This week's gardening tips for South Louisiana: After planting bedding plants, water them with a half-strength solution of your favorite water-soluble fertilizer. This gets them off to a good start.When buying pesticides, ask for a recommendation for the least toxic materialthat will do the job and buy the smallest container available. Large-sized containers may take years to use up, and by then the pesticide has often lost its effectiveness.Plant palms through August, as they establish best when planted in warm soil.Select hardier palms, such as cabbage palm, windmill palm, Mediterranean fanpalm, Canary Island date palm, palmetto and needle palm. Water them during dry weather until they become established.Chinch bugs, which are most damaging during hot dry weather, often begin toshow up in late June and July. Look for irregular dead areas that enlarge fairlyrapidly in your lawn. The grass will have a dry, straw-like appearance. Treat with acephate, permethrin, bifenthrin, cyfuthrin or other labeled insecticides to prevent extensive damage. Follow label directions carefully.Cut back early summer-flowering perennials when they finish flowering to keepthe plants looking attractive and, in the case of some perennials, encourage more flowering.When parsley sends up flower stalks, or bolts, its productive season is over.However, the tiny flowers provide attract parasitic wasps that help control other insects. So consider leaving your blooming parsley in place until flowering is over.Dan Gill is a horticulturist with the LSU AgCenter.Love to read about gorgeous gardens? Sign up for NOLA.com's weekly home and garden newsletter, and you'll get Dan Gill's latest tips as well as stories about gorgeous local landscapes. It's easy and free. Just click here. And while you're at it, head over to the NOLA.com'sNew Orleans Homes and Gardens page on Facebook. news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&ct2=us&usg=AFQjCNGQJ5qhItGEk5qe493WVOu_59olNQ&clid=c3a7d30bb8a4878e06b80cf16b898331&ei=8NlnV6CECZDPhAGLqYOgDA&url=www.nola.com/homegarden/index.ssf/2016/06/watering_pesticides_palms_chin.html' - news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&ct2=us&usg=AFQjCNGQJ5qhItGEk5qe493WVOu_59olNQ&clid=c3a7d30bb8a4878e06b80cf16b898331&ei=8NlnV6CECZDPhAGLqYOgDA&url=www.nola.com/homegarden/index.ssf/2016/06/watering_pesticides_palms_chin.html -