YOUR GARDEN GUY: Growing moss on statues is easy garden project this week

Grow moss on clay and cement statues and containers. In a blender, combine buttermilk and moss from the garden. Blend until smooth like thick paint. Thoroughly wet the item, then use a paint brush and paint the mixture on the item. Loosely cover the item with clear plastic. Place the item in an area that is full shade all day. Occasionally wet the item. In three to four weeks, moss will begin to grow. Enjoy!

Give tall and unruly impatiens a trim. Cut off 1/3 of the growth. Plants will fill in and start blooming again in a few weeks.

Have you tried abelia “Canyon Creek?” It’s an excellent medium-size shrub that takes part shade to full sun and has attractive green foliage. Disease resistant and hardy, this 4-by-4-foot weeping shrub deserves a place in your landscape.

Now is the time to give all roses and perennials another application of slow release fertilizer. Do this to ensure big fall blooms.

Roses bugging you? If you have had problems with disease and insects, try the systemic products containing fertilizer, fungicide and insecticide. Systemics are applied to the soil where the plant roots distribute the chemicals to the entire plant over an extended period. They are very easy and very effective. As always, use insecticides only as a last resort.

Plant garlic now for harvest next summer. There is nothing like fresh garlic added to all kinds of delicious meals -- feel free to share them with me!

Irises need a little attention this month. Do not cut all of the leaves into a fan shape. Instead, simply cut out any unsightly leaves. Dig and divide them now. Discard any plants with disease and insect problems.

Don’t throw those egg shells away. Bake them in the oven for 10 minutes at 350 degrees. Crush and scatter them around plants that slugs and snails like to eat. The egg shells cut these pests, and naturally repel them.

Prune hydrangeas after the flowers fade. Prune to a leaf on the stem. Try the new hydrangea “Endless Summer.” They repeat their blooms after being pruned.

Todd Goulding provides residential landscape design consultations. Contact him at www.fernvalley.com or 478-345-0719.

This story was originally published August 19, 2015 at 3:13 PM with the headline "YOUR GARDEN GUY: Growing moss on statues is easy garden project this week ."