Are you wondering how to keep your plants healthy during the warmest time of the year? Plants can naturally become stressed during summer, so you will need to watch over them carefully. Here are three ways to make sure your garden is in tip-top shape.

Scout Around for Insects, Pests and Other Problems

You definitely want to stay on top of problems so that you can treat them before they become too serious whenever possible. Some signs you may notice, among others, include:

• Wilting
• Rotting
• Cankers
• Spots on leaves
• Leaves that turn yellow or brown
• Holes in leaves, branches or trunk
• Webbing
• Galls
• This one seems obvious, but insects themselves are seen

Once you notice a problem, you can do research to see what is causing it and how it can be treated. There may be several different methods including mechanical, cultural, biological and chemical controls.

Keep Your Watering on a Consistent Schedule

As I have mentioned before, it is usually better to water your plants just a few times a week, making sure that it is for a long enough period that they can get the amount that they need. If you do notice a plant that seems extra wilted, go ahead and give it a drink. However, do make sure that it needs water as overwatering can, strangely enough, cause wilting also.

Consider Moving Potted Plants to Shade

Container plants can have problems sometimes since their soil area is smaller than plants in bedding areas. The roots do not have the chance to fully spread out and can struggle when the soil dries out.

One way to help slow down this problem is to move the pots to an area that is a bit cooler. This can be under an umbrella or close to your house. You could also consider bringing them indoors as needed if it is really hot.

There are some factors to think about when deciding to move potted plants. Make sure that the specific plant is able to handle partial shade, since many need full sun. Your nursery should know if it can or you can search on the Internet by using the plant’s name.

If you bring them inside, you would need to harden them off when you do set them back outside. The environments are quite different between your house and your garden (with the latter usually being harsher,) so the plant can go into shock if it is just set outside. When you harden off, you take them out for a short period on the first day and gradually lengthen it over the course of about a week.

How are your plants doing this summer?

_{Image by David Berkowitz under a Flickr Creative Commons Attribution License}