To avoid construction-related detours, turn onto 1300 West from 90th South. Enter at Gate #2

Welcome to July, gardeners! Summer is in full swing and the days are heating up after a wet, cool spring. 

"And so with the sunshine and the great bursts of leaves growing on the trees, just as things grow in fast movies, I had that familiar conviction that life was beginning over again with the summer."

~  F. Scott Fitzgerald  

Check these July gardening tips off your to-do lists. It’s always helpful to know what to do in the garden this month! If you missed our tips last month, you can find them here. 

Trees and Shrubs 

Temperatures are rising and insects are getting hungry! Keep an eye out for diseases and pests including powdery mildew, peach twig borers  (on peach, nectarine, cherry, and apricot trees), and codling moth (on apple and pear trees). The codling moth’s larvae are the ones to blame for wormy apples. 

Watch out for red spider mites. If you suspect that you may have spider mites, flick a branch or leaf onto white paper and look carefully to see if any of the specks move.

There are a few options when it comes to getting rid of spider mites. Consider using a hard spray of water to knock them back, dormant oil, or organic insecticides. 

Continue deep soaking newly planted trees and shrubs 2 to 3 times per week and fully established plants 2 to 3 times per month.  Check out our watering guide for more tips.

Flowers 

Remove faded flowers from annuals, perennials, and roses to promote re-blooming. Removing the spent flowers will encourage the plants to produce more and more beautiful blooms. 

It may not be your favorite chore, but keep up on the weeding! A little prevention by pulling them early prevents weeds from going to seed.  Once they go to seed they’ll start growing like…well, weeds. 

Give your Hanging baskets and planters a refresh. . They may need some sprucing up. Cut back overgrown plants and replace any spent plants as needed. A few pops of new color mixed in with the cleaned-up flowers will keep your planters and baskets looking as beautiful as the day you bought them.  

Hanging baskets may need extra water in the summer heat so test the soil in the morning and again in the evening. 

Ponds

Keep your pond plants fertilized this summer. 

As you probably know, mosquitoes can be extra pesky this time of year and a pond may be a perfect breeding ground. To avoid a mosquito infestation, keep the water flowing and moving and use mosquito tablets to keep them away. 

Lawn

A lot of folks are reducing (or even eliminating) lawn from their yards these days.  But, one thing to keep in mind - a healthy lawn does help to keep the yard cooler. 

 

Lawn care doesn’t have to use up excessive amounts of water. Creating a strong root system with healthy soil allows your lawn to look great with far less water than you might think.  Now is also a good time to apply products like Revive, Groundbreaker, Hydretain, and TurfMax - four products to help your lawn in the heat. 

 

1. Ground Breaker - This product loosens compacted soil opening up pore space which allows for better water and air penetration.  It binds salt to itself and flushes it below the root zone.  It will help to normalize Ph and allows plants to have better access to nutrients.

2. Hydretain - Hydretain is not another wetting agent, surfactant, or super absorbent polymer crystal. It is actually a liquid group of hygroscopic and humectant components that attracts moisture. In other words, by acting like tiny “water magnets,” they form microscopic droplets within the root zone. As a result, this process allows plants to utilize soil moisture that would otherwise be lost to evaporation.

3. TurfMax - TurfMAX contains over 50 ingredients to treat and correct a wide range of factors that make grass unhealthy. It is the only product that addresses all the needs of lawns and the soil they grow in.

4. Revive - Getting water to the roots is the secret of Revive’s success. Its unique formula allows water to move deeper down into the soil, bringing organic lawn fertilizers and air with it. This results in much stronger grass roots that produce a thick green, healthy lawn. 

For more tips, check out our Seasonal Tips page. 

The heat is here and it reminds us how lucky we are to have beautiful, waterwise perennials in our garden. With the increasing population here in Utah, conserving water is definitely a top priority.

There are many great resources in Utah for guidance on water conservation while gardening.  We've shared many of these programs with you over the years: Utah Department of Water Resources, Conservation Garden Park, USU Extension Services, Red Butte Conservation Garden and Localscapes are all programs or resources we love.  They all have Utah specific guidance with truly beautiful results.

Glover Nursery’s own landscape department participates in the Localscape design program.  If you have done a Localscape design, you might have even worked with one of our experts to create your own waterwise oasis!

Our Top 7 Waterwise Perennials

These make our top 7 for a number of reasons: beauty, aromatic, quick to establish, pollinators love them, season round interest, and of course, water-wise.  We were going to just do 5, but it was impossible to narrow the list down that far.

