Garden Center at San Luis Obispo #1052

The Home Depot 4th of July Sale
Welcome the Fourth with the yard of your dreams. Our huge 4th of July Sale can help you do it. Freshly trimmed bushes, bright blooms punctuating your gardens, and a gorgeous lawn that's growing lush and green can make your great outdoors feel like home. It's time to enjoy the festivities with your friends and family. With a yard like this, it's easy to create holiday memories to look back on — whether it's a day-long feast of food cooked up just right on a new gas grill or a luxurious day of lounging on patio furniture.



As we stretch into summer, your garden and landscaping will weather more intense heat and UV rays than earlier in the season. You'll need to consider how to keep things cool with irrigation and shade. Just like we can get sunburned, grass can get scorched and trees can lose their leaves prematurely. Let us help. At your Garden Center in San Luis Obispo, we've got what you need to make it through the hotter months.

Grow a Healthy Lawn
If you're worried that your lawn has dried out blades of grass, don't worry just yet. It's possible that you've got a cool season grass that goes to sleep and turns brown in the heat of the summer. If that's the case, it won't be a patchy brown, but brown all over. Give a grass blade a gentle tug to check if it's still got live roots: If it comes right out, the grass is probably dead and will need to be replaced with new sod or grass seed. If the piece of grass doesn't pull right out, it's dormant. That means it's resting but still alive underground. Water dormant grass deeply once or twice every week, but don't fertilize it.

For warm-season grass that stays green in the summer, water a bit every few days and deeply once a week. The amount of water should add up to about an inch, more or less, each week. Avoid overwatering, and allow the lawn to dry out after heavy rains before you get out the garden hose or sprinkler again. Water your yard when the top two inches of soil is dry to the touch. You can check with your finger. This might happen quicker than you'd think during periods of drought or heat waves. It's ok to let it grow taller this time of the year, as cutting it too short isn't healthy for this kind of lawn.

Care for Your Trees and Shrubs
When you're making sure your garden is watered, don't forget about the shrubs and trees. They may need less watering than vegetable plants or delicate flowers, but they can still get dry and parched in the summer heat. It's not hard to learn how to water trees and bushes — just be sure to aim the water at the roots. It'll help prolong the greenery and blossoms and keep it from drying out.

Also, check for damaged areas on the shrubs and trees. Pests can wreak havoc on your greenery if you don't catch them in time. Look for a network of raised lines on the bark, spots on leaves or bark, or holes in leaves. When your leaves look like lace, insects or caterpillars are eating them. Spots may indicate many issues ranging from bugs to fungus. Those scar-like lines on tree bark could mean your tree is infected with borers, an insect that lays eggs inside the bark and then burrows out after it hatches. Any of these issues should be researched and cared for as soon as possible, as a severe case may kill part or all of your bushes or trees.

Grow Your Own Herbs
For savory flavors to accent your homegrown produce, add herbs. It's easy to learn how to grow herbs indoors, but you can raise herbs outdoors, too. If you grow herbs outdoors, stick to heat-loving herbs that'll endure the summer temperatures, and consider a hanging herb garden.

Planting herbs in the ground can be tricky, as many of them — especially mint — are invasive and will take over your yard. So grow them in small decorative pots on a sunny porch, window sill, or even in wall planters. Herbs also work well in a hydroponic garden, which means they don't grow in regular black dirt. Instead, they grow in a mixture of perlite, sand, or rock chips.

Trees as Natural Shade
Trees are a stunning and natural source of shade, They can change the look of your yard. Whether you plant a few trees as accents, a few more to bear fruit, or a whole mini-forest, keep in mind this is a long-term commitment. When they're healthy, trees live many decades — and some for hundreds of years. Before you shop, plan so you know how to plant a tree, whether they're evergreens, deciduous tree saplings, or more mature trees.

Although trees framing a house may look picturesque, you should research the specifics of those trees before you plant them. Consider how far the root ball extends outward, the full-grown size of the trees, and how deep the taproots go. Trees will always find the easiest source of water, so be sure to plant them away from the water lines so they won't be damaged by moisture-seeking roots. As majestic as trees are, it's important to also consider how and where they'd fall if a severe storm or disease weakened them. If you've planned accordingly, found trees you love, and know the perfect places to put them, get planting. That way, you can enjoy natural shade and the soothing sound of leaves rustling in the breeze sooner rather than later.

Find Your Summertime Landscaping Supplies Today
No matter if your perfect summer includes gardening, relaxing, grilling, or finishing your outdoor DIY projects, we've got the supplies you need to keep your days flowing with ease. Make the most of these early mornings and lengthy evenings to enjoy all the season has to offer. Shop online at your leisure, on our mobile app anywhere you like, or in the aisles of your San Luis Obispo store.