should be monitored and watering frequency may need to be increased during this time. Established garden plants and trees may also need an extra watering, mainly if there is no mulch or in-bed irrigation.
Please don’t panic and overwater or surface water in quick bursts every day. Check moisture levels in the soil even with just a finger. If it’s dry a couple inches down, you’ll want to water. Keep waterings low & slow, a longer trickle (15-20 minutes depending on plant size) so the water really soaks into the ground around the plant. Space these out to every couple of days depending on how your soil feels a few inches down. We want those roots to grow down, looking for water deeper, rather than being satisfied at the surface with an easy, regular/daily water supply.