The summer rainy season has officially begun, and the rain over the past few weeks has caused plants to grow rapidly in the garden, conditions that will continue into September and possibly October.
During the summer, we can literally get 20 inches of rain in a matter of seconds. With this in mind, the reality of lawn care in Southwest Florida during the summer can be pretty tough. In less than two weeks, your entire yard can look like it's been neglected for months. Remember, this is a subtropical region.
With enough rain, the grass can easily grow 3-6 inches in a week. The saying “you can just sit back and watch the grass grow” is very true here in the summer. During the season from October to April, it can take a month to see that much growth.
Now, let's say rain prevents you from mowing on time. The grass grows another 2-3 inches. When you finally do get around to mowing, it's lush, wet, and difficult to cut. It takes twice as long because you may have to mow the same spot twice. This leaves little time for other tasks like pruning and weeding. But you need to make the time, or these tasks will quickly get out of hand.
Weeds take on a life of their own in the summer. You look around, you've killed or pulled all the weeds, and your yard is almost weed-free. But then another rainstorm comes and the weeds sprout again. You decide to spray again when you mow this week, but another rainstorm will wash the herbicide away right after you're done mowing. There's a good chance the weeds won't die. Another week passes, and some weeds died from last week's efforts, while others survive. These weeds are now a foot tall and setting seeds for the next weeds – monsters that look as if they've been growing in your yard for a year. Maybe more rain will come and new weeds will start to sprout, once again encouraging the growth of the last weeds you were trying to kill. Keeping your yard weed-free in the summer is almost a losing battle.
Ornamental shrubs grow at an incredible rate this time of year, in part because we plant shrubs and small trees that grow to be 10 to 20 feet tall and then prune them to create little square hedges around our houses. If we get enough rain, we can see a foot of new growth in a week.
Bougainvillea can grow as much as four feet in a week, and that's no exaggeration. Growth takes place over the course of a season or two, but in northern states it can take a year. This is the time of year to prune often or the shrubs will touch the eaves of your house. This is also the best time to trim back any shrubs that have become long-stemmed and woody. They will grow back quickly and will need pruning again within a week or two. Remember, mid-October is the deadline for hard pruning.
If you take care of your own yard, you know the reality of the growth rates above. Imagine having to do 50 or 100 lawns every week. This is the reality for people in the lawn care business. When most residents are in town, growth is slow, so the job is easy and it seems like the contractors aren’t putting in as much time or effort into your yard. But if you decide to come to Marco Island in July, August, or September, you might immediately think that the landscapers are slacking off while you’re gone. In reality, they’re working five times as hard, doing their best to keep your yard nice and tidy. Sometimes it’s a nearly impossible job, and only the strong survive in this business. If your gardener seems a little irritable, it could be a sign of mild heatstroke, one of the first symptoms.
So, with a little compassion, give them a break and an ice cold drink as they come to battle the jungle in your little corner of the world. They will win, the weeds will die, the plants will be pruned, and your garden will be the perfect place you want it to be, just in time for the seasons to arrive again.
Read more: Gardening: Reaping the benefits of proper lawn mowing
And: Gardening: Getting to the “roots” of this rain – and its effects on plants
Also: Gardening: July is not for the faint-hearted gardener.
Peter and Eileen Ward have sold Greensward of Marco after 40 years in the lawn and landscaping business on Marco Island. If you have comments or questions about Eileen's column, please email her at Gswdmarco@comcast.net or call her at 239-269-0192.
