Summer is quickly approaching. Now is the time to exchange cold weather annuals for warm season annuals such as marigold, pentas, periwinkle, portulaca, and purslane.

Perennial plants should really be showy right now, but to keep them that way, dead-head any spent flowers to keep them blooming. Consider planting a new bed in your garden with hardy, droughttolerant plants that can survive the summer with little or no water.

With anything you plant now for the summer be sure to add at least a two-inch layer of mulch to help conserve water and prevent weeds. Insect populations are at their peak now, but remember not all bugs are bad bugs so be careful what pesticides you use. You will want to keep the good bugs in your garden. The lawn probably needs to be mowed at least once a week now so keep those lawn mower blades sharpened to avoid damaging the grass with a dull blade.

Donna Fossum, SAWS conservation planner