I have been appreciating the stunning foliage of my assortment of hosta varieties. To preserve that magnificent display, it is important to protect the plants from slug damage. Slugs feed at night, so you seldom see them, but you notice the damage they wreak … first just a few small holes, then more and more, until the leaves look pretty much “shot” up.
Prevent the damage by applying slug bait at the base of the leaves. The slugs hide under debris on the soil or in the soil during the day and leave a slime trail on the soil or leaves as they travel. The pellets of slug bait are not toxic or appealing to birds and most forms are safe to use as protection for edible plants as well, but always check the label to verify.
Roses have finished their first flush of flowers, and one of the things I appreciate about the newer varieties is that they are “self-cleaning,” meaning that they do not set seed pods; therefore, you don’t have to deadhead them.
That is not a fact of all shrub roses, so if you need to clean up the old flower stems, be sure to cut the stem back to a five-leaflet leaf. Immediately under the flower are normally three-leaflet leaves, and cutting back to these leaves will usually produce a new stem of just foliage. Cutting down a little farther to a five-leaflet leaf will result in another stem of flowers. Often this cutting back results in a better-looking shrub rose.
If you have a problem with crab grass, this is the time to attack that weed. Crab grass grows very rapidly and forms a dense matt on the soil surface. Spraying with crabgrass killer is most effective while the weeds are small and growing rapidly. Waiting until it goes to seed is job security for next year.