1. Lavender -

   Commonly used for aromatherapy, Lavender is also an amazing plant for attracting pollinators.  The purple flower wands bloom prolifically. The flowers create a lovely compliment to their grayish-green leaves and stems. Lavender loves the full sun and, once they are established, can tolerate a great deal of heat and drought.

2. Upright Sedum – 

   Distinctive, fleshy foliage combined with bright flowers, Sedum is a great, waterwise addition to your garden design. They do better with more sun, tolerate low water well, and add a bright pop of color later in the season.  The texture and color of the leaves prior to flowering add some visual interest and contrast in the mix.

3. Agastache (Hummingbird Mint) –
   

   These aromatic, showy, long blooming plants may as well be called “Hummingbirds love me”.  They attract those elusive birds the second they start blooming.  There are many varieties of Agastache available, some of them with very distinct black licorice smelling flowers in bright reds, yellows, purples, oranges and pinks.
   

4. Echinacea Coneflower –
   

   This waterwise flower is a classic for a reason, Echinacea (aka Coneflower) makes top 5 lists frequently.  The blooms are beautiful, they are easy to grow, available in all sorts of colors (we have 28 varieties of Coneflower right here at Glover’s!).  Plus, it is well known for it’s healing medicinal properties – an effective immune system booster, very welcome these days!

5. Coreopsis – A repeat bloomer is a great addition to any area needing summer color.  The bright flowers pop all season long and, added bonus, in addition to being water-wise, is extremely low maintenance. Blooms come in a wide variety of colors make this an easy choice for any color scheme.
6. Yucca – Rosettes of evergreen, tough, sword-like leaves are extremely popular in desert areas for a reason, these are water-wise superstars.  The come in a variety of colors and sizes and make a unique accent piece, especially when they bloom.  During their bloom season, though it is shorter than the others on this list, the spectacluare sight of the tall stalks with bunches of white or cream flowers seem to hover above the leaves. 
7. Helianthemum – This waterwise flower is also commonly known as Rock Rose or Sun Rose. This is a great ground cover style perennial that resembles a flower carpet in mid to late summer.  When this flowers, it is a show stopper. Deer resistant, disease-resistant, easy to prune, beautiful foliage when it isn’t blooming and truly breathtaking blossoms when it does, added to that list it is also a water-wise perennial…it is clear to see why we couldn’t leave this off the list.   

One other plant category to consider are perennial grasses – while it is ‘grass’, they are not the lawn.  Perennial grasses are waterwise and they add striking visual interest with nice contrast that compliments the blooming perennials listed above. 

Of course, there are loads more waterwise plants to choose from than just these 7 (ok, 8) that will work for your project.  Still, we hope this gives you a good starting point for your new park strip. 

If you're interested in learning more about waterwise solutions for your garden check out the “Flip Your Strip” rebate program. This wonderful program gives an easy way to start moving toward a waterwise yard. You can check out the guidelines and qualifications here.  If you are eligible, you even get money for swapping out your lawn for some truly beautiful perennials.

While they do have a few fantastic examples of how you could design your park strip, the design options are limitless.   

And, as always, if you have any questions, we are here to help.   Come on down and see us at 9275 South 1300 West.

Happy Gardening!

Other useful links and resources:

5 Things To Do In Your Summer Garden

Top 5 Summertime Favorites

Beautiful Late Summer, Early Fall Blooms for Your Garden

Ask any gardening professional to narrow down their favorite late summer blooms and you’d better be ready to sit back and spend a few hours...probably best to have a cold beverage in hand too. There are so many beautiful plants that will keep blooming strong right up to winter. While we would love to list every single one of them here, it would be faster to read the entire Game of Thrones book series.

So, we shall give you a short, but very sweet, list of late summer blooms that you can plant now, enjoy now, enjoy in the fall, and (since they are all perennials) enjoy again next year.  Yes, they are all that good.

1 – Asters

Asters have daisy-like flowers which bloom in late-summer through fall. They come in a wide variety of colors and sizes, pollinators with their bright colors and are disease and deer resistant. There are a wide variety of asters with colors that range from white and pastels of blues and pinks, to hybrids of deep scarlet and purple.

2 – Plumbago

An incredibly versatile groundcover for cold climates, Plumbago does well in both sun and shade and can handle most soil types very well.  The blooms start in late summer with numerous, long-lasting, deep blue flowers. As the flowering finishes, the leaves change to a vivid mahogany red color, continuing their colorful display until winter.

3 – Centranthus

Also known as Jupiter’s Beard or Valerian, Centranthus is an everblooming Old World wildflower.  It has clusters of tiny dark red flowers with deep green foliage. This butterfly attracting plant is a great addition to any water-wise landscape as, once it is established, it does well with minimal water.  It is an extremely versatile plant that can be used in a wide variety of landscapes, and the beautiful blooms make great a great addition to bouquets due to its long vase life.

4 – Echinacea

Well known for its healing properties, Echinacea is also commonly known as Coneflower. This powerhouse perennial has flowers that attract birds, butterflies, and bees.  It is extremely easy to grow and makes excellent cut flowers. Echinacea has been popular in landscapes for decades, both for it’s ease of care and for it’s beautiful and versatile blooms.  They come in a variety of colors: white, red, orange, yellow, pink and the most popular Purple Coneflower that you have likely seen when traveling through any prairie land.  It is a great native plant.

5 – Ornamental Oregano

Though it is most commonly known for its culinary use, Oregano has some ornamental varieties that are absolutely beautiful.   These perennial herbs do well in rock gardens as well as areas with well-drained soil.  Ornamental oregano is an attractive flowering perennial that's easy to grow. The flavor isn’t as strong as the culinary variety but it has an unmatched appearance in its colorful bracts that develop in a host of pastel hues. We have seen Ornamental Oregano referred to as “a peacock of the herb family”.

6 – Fall Anemone

Fall-blooming anemones bring an elegant touch of ethereal beauty to an autumn landscape with their delicate looking flowers topping off the willowy stems. As the petals drop off the blossom they leave behind a globe-shaped seed head, the combination of which provides a delightful showing for several weeks between late July and October, depending on the cultivar.

7 – Gaillardia

Also known as Blanket Flower, this powerhouse of a plant blooms from early summer right through the entire season.  The flower is daisy-like, but the petal ends have a slightly ruffled appearance.  These easy-to-grow perennials come in many colors from yellow to deep red and are most known for their showy, banded flowers. Gaillardia do well in hot, sunny gardens.  Oh, and they happen to be a butterfly favorite.

There are more, so many more, but this is a great list if you are looking for that power flower to add some pop to your garden now.

If these 7 late-summer through fall stunners aren’t enough to satisfy your thirst for color, check out this blog post from last year https://glovernursery.com/top_10_end_of_summer_blooms/

Now, if neither of these lists are enough to get the garden color you are seeking, come on down and we’ll show you the many more options available – after all, we are here to help and we have hundreds of beautiful plants in stock with more arriving every week.  It’s a good time to be at Glover Nursery.

9275 South 1300 West

See you soon!

 

Other useful links and resources:

5 Things To Do In Your Summer Garden

Top 7 Waterwise Perennials for Summer

Don’t Water More, Water Smart

Glover Nursery's Top 5 Water Saving Tips to Reduce Water Waste

Summer is here and that means so is the heat. We get a lot of people wanting to reduce wasted water, which is awesome. We have five easy water saving tips for you. Don't be nervous about depriving your much-loved plants and potentially causing them harm. Our top 5 tips to help save water will have both your water bill and your plants happy.

There are many small adjustments that add up to significant progress for water conservation. Some big tasks like installing a drip system may be more of a long-term goal project. However, there are also many small things you can do today to make a large difference in saving water.

Helping our water supply while saving money on your water bill…that's the goal. AND, extra bonus, you'll be giving your plants the best possible support. Many of these recommendations are actually the best thing for your plants.  That’s like winning the plant lottery and water lottery at the same time! Here are our top 5 ways to help you save water.

1. Water Early

Water your lawn early in the morning, between 4-7am.  When we water lawns in the middle of the day, the majority of that water goes straight into the air and evaporates before it ever hits your lawn. Many sprinkler heads turn water into tiny drops and those tiny drops evaporate fast in the heat.

When you water before the air is hot more of the water will actually reach the lawn, and therefore the roots, where the water is needed. The result, less time is needed to water and therefore less water is used (and wasted).  For more lawn specific ideas, check our last blog post, Summer Lawn Tips.

2. Check Your Sprinkler System

Your sprinkler system can be adjusted to work smarter. You can make quick changes to your sprinkler system like correct where the heads spray, adjust clocks throughout the year as seasons change and make sure none of the lines are broken. These quick changes will save hundreds of gallons of water in one season. The simple things can really add up! Monitoring your sprinkler system is the simplest way to start.

    Some quick questions to ask yourself:

• What season is it?

  • Less water is needed in spring and fall.

• Is it Raining?

  • If it’s raining, turn off the system entirely.
  • Rain sensors are available at local stores. They can be hooked up to your system to make this even easier.

• Did you split the cycle?

  • Avoid unnecessary water runoff by splitting a cycle. This trick allows water to absorb deeper into the soil.
  • If your system is set to run a 40-minute cycle, do 20 minutes, wait for 10, run another 20 minutes.
  • This simple adjustment can eliminate the need for an entire cycle once a week.

A great resource for other sprinkler related recommendations to reduce water waste can be found at scienTurfic Sod.

3. Water Low

Water at the base of your trees, shrubs, and perennials to save water.  Spraying the leaves and trunks can actually cause damage in the heat. Plus, it doesn’t solve the problem of the water reaching the roots where it is needed.

New Plants

It is extremely important to deep soak new plants during their establishment phase.  To deep soak new plants, turn your hose to a very slow trickle. Place the hose about 4-6” from the base of the stem or trunk of your new plant. The length of watering time needed depends on the size of the root ball. For smaller 1-5 gallon size plants, 10-15 minutes twice a week should be sufficient. For larger trees and shrubs, we recommend 10 minutes per inch caliper on the tree (i.e. a large 4” caliper tree requires 40 minutes of soaking).

Established Plants

Established plants are plants that have been in your landscape for a year or more. Two years or more for larger trees. We recommend installing a drip system or micro-emitter. The benefit of these systems is there is zero water waste. All of the water is put directly into the soil where it is needed. These systems emit water at such a slow rate that the water absorbs deeper and deeper into the soil. Achieving our ultimate goal, getting the water to those grounding roots.

    By watering your plants directly at the roots you will:

• Put the water exactly where it is needed.
• Help to establish deeper, stronger roots.
• Waste very little, if any, water as it is going directly to the area needed.

4 . Don’t water wet soil.

This might seem obvious, but if your soil is still wet from previous watering it likely can wait another day or two. This includes rain-storms. The recommended way to check if your soil is wet is what my grampa called “the finger test”.  It is a very simple water saving test. Stick your finger in the soil up to your second knuckle. If you feel moisture, no need to water. This simple check will save you hundreds of gallons of water waste.

5 . Know your soil type.

Clay soil holds more water, sandy soil dries faster. If you have more clay base, you do not need to water as often. Clay base soils do need to be watered deeper.

Sandy soil needs less watering at any given time. But it will need slightly more frequent watering. Knowing your soil type will save you water, time, money and hassle. And, your plants will thrive when you combine proper watering technique with the appropriate soil type.

There are loads more ways you can reduce, or even eliminate, water waste.  looking for even more ideas to help save water? There are wonderful local resources available. Check out some of the following.

• Utah Division of Water Resources
• Conservation Garden Park
• Red Butte Gardens
• Or, you can check out this fun link by HGTV

If you have any great tips that you don’t see, let us know!  There are probably loads of great water-saving inventions out there we haven’t seen yet and would love to share.  After all, when it comes to reducing water waste, we are all in it together.

 

Other useful links and resources:

How Trees Can Help With a Waterwise Landscape

Watering 101: How to Water Your New Plants

Top 3 Tips for a Lush Summer Lawn in Utah

Summer officially starts this weekend and, as promised, we're delivering our quarterly blog on lawns. You can have a lush green yard in Utah by following just a few simple steps each season. Utah summers are typically hot and dry which means we have a focus on water. Many people think that because we live in a dry area that lawns must be impossible to keep green. But this is not true!

Green lawns in Utah are as simple as one, two, three in the summer. Here are our top 3 tips for keeping lawns green during the summer in Utah.

ONE. Be Water Wise

You've probably heard it before but we're going to tell you again. The best way to water your lawn is deeply and infrequently. Because Utah can be such a dry climate we want to encourage your grass roots to grow deep. The way you do this is by watering one to three times a week. During the early summer months, we recommend watering 1" every five days or 1/2" every three days. As the weather warms you can gradually increase water. During July/August we recommend about 3/4″ every 3 days or 1/2″ every 2 days. Use your best judgment. If the heat kicks in early go ahead and up your watering amount.

We love this watering guide from the Conservation Garden Park. They give specific details on how much to water and how often for different soils and plants.

Not sure how much 1" of water is? Measure it! Take old soup cans or several of the same shape glasses and place them over your yard. Turn your sprinklers on for 10 minutes and then measure how much is in each glass. You may find that certain areas of your lawn get more water than others. You can adjust your sprinklers to even out the watering. This will also save you water! And who doesn't love to save water?

Finally, you want to water at the right time. Watering during the heat of the day means you will lose a good portion of the water to evaporation. In order to make sure that the majority of water you are using gets into the ground schedule your watering for before 9 AM or after 7 PM.

TWO. Cut High

Did you know that cutting your grass too low or by too much can damage it? It's true! Short lawns can look great but you lose the natural protective barrier that a little extra height can give a lawn. We recommend keeping your grass cut between 2" to 3". This longer length allows for the roots to be protected. This will also help prevent water loss through evaporation.

Another bonus to keeping your grass a little longer is that you can help prevent weeds from growing. Weeds need sunlight to grow. The natural canopy of longer grass prevents sunlight from hitting the ground and can deter weeds from growing. This is not a full-proof plan. If you are having issues with weeds in your lawn you'll want to apply another layer of pre-emergent during the early summer.

So we've mentioned how tall your grass should be but we haven't told you how often to cut your grass in Utah. This is based on how quickly your grass is growing. Once the grass has matured (about 10 days after planting) it will normally grow about 2/3 cm per week (An inch is equal to 2.54 centimeters if you need help with the conversion like we did). You want to only cut about 1/3 of your grass length. Cutting more of the grass could shock it. You also want to cut frequently because of how grass keeps its pigment. Most of the green color of grass is concentrated on its new growth. Mowing your lawn semi-frequently means you will keep the bright fresh green showing.

THREE. Fertilize Before the 4th

Fertilizer will help keep your lawn green, healthy and growing. You want to fertilize your lawn every 30 to 90 days. We

recommend the first fertilizer of the year to happen by early April so your second treatment should be about July 4th.

Make sure your fertilizer is applied properly. A great time to fertilize is a couple of days after a rainstorm. If no rain is on the horizon then you can water a few days after you deep soak your lawn. On fertilization day make sure you apply the fertilizer evenly over the lawn. Once applied, lightly water your lawn. This second watering is important because it will remove the fertilizer from the grass blades and wash it onto the ground. Too much water will wash it all away. Just a light watering will do the job.

Be careful not to over-fertilize your lawn. With grass, too much of a good thing is definitely a bad thing. Too much fertilizer can burn your lawn.

We hope you have a great time enjoying your lawn this summer. If you are looking for any additional help our experts are available at the nursery every day.

 

Other useful links and resources:

Unique Summer Color for Utah

Top 5 Summertime Favorites

Summer is here and we've found plants to give your garden unique summer color. Here at Glover Nursery, we are always looking for the next new thing to bring to our customers. Our expert buyer is constantly looking for that unique element to add to your yard. We all are plant geeks and when we come across those special items they are quickly snapped up by our expert buyer.

Our Expert Buyer's Picks

Some of her favorite plants, trees and shrubs for unique summer color this season are listed below.  These are spectacular plants that will bring major “Wow” factor this summer:

Chocolate Fountain Silk Tree

Chocolate Fountain Silk Tree is a new one from Monrovia that we just can’t get over.  Dramatic, deep purple, fern-like foliage enhanced by delicate pink flowers in summer. It is an elegant accent for smaller spaces and does well in containers (but will need to be brought indoors during the winter if kept in a container). This small, deciduous tree doesn't mind the heat and is tough, trouble-free and drought resistant in the landscape.

Rose of Sharon

The Rose of Sharon Tree comes in so many varieties.  This is a summer favorite as they keep a tight, upright form with large summer blossoms.  It’s a great way to bring dramatic color to your garden when other shrubs and perennials have stopped blooming in the summer.  They don’t get much larger than 6-feet tall, so can help provide some interesting contract amongst taller trees and shorter shrubs.

Some of the Rose of Sharon varieties we carry:

• Blue Chiffon
• Blue Satin
• Aphrodite
• Diana
• Hawaii
• Fiji
• Danica
• Red Heart
• Helene
• Pulcherimus
• Boule de Feu

Hydrangea

And if you haven’t seen the stunning blooms of Hydrangea’s then you haven’t lived!  These incredible blooms are popping like crazy and make such a beautiful addition to any garden with their gorgeous, full blossoms. A unique pop of color for summer and they keep on blooming into the fall.  They come in a variety of colors and make for truly incredible summer bouquets. Monrovia calls these beauties Shapely Shrubs.

Come on down and see us to learn more about these amazing plants.  We are here to help you find the right fit for your yard.

Want more unique plants for your yard but worried that they won't be deer resistant? We've got a blog for that! Read HERE for our list of the 66 Best Deer Resistant Plants for Utah.

Happy Gardening!

 

Other useful links and resources:

Summer Lawn Tips for Utah Lawns

Our Favorite Summer Plants