How Does Your Garden Grow?

After record-breaking rainfall in June Steven Addona, owner and designer of Steven Addona Landscaping in Lawrence, has these five tips to help get your landscaping back into shape:

1) Roses & tropical plants can be saved by putting clear plastic bags with a few holes punctured on sides over them. This keeps buds from rotting and allows air to circulate.

2) Deciduous and broadleaf plants will do better if you put some olive oil and water in a spray bottle and wet the leaves until they drip. This will help keep water off the leaves and help eliminate fungus formation.

3) Perennials that are damaged, ‘turned mushy’ and won’t open due to excess rain, will ‘feel better’ if you use a home scissor to cut back the rotten buds. This helps promote new buds to form!

4) Small patio lawns would benefit from air circulation helped out by placing a portable fan to help dry it out. This also keeps the growth of mushrooms at bay.

5) Snails and slugs will definitely stay away when you place small chards of eggshells in the soil. The tiny, sharp-edged shells cut the soft-bodied slugs and cause them to dehydrate. Reapply after each rainfall.