WEST POINT – Jeff Hairston didn”t know it was going to be such a hit. But in the past few days, people have been flocking to see the blooming field of sunflowers on the hill next to his house on Church Hill Road in West Point.
“I”ve been surprised by the response to it,” said Hairston, 22, a senior land and construction management major at Mississippi State University. “I just did it to make the side of the hill look nice, but everywhere you go, people are talking about it.”
Hairston got his start in lawn care and mowing when he was a sophomore in high school, but he stuck with it and now owns his own business, Turf Masters LLC. He planted the sunflowers in May as a way to beautify the road. That, and it”s easier this way.
“Really, I didn”t want to mow it any more,” he laughed. “It was something that would look nice, and it”s a high-traffic area.”
The field of blooming yellow flowers might inspire others to undertake beautification projects of their own. But many casual gardeners may not realize that, at this point in the summer, isn”t the best time to plant.
“Now is kind of the worst time to be planting stuff just because of the immediate shock it”s going to go through,” said John May, a landscape designer with Smith Landscaping in Columbus.
Fundamentally, one of the best things a gardener can do is improve the quality of the soil, May said.
“Something that would be seasonally appropriate for future landscaping beds is to spray out the weeds and get a good kill,” May said. He recommended RoundUp, a popular weed killer that isn”t as effective on weeds after the temperature drops below 70 degrees.
After spraying, cultivate the dead plants into the soil and make sure the seeds don”t have a chance to germinate. Then, lightly mulch the area and incorporate organic matter like peat moss or composted cow manure to beef up the soil.
May had tips for grass care, too. It”s important to minimize stress during the hottest part of the summer.
“One of the ways most people tend to stress their yards is to mow them too low and not allow enough thatch buildup to shade the roots.”
Thatch creates a shadier environment for earthworms and microbes that enrich the dirt. May recommended that people foster whatever is already growing in their yards. His general rule is to water longer but less often. It”s much better to water for 45 minutes every three to five days, he said, because watering more frequently for shorter amounts of time trains plants to put down shallow roots because they don”t have to dig deep to find water. As a result, the root systems aren”t as strong.
In September, when temperatures cool, and there is more rain, the preparation done in the summer will pay off, and it will finally be time to plant fall and winter flowers.
In gardening, patience is key.
“Right now, our biggest sellers are plants that are flowering, but it”s really not the best time to buy them,” May said. “Bare sticks aren”t too glamorous, but it”s all about looking ahead.”
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Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 31 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
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Jeff Hairston’s sunflowers Photo by: Seth Putnam
