During the summer months, many people ask “Can I plant now”?  The answer is yes, you can plant any time of the year.  That said, there are some things you need to be aware of.

1) Planting in the hot times of the year requires more watering and more maintenance.  If you have an irrigation system or if we’re getting afternoon thundershowers, that may not be as big of a deal.  But generally speaking, you are going to have to water more when you plant during the summer months.

2) Plants will often “stress” during the hot months.  Sometimes they outright die and won’t come back.  Sometimes they drop all of their foliage, particularly trees, but they are not dead and will re-leaf.  Plants can also stress or wilt during the heat of the day.  Often times they will perk up on their own after the sun goes down and things cool off a little bit.  It also means they may need a little water, which refers to #1 above.

3) Transplanting plants during this time of year is not a good idea.  Probably 8 out of 10 times (maybe more), anything transplanted during the summer will not survive.  Of course, this is heavily dependent on the type of plant and how much of a “green thumb” you have.  Being established in one location, then uprooted and moved to another location, usually doesn’t make a plant happy….kind of like when you are comfortable in the cool of your house and have to get up and go outside in the heat!

4) People often ask specifically about sodding this time of year.  It is perfectly fine to sod this time of year and is when most sodding is done.  It does require a lot more water, but the additional water combined with the hot summer days usually means the sod roots down that much quicker.  I had much rather sod during the growing season as opposed to when sod is dormant and is not actively growing.

So, feel free to plant during the hot times of the year, just be prepared to water regularly until it is established.  Happy planting!!