July's Gardening To-Do List

The first item on your July gardening to-do list? Give annuals a midsummer trim to keep the summer flower show going. Cut stems back by roughly 20%. This causes the plant to branch, which means more stems and more flowers. This technique works with many annuals, including petunias (shown), angelonia, sweet alyssum, million bells and lantana. After trimming, water and fertilize plants by scattering some slow-release fertilizer onto soil.

The secret to a healthy summer lawn is to let grass grow longer. Taller grass helps shade soil, which reduces water evaporation and helps crowd out weeds. Taller grass also has deeper roots, which yields greater drought tolerance. Learn what kind of turf you have, and check with your local extension office to determine the proper mowing height. Time mowing to remove just one-third of total grass blade length. Vary your mowing patterns to avoid compacting soil.

Summer heat spoils hummingbird nectar quickly. Clean and refill feeders regularly, maybe as often as every two to three days. If the solution is cloudy, it needs to be replaced. A simple recipe for hummingbird nectar is four parts water to one part sugar, or 1 cup water to 1/4 cup sugar. Boiling the solution isn’t necessary, but will slow fermentation by at least 24 hours. Avoid using red dye. In areas with desert heat, water evaporation can quickly concentrate your 4:1 solution to 3:1 or 2:1, which will cause hummers to avoid the feeder.

In established strawberry beds, choose the plants that will bear next year’s crop. First, select the largest, strongest plants. Second, remove any remaining plants — including runners — that grew over the last year. Third, water and fertilize these plants the rest of the growing season. Mulch exposed soil to help retain moisture through summer heat. Tending plants well this year is the secret to a heavy berry crop next year.

Make the most of irrigation by watering in the early morning or evening, times of day when water is more likely to soak into the soil and less likely to evaporate. Soaker hoses or drip tubes deliver water directly to soil, resulting in less loss. For most non-drought tolerant trees and shrubs, deep watering every 10 to 14 days is sufficient. When buying a sprinkler, look for one that allows you to change the water pattern easily. A turret sprinkler like this is perfect for small or odd-shaped spaces.

One of the best tools you can use in your garden is mulch. It moderates soil temperatures, slows water evaporation from soil, shades plant roots and helps suppress weeds. Midsummer isn’t too late to add mulch to your garden. It’s never too late. How thick should mulch be? When using shredded bark, a 2-inch-thick layer will do the trick in most areas. In the warmest zones where mulch decomposes quickly, a 3-inch layer is helpful.

You want the hanging basket that’s the envy of the block? Here’s the secret: a July Fourth trim followed by fertilizer. Trim stems back to even with the bottom of the pot, scatter some slow-release fertilizer across the top of the pot, and water. If your basket is a Supertunia like this, give plants liquid plant food every other watering. Yes, it’s a lot, but Supertunias are bred to grow. Feed them well, and your basket could look like this come Labor Day, which is when this photo was snapped.

Those dark, sunken spots on the bottom of tomatoes are blossom end rot. It's so common that most gardeners just call it BER for short. It's not a disease but a symptom of calcium deficiency. It occurs due to uneven watering (wet-dry cycles in soil), too-high nitrogen or root damage. You can eat tomatoes with BER — just cut the bottoms off. For a quick fix, treat plants with a calcium spray, following directions carefully. Keep soil consistently moist; using mulch around tomato plants helps. Test soil when tomato harvest ends. Amend as needed.

Japanese beetles invade gardens and planting beds in summer, feasting on overripe fruits and dying flowers. When you spy these beetles, fill a container with soapy water (dish soap works well). Add a shot of vinegar if you want. Slip your container beneath beetles and gently knock them into the suds. They’ll quickly drown. This same technique works with stinkbugs. Wear gloves if you don't want to touch the insects.

Walk through your garden at least twice a week with a pair of clippers and bucket, cutting off faded or dead blooms. This process is called “deadheading,” and it’s one of the secrets to a garden packed with flower power. Deadheading encourages many plants to form more flower buds and helps prevent dying petals from harboring insects or disease. Of course, if you want certain plants to set seed for saving or beckoning birds, don’t deadhead those.

Transform your cucumber and onion crops into delicious bread and butter pickles for garden-fresh winter eating. Canning pickles using a hot water bath is easy, and you can pickle anything, including green beans, peppers, summer squashes, onions, cauliflower, strawberries, green tomatoes and even watermelon rind. Pickling can yield a sweet, sour or hot pickle. It’s a great way to preserve the harvest. When storing home-canned produce, remove the metal ring to prevent rust and a false seal.

It’s still okay to tuck annuals into pots or the garden. Just make sure you choose ones that thrive in summer heat, such as petunia (shown), gomphrena, vinca, zinnia, portulaca or marigold. When planting annuals in summer, tackle the job in the evening, so plants can settle during cooler overnight hours. Shade plants the first few days after planting, especially in high heat zones. Water new annuals daily — both morning and evening — until they stop wilting.

Collect storm water runoff from a home, garage or shed roof with a rain barrel. Install the largest set-up you can afford, and place it conveniently so the water is close to your garden. Choose a barrel that’s enclosed or has a lid to keep wildlife or children from falling in. Elevating a barrel improves the gravity flow of water, or add a pump to remove water. If you’re relying on gravity flow, make sure the rain barrel spigot is high enough to accommodate your watering container.

High summer marks bulb sale season. The right time to plant many bulbs, including spring favorites like crocus, tulips and daffodils, is fall. Placing a pre-order in summer can usually snag you a pretty good discount. If you’ve always wanted to splurge on a stunning spring bulb display, take advantage of summer sales, ordering bulbs in wholesale quantities for volume pricing.

As onions grow, the plants naturally transfer carbohydrates from the leaