July in your garden...

In the heat of July days, little happens in most gardens. There’s still time for more planting on a cool July morning or evening. Just because the weather is HOT, doesn’t mean you can’t plant. July is the perfect time to plant another crop of warm season veggies for a late fall harvest. Perennials, like Iris, that finished blooming for the year, can be divided. Raspberry and Blackberry canes that are done producing can also be trimmed back.

FLOWERING ANNUALS & PERENNIALS

• Dead flowers should be trimmed off plants, unless you are trying to collect seeds from those plants.
• If they are leggy (lean and lanky) may be cut back by one-third safely. The snip often encourages new growth or fresh blooms.

WATERING is THE biggest garden chore during hot, dry summers. Native plants will need less water than flowering annuals and hanging planters.

A quick look at HOW you hydrate your plants may save you some time and water:

• First, MULCH HEAVILY to reduce evaporation and help to conserve moisture. If you haven't already, this is a great time to apply a thick layer of mulch on flower beds and around trees and shrubs 2-3 inches around the base of plants. It reduces weeds, conserves moisture, and prevents disease. Great stuff! Lawn clippings are great mulch in your vegetable garden.
• Give them a LONG DRINK, rather than several light drinks a week (they encourage root growth near the top of the soil where it dries out quickly). A long, thorough watering will soak the top several inches of soil. Your plants will stretch their roots deeper to reach the moist soil and become stronger and hardier as a result.
• Sprinklers, soaker hoses and drip systems are ideal since you can set them and work nearby.

• WATER key during hot weather, especially if you plant another crop of warm-season VEGETABLES, like heat-tolerant and bolt-resistant lettuce, greens, beans, beets, carrots, chard, now for fall harvest. Plan to water newly planted seeds and seedlings more than once a day. Heavily mulch plants to keep the soil moist and cool.

• Deeply water HERBS like Basil, Mint and other water-loving herbs. Herbs like rosemary, lavender, sage, thyme and aloe like it dry, so don't over-water them.

•FRUIT TREES & VINES should be watered heavily within the root zone (under the leaf canopy) when you find the soil is dry at 3 to 4 inches deep. Be sure to support limbs that have a heavy fruit load.

• HARVEST your ripe fruit and vegetables as soon as they are ready. IF they fall to the ground and rot, they will attract insects and cause disease.

•NATIVE PLANTS - Allow natives to go into summer dormancy. Many established natives need little or no water during summer months but most are happier being watered once or twice a month. Spray the landscape by hose, it mimics a summer storm and washes the leaves. Mulch around plants with shredded bark or gravel.

•Please remember our friends, TomatoHornworms. If you choose to hand-pick them from your tomato and pepper leaves, but try to choose a plant they can have to themselves, perhaps near the manure or compost pile. Remember, they become Hummingbird Moths!

Please take care of yourselves while tending your plants. TIPS for YOUR HEALTH & SAFETY: 

• As the weather gets warmer, schedule your gardening for early morning and late afternoon when the air is cooler and the sun not so intense.
• Sun block will protect your skin for hours.
• Drink one glass of cool water each hour you spend working outdoors.
• Eliminate any puddles of stagnant water where Mosquitoes can breed.

Article Compiled by Renee C. Brannigan