July Gardening Tips

Garden Maintenance

Watering and pest control are top of the "To Do" list.
Water after midnight and before 10 a.m. to reduce the chance of fungal infection and to conserve moisture.
Pinch off the top pair of leaves on all chrysanthemum shoots longer than 5" to keep plants bushy and produce more flowers.
Cut spent berry canes to the ground; tie up and fertilize new canes.
Cut canna stems to the ground as they finish flowering; new stems will continue to appear.
Prune fruit bushes again.
Harvest vegetables promptly to encourage continued production.
Dig and divide over-crowded irises and bulbs when the foliage dies off.
Remove spent flowers of daylilies, roses, and other bloomers a they finish flowering.
Fertilize roses.
Cut back lavender after flowering to promote a second bloom.
Trim faded crape myrtle flowers for more fall bloom.
Pick up dropped fruit to prevent brown rot. Clean around trees.
Pick caterpillars off vegetables and flowers. Spray with Bt if needed.
Spray off aphids with water or use insecticidal soap.
Pull weeds when they first appear.

Flowers

Direct seed annuals, such as alyssum, celosia, sunflower, zinnias, and marigolds.

Vegetables

At higher, cooler elevations, direct seed summer squash, bush beans, summer savory, and kohlrabi.
If fruit isn't setting on your melons and squash, use a soft brush to hand-pollinate the flowers and increase production. Use the brush to gather pollen from male flowers, then brush it onto the female flower. (Female flowers have a tiny embryo fruit at the base of their petals.)