I know it’s difficult to think about replacing summer annuals, especially if they are still looking so beautiful. However, it is time to start the transition to fall flowers. One way to do this is to purchase the fall flowers and plant them in large containers. These containers can be placed near the summer flowers and left to start filling in while the summer flowers continue to shine. Then when the summer flowers are finished, the fall containers will already be in place where they can really shine. A couple of my favorites are the violas and the snap dragons. I like to place the snaps in the center or toward the back of the container for height with the violas in the front or around the edges for color lower in the container.

It's not really a good time to prune trees and shrubs right now, but since we’re still in hurricane season it’s always a good time to cut out or remove any dead limbs. Dead limbs tend to break off during wind storms and in a hurricane, they can become projectiles that will fly through windows if they aren’t removed.

As I drive around the county, I see a lot of dead limbs in the tops of trees. This could be a symptom of low nutrition in the soil. If your trees are looking weak in the top of the crown, it may be a good idea to take a soil sample and send it off to the NCDA&CS Soil Testing Lab where they will test the soil and send back results that will include pH, potassium and phosphorous levels in the soil. Low phosphorous or potassium levels could be contributing to the weak canopy of the tree. It’s not too late to add these two nutrients to the soil to improve the health of the trees and shrubs.