Are you planning on putting a stone path in your lawn or garden? If so, you've got a great opportunity for some great garden design. Don't just plunk those stones atop your sod! There are many low-growing perennial plants that are just great between stones in a path, and will add more personality to your garden than mere grass.

To help you select the best ground cover, consider:

• The amount of sunlight reaching your path (full sun, partial shade, full shade), because different plants thrive under different conditions.
• The amount of traffic the plants will need to endure. Light traffic means the plants will be stepped on once or twice a week. Moderate traffic is once a day. And heavy traffic is similar to walking on your lawn several times a day.
• The type of soil (poor or rich) and moisture conditions (wet or dry).
• Appearance: plant height, texture and color. If the path is heavily traveled, or people will be running on it, keep the plant height low, or use a plant that bends easily (you don't want people tripping over the plants).

Improve the growing conditions when you carve out the soil for your new stone path. It's difficult to grow anything in a trampled area. The soil gets so compacted that roots cannot deliver water and nutrients to the plant. Add good drainage as well as a layer of topsoil at least 1 in. deep around the stones so your ground cover can thrive.

Finally, help your new ground cover prosper with a weekly soaking (the plants need to stay moist) and a weekly hand weeding. And if you'd like to keep the plants short between the stones, consider plants that tolerate mowing, such as thyme and ajuga.

By Tamara Galbraith

Summer's in full swing, and your previously glorious flowers are starting to look a little ragged around the edges.

Many plants will benefit--and even rebloom--after a mid-summer session of "deadheading," that is, removing spent flowers and/or stems to promote new growth.

Here's a quick guide of deadheading techniques for different types of flowers:

Pinch off individual dead flowers on balloonflower, bellflower, daylily, delphinium, foxglove, hibiscus, hollyhock. (Also included: some irises that will rebloom in the fall, depending on the variety.)

Do an overall snip of dead blooms (about 2" below the flower) on blanketflower, columbine, globe thistle, goldenrod, geranium, Jacob's ladder, salvia, coreopsis/tickseed.

Cut the entire spent flower stem off to either a side shoot or to the plant's base on baby's breath, bleeding heart, cardinal flower, catmint, coral bells, foamflower, gaura, Jupiter's beard, lavender, lupine, mullein, painted daisy, pincushion flower, coneflower, Shasta daisy, speedwell, spiderwort, Stoke's aster.

(Listening to The Grateful Dead while deadheading is, of course, optional.)

Lawn rust is a common lawn fungus disease that tends to leave an orange cast over the entire lawn. A close-up examination will show orange spores on most of the individual grass blades, with the rust coming off easily on your fingers. Lawn rust is most prevalent when you have a combination of warm and humid weather.

While not considered a serious lawn disease by itself, if left alone, rust can weaken your lawn and make it vulnerable to attacks from more serious diseases in addition to making it look bad. Fortunately lawn rust is fairly easy to get rid of through a combination of cultural and chemical controls.

First apply a granulated lawn fungicide to your grass. Then, make sure your lawn is fed every two months during summer with a balanced lawn food. Keep your mower blades on a higher setting and always water your lawn between 4:00 a.m. and 8:00 a.m. to reduce evaporation and wet blades that can attract disease. In addition, bag your lawn clippings until the disease has been controlled and cleared up.

Follow these simple instructions and you should have your lawn looking healthy and beautiful in no time!

For most pool owners, the landscaping surrounding it can be the finishing touch to the backyard oasis. Plants provide beauty and privacy around a swimming pool.

They also can be used to hide swimming pool equipment and help swimming pools to blend more naturally with the surrounding environment.

Your goal should be to create a landscape that frames your pool and makes it the focal point of your yard. Make sure to incorporate some taller plants that will be able to form privacy screens around the pool area. And don't forget to select plants that will be low maintenance and use less water. This will give you more time to enjoy your pool.

There are a number of considerations every pool owner should be aware of before selecting plants. Remember that your pool and the deck surrounding it reflect a tremendous amount of sun. Make sure to choose plants that can take it. Also, pick plants that either don't have much litter or that drop all their leaves at one time so you only have to clean up once a year. Constant leaf drop will require constant cleaning.

Use low water-use plants that will not require heavy irrigation around the pool. Too much water can damage pool equipment and potentially lift your concrete decking. Plan for year-round color and select plants with showy flowers that don't attract bees.

Try to avoid planting lawns near swimming pools. This will help keep grass clippings out of the water. If planting trees, select varieties with non-invasive root systems to avoid damage to deck or pool.

It's hard to avoid splashing around a pool, so any nearby plants will probably be exposed to the effects of pool chemicals. How your plants are affected will depend upon the type of chemicals you use. As a general rule, plants with thick leaves are more likely to be resistant to chemicals and pool salts.

A poolside landscape will enhance the beauty and elegance of your pool. By softening the edges of your pool, you can make it blend in more naturally with the rest of the garden. We have a great selection of plants that are perfect for poolside planting. Stop by and our staff of nursery professionals will be happy to help get you started.

• Be careful of the heat. Wear a hat and sunscreen; drink plenty of water. Try to do outside work in the morning or evening, when it is cooler.
• Be sure to trim trees and vines growing near swimming pools.
• Choose crape myrtles.
• Clean off the stems from agapanthus and daylilies that have already bloomed.
• Control fireblight by removing disfigured branches and twigs.
• Control pests and diseases that cause dead brown patches on lawns.
• Control pests on fuchsias.
• Control rose pests and diseases.
• Control white grubs on lawns.
• Cut back your petunias in mid-August to keep them flowering.
• Cut off the suckers from deciduous fruit trees.
• Do not fertilize deciduous fruit trees.
• Feed fuchsias, tuberous begonias, water lilies, cymbidiums, ferns and tropicals.
• Feed warm-season lawns. Feed cool-season lawns only if they show signs of yellowing.
• If you started biennials from seed in July, fertilize them with fish emulsion at weekly intervals.
• Fertilize roses with Dr. Earth Rose and Flower Fertilizer.
• Give fuchsias a light pruning.
• Control weeds by mulching, cultivating, and hand-pulling.
• Plant bananas and palms.
• Prune and train wisteria.
• Prune and train your espaliers through the growing season.
• Pull out dead crabgrass if you have previously treated it with weed killer.
• Purchase and plant succulents, cacti, and euphorbias.
• Remove dead and dying foliage from date palms.
• Remove suckers from roses.
• Stop pinching chrysanthemums.
• Study your irrigation system; check for malfunctioning heads. On drip irrigation systems, flush filters and headers.
• Transplant palms.
• Water lawns deeply at least 2-3 times a week. Water cool-season lawns more shallowly and frequently.
  

The pesky little insect has ruined countless hikes, BBQ's and campouts. This vector has literally killed millions of people throughout history, and still affects millions around the world today. As daunting as this sounds, there are steps you can take to co-exist and stay healthy.

What attracts the mosquito? After 30 million years of evolution, the mosquito has perfected its hunting skills. The mosquito uses three sensors to attract its prey:

• Chemical sensors: Mosquitoes sense carbon dioxide and lactic acid up to 100 feet away. Unfortunately, we give off these gases as part of our normal breathing.
• Visual sensors: Clothing that contrasts with the background enables the mosquito to "zero in" on you.
• Heat sensors: Mosquitoes detect heat, so they can find warm-blooded mammals very easily.

The best thing you can do to control mosquitoes is to use a mosquito repellant, such as Bonide Mosquito Beater Ready to Spray, and eliminate standing water around your home. A mosquito can lay up to 250 eggs at one time in still water, and they can hatch as fast as 7 days. Check your gutters frequently for collected water (especially if they sag and aren't level), along with birdbaths, buckets or boggy areas of the garden.

Burning citronella candles, using an electronic bug zapper, or spraying surfaces near entertainment areas with a mosquito barrier spray like Envirepel Garlic Oil will also help kill, or at least repel, mosquitoes. We also highly recommend using Mosquito Dunks if you have areas of standing water that you can't drain.

The West Nile Virus was first introduced in the U.S. in 1999. It has since spread to almost every state, with over 3,000 cases in 2006. Diligence is your best protection. Stay indoors at dawn and dusk hours, wear pants and long-sleeves shirts if possible, avoid any standing water, and repair broken screens.

Although it can be a constant battle, by incorporating the use of insect repellents and breeding prevention (eliminating standing water), mosquitoes and the diseases they carry can be reduced, making the outdoors more accessible and enjoyable for everyone.

We also sell popular Bug Off citronella wrist bands they really work, as well as Liquid Net with citronella, cedar, lemongrass, and peppermint oils (in spray and towlettes).

Can I save my plants that have shriveled up from the heat?

Answer:
That depends how long your plants have been suffering. Plants don't die from heat exposure, but rather from a lack of water to combat the drying effects of the heat.

(Think walking in the desert without water.)

Plants need moisture to keep the cells in their leaf tissues healthy. If there is no moisture for the plant to take up, the cells will burst and the foliage will start to shrivel and burn in the areas farthest from the root ball (source of water) and work its way towards the center of the plant.

When plants are first stressed, they will show you by wilting. When watered within a few hours of wilting, most plants will perk up and look just fine again. They may be saying a few choice words under their breath at you, but all will be forgiven. But if your plant is shriveled and burned, it means your plant was neglected and you could be facing five to ten for plant homicide.

If the plant is in the ground, water the root ball with your hose. Turn the water so that the hose is only slowly dripping. Water for 1-2 hours or until the root ball looks fully saturated.

In a container, try to soak entire container in a bucket of water until it has fully absorbed enough water and the container is heavy again. Then continue back on a regular watering schedule. Do not fertilize your stressed plant to "help" it recover.

If the plant is still alive, it should show some new growth within 7-14 days. At that point, prune off any dead foliage above where the new growth is appearing. Once you have at least 3 inches of new growth, you may give it a light feeding.