Keep gardening through summer with superplants, irrigation
The typical hot Louisiana summer should not be a problem for gardening with good advise.
“Spring is here, but it will warm up quickly,” said Martin’s Nursery owner Jennifer Osborn. “We all know it’s coming. Don’t let that stop you from planting since the most important thing for hot weather would be to make sure to keep everything irrigated.”
Martin’s Nursery in Luling offers drip irrigation systems, as well as Rainbird systems because they have timers that will allow a homeowner to water a garden and automatically water plants.
If a garden is already established, Osborn recommended lighting “to make things pop at night.” It’s a move that can make a garden appealing at night, as well as during the day.“It will get hot, but don’t forget the garden,” Osborn said. “There are other investments that can be made to the garden that can enhance the resell of your house.”
Superplants are tough, tried and true to withstand Louisiana’s hotter temperatures, which Osborn said are available at Martin’s Nursery.
“There are lots of hearty perennials that will tolerate our Louisiana summers,” she said. “You want to be an early bird.”
Martin’s Nursery can provide advice on how to best choose these plants, she said.
“If you see it displayed at the nursery, it’s probably tough and if not, we can set you on the right direction,” Osborn said. “Basically, we try not to carry the fussy stuff that grows with little or no care.”
A key strategy is to plant a manageable garden or flowers, she said. Only 50 percent of people who come to the nursery will fertilize their plants, so she offers tried and true plants.
For anyone with persistent growing problems, Osborn said they also have soil kits, which come in a box that can be mailed to the LSU AgCenter to test soil.
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