Hyams Garden Center and Accent Store

Serving Greater Charleston Area with Quality, Variety & Professionalism since 1981

Gardening Tips

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Summer Watering For Your Landscape

Watering your plants in the sweltering summer heat can often times be a challenge! Many gardeners resort to watering for a shorter period of time and find they have to give their plants and lawn a refill more often. If you want to see your landscape flourish with beautiful grass and gorgeous flowers, now is the time to teach yourself, and your plants, good watering practices!

When watering your plants and lawn, the ideal result is for them to be as self-sufficient as possible. The aim of a savvy gardener is to water deeper and less often. This method will help roots grow deeper and thus access even more water farther down where it’s less likely to dry out.  Watering deeper sends the roots where you want them to go, and when you water less frequently, it makes the roots go searching for this “buried treasure.” In comparison, if you tend to water shallow and more often, you will end up with a shallow root system.

If you’ve been watering more frequently and for a shorter period of time, try retraining your plants and lawn by beginning to water half as often, but twice as long when you do water. It may take some time, but eventually you’ll find yourself watering less and less often with a picturesque landscape to show off your hard work!

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Grow your Berries in Containers!

Growing your own berries is an ideal way to save money vs. buying them from the store and can be a very rewarding summertime treat! One of the easiest ways to care for these different berries is by growing them in a container. Doing this gives you the ability to control the soil type the plant needs as well as protecting it from subfreezing temperatures in the winter. All berries enjoy at least 6 to 8 hours of sunlight a day as well as a good draining soil and container.

In choosing a pot, you may want to decide to go with a plastic container since they hold in moisture well but not heat, they are less expensive and are very light weight in comparison to other containers. Berries can be a favorite treat not only for you, but for birds as well. Keep an eye out when berries start forming; you may need to use a bird-friendly netting to cover the plants.

Blueberries are one of the easiest berries to care for in that they are highly resistant to pests and diseases. They require the lowest soil pH of all berries ranging between 4.5 and 6.0 depending on variety. To ensure a good harvest, choose two different varieties to plant since blueberries need to cross-pollinate. Blueberries don’t enjoy having “wet feet” so choose a pot and soil that will drain well.

Blackberries are extremely hardy plants and are great for container gardening. When choosing your container, choose one that is at least 12 inches wide and 12 inches deep and plant only one per pot. Using a soil such as the Pro-Mix Outdoor is a good choice for planting blackberries since they need a pH of 5.0 to 6.5. Blackberries can be susceptible to a few pests and disease such as spider mites, stinkbugs, orange rust, and powdery mildew.

Raspberries enjoy as much water as they can get and are easily grown using a 5-gallon plastic container. You may want to drill a few addition holes in the bottom of the pot, however, since raspberries don’t like to be waterlogged and this situation could lead to diseases. As with blackberries, using a similar soil is a good choice for planting raspberries with a pH of 5.6 to 6.2. Keep an eye out for pests and diseases that can attack raspberries: cane borers and tarnished plant bugs as well as raspberry mosaic and verticillium wilt.

Strawberries are one of the easiest fruits to grow since they practically take care of themselves as long as their basic needs are met. They grow well in most any container that is at least 8 inches deep (if sitting on the ground) or 12 inches wide (if hanging). When planting, use a good potting soil and plant only deep enough that the area where the leaves begin growing is flush with the surface of the soil. More than likely, the only problem you may encounter with strawberries are slugs. If your plants are on ground level, they will be more susceptible to slugs, but a trick to deterring these pests is to line the top of the container with copper tubing or strips on the outside.

Stop by Hyams Nursery for more information on berries and other mouthwatering plants such as the muscadine and scuppernong grapes!

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Add Fragrance to your Home and Garden

If you are one of those people who enjoy stepping out into your yard and smelling the sweet scent of blooming plants, this is a post just for you!

First, here’s a rundown of just how your sniffer picks up those tantalizing aromas. Odors in the air are picked-up by the small hairs that reside in the nose and then converts them into electrical impulses that the brain can process.

There are over 10,000 different odors the brain recognizes; however, no two people recognize the exact same odor.

Keep in mind when you visit Hyams Garden Center that even the weather can alter our sense of smell. The effects of fragrance has been shown to reduce anxiety, improve your physical performance, and act as aromatherapy.

There are a number of plants that produce a breathtaking aroma along with adding beautiful additions to your home and garden. These include: the Confederate Jasmine, the Tea Olive, Magnolias, Honeysuckle, Marigolds, Daphne, and the Gardenia.

For a larger listing of fragrant flowers for your yard, visit the Hyams Garden Store!

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Hummingbirds in your Garden

It is very easy to attract hummingbirds to your garden, window box or flower pots!

The most significant thing that you can do to attract hummingbirds is to plant flowering annuals, perennials, vines, shrubs and trees.

Hummingbirds are attracted to BRIGHT colors like red, yellow and orange tubular shaped flowers; other flower shapes and colors should not be overlooked. Plant your flowers in small clusters, plant vines on a trellis at the back of your garden with tall growing flowers in front of it and put shorter plants in the very front of your garden bed. A variety of flowers and blooming times of flowers will provide a well-rounded diet for hummingbirds as they reside in South Carolina.

Another major source of food for hummingbirds is small insects and spiders that are attracted to flowers as well. Hummingbirds appear in South Carolina from late March to early April and stay until September, early October and sometimes they even hang around into December.