This article was written by Greg F., a member of the St. Louis Rehabbers Club. You can contact him at thewatershed@juno.com.

Almost anything that gets pruned can be pruned now (end of July). The key being the timing. If you have Azaleas, Rhodis, lilacs, Viburnum, now IS the time to do it. Now (before Labor day) will allow the plants enough time to set new flower buds before winter. It will also allow the evergreens' new growth to harden off.

If you dead head (remove the spent blooms) from your perennials, they will spend energy growing roots and new offsets instead of producing seeds. Several perennials will stop blooming if you don't deadhead.

Lawns should be mowed higher now, esp if you don't water. It's closing in on 2 weeks without rain, so if you have new plantings, water them. A longer trickle hose is much better than a 2 minute hose spray.

The deeper the water (soaking, not spraying) the deeper the roots (better health and drought tolerance). And esp for lawns, The taller the shoots, the deeper the roots. By spraying, you are encouraging shallow root growth (roots where the water is), and if you stop watering, those shallow roots will burn up and die.

Remember spring, when it would rain for 8 hrs? Your plants still need that. 1 Inch a week. I recommend splitting that into 2-3 sessions, but if you did it all in one shot, that would be OK as well.

Pots and planters may need watering Every Day. The water absorbing gels DO work, and I'd recommend them for pots. Just because the water comes out the holes, doesn't mean you have done enough. Spend some time, bring a glass of wine...

Spirea, Hack it down, and if you do it now, you'll have new growth and new flower buds for next spring. I would not go lower than 8-12". Same way with Forsythia.

Wisteria, Who knows. They are finicky in many ways. I have heard, root pruning, shock, prune 1/2, fertilize, don't fertilize. I would not chop them down, but they certainly be cut back. I have a good pruning manual, that is now packed. Check the Missouri Botanical Garden website at http://www.mobot.org.

Roses, you want to be sure that they have airflow. Prune out the center of the shrub. It's hard to describe, but you want a vase/bowl shape, not a column, and you want the center open. If you examine the nascent buds, prune the stalks back to an outward facing bud.