Add new plants throughout the summer

Installation of plant material can continue through the summer. Try to keep plants moist before planting to minimize stress on the new plant material.

Containerized plants can sometimes be difficult to remoisten if they are planted dry. Be sure that they have been watered before planting. Plants that are grown in containers have a lighter growing medium that will generally dry more quickly than your garden soil; thus they will need more frequent watering until their roots grow out into the surrounding soil.

Newly installed balled-and-burlapped plants need about 1 inch of water a week. The amount and frequency of watering will vary depending on the soil conditions in your garden and weather conditions. Sandy, very well-drained soils will dry out more quickly than heavier clay loam soils.

• Groom your borders to improve plant appearance and maximize flower production.

Gently remove dried or yellowed bulb foliage since the bulbs are going dormant and have already stored nutrients for next year's flowers. Prune off spent flowers (deadhead) on your annuals and perennials to encourage them to continue flowering. Remove yellow foliage to keep the plants neat and tidy.

• Prune out water sprouts (vigorous shoots on the inside of the tree and on the trunk) and suckers (vigorous shoots growing from the base of the plant). Crabapples and hawthorns tend to send out lots of water sprouts and these trees can benefit from this type of pruning.

• Tim Johnson is director of horticulture at Chicago Botanic Garden, chicagobotanic.org.