Eddie Seagle.

“It was June, and the world smelled of roses. The sunshine was like powdered gold over the grassy hillside.” Maud Hart Lovelace. 

“At midnight, in the month of June, I stand beneath the mystic moon.” Edgar Allan Poe.

Half a year is almost gone or half a year is yet to come. It’s all in how you look at life. A few days ago, we welcomed June into our midst. Now, it’s almost half over. What a wonderful season in the month of June. Here are some helpful hints and support resources to lessen any burden of landscape planning.

Digital gardening journals are very important in documenting items of importance in the landscape. Whether the information is about the placement of a bulb, the color of a flower, the much-wanted plant from across town, an enrichment item that you like, a particular creative design that catches your attention, the amount of rainfall last week, and so on, it is critical to realize such information to better improve how you design and maintain your landscape sites. If not recorded, then the potential for loss of such information is greater and makes your landscaping efforts more difficult! Using digital devices in landscaping is being proactive!

Digital camera: One of the best tools to assist you in documenting landscape information is the digital camera. This instrument is so useful and allows you to digitally document such information as taking pictures of bulbs, flower color so vivid this season on select plants, or photographing a plant that you have seen elsewhere and want in your garden. Also, such photos serve as a reminder about an enrichment item or garden design that catches your attention, locally or globally.

Also, taking pictures of weeds, insects or diseases for identification purposes or photographing a chemical label for your records can be priceless. Using the digital camera for recordkeeping anything and everything from A to Z is such an asset to the home gardener. Always transfer your pictures from the digital camera to an organized folder on your computer hard drive, as well as making a backup. Certain pictures may also be kept in your camera if you need to access them often for quick reference in other situations.

And keep additional charged batteries and memory cards on hand just in case you might need them at the least suspected time and place. Keep your digital camera with you at all times too (smart phones work as well).

Flowering records: An accurate assessment of flowering will allow you to maintain color throughout each season of the year, not just a single season or part of a season. If weaknesses or deficiencies in color appear within a season, such notes will allow correction for the next season or year. If too much color and confusion (smorgasbord effect) distorts the image wanted at one time, then necessary corrections are in order and can be implemented next season or year.

GPS devices: Hand held GPS devices have usefulness in the landscape as they can assist you in determining the sizes of lawn areas and landscape beds in installation and maintenance situations.

Information content: Any type of recordkeeping is an asset to the landscape gardener. The best system is the one that is most user-friendly and easy to access. Drawing sketches on graph paper and making written notes can also be digitally recorded and appropriately filed for future reference.

Planting records: Supplement these notes with plot diagrams and pictures indicating the variety and number of bulbs in each location. This exercise will assist you in estimating the success of each type and calculating the effects of the weather. Also, keep records for all herbaceous and woody planting activities.

Photograph records: Photographs make very effective records. Each photograph should include the date, time, location, special notations, etc. This type of information will become more valuable as you plan each successive season.

Pruning: You may digitally document a specific pruning style or technique on a particular plant or group of plants and share with your landscape contractor in order to achieve that shape and form in your landscape.

Pesticide records: Keep a record of all pesticides used in the landscape. Note the trade name, date, target pest, rate of application, and weather conditions at the time of application. Always follow label directions and file a copy of the label for future reference. Calculate and record the total square feet of lawn and bed areas.

Soil amendments and fertilizers: Record the date, rate of application, analysis, equipment used, liming information, soil tests, results and recommendations, etc. Also, record the weather conditions at the time of application. Calculate and record the total square feet of lawn and bed areas.

Weather: Record such weather information as the last frost in the spring and the first frost in the fall each year, unusually warm or cold weather, storm information and damage, precipitation rates and dates, and very unusual weather phenomena.

Reputable ideas: Attach significant articles, notes, websites, newspaper clippings, etc. to your journal files. Select and attend appropriate seminars and short courses for increased learning opportunities. Know who and when to call for assistance. As you place more information into your records, you will gain a more valuable output through improved quality and curb appeal of your landscape.

Think in terms of native and sustainable plants in the landscape. May this bit of awareness ignite your desire to learn and ask questions, encourage you to further apply your gained knowledge, and bring you to further realize that environmental stewardship and sustainability should be at the foundation of all your home landscape activities.

Keep your hanging baskets and potted plants refreshed with water and food. Remember to feed and water the songbirds, and give your pets the care they need. Also, be on lookout for children playing and bicyclists riding along the streets and roadways throughout our communities as summer draws closer. And remember to safely share the road with motorcycles. Look three times before entering the highway. Drive alert and arrive alive. Don’t drive distracted or impaired, and don’t text while driving. Help the homeless every chance you get. Let’s keep everyone safe and secure while enjoying this month of June!  Next on the agenda, our mission trip to Peru (Jeremiah 29:11, Mark 16:15). Please cover us in prayer.

“The Sovereign Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to go on the heights.” Habakkuk 3:19. “He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.” Mark 16:15.

Seagle is a Sustainability Associate, Golf Environment Organization (Scotland), Agronomist and Horticulturalist, CSI: Seagle (Consulting Services International), Professor Emeritus and Honorary Alumnus (Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College), Distinguished Professor for Teaching and Learning (University System of Georgia) and Short Term Missionary (Heritage Church, Moultrie). Direct inquiries to csi_seagle@yahoo.com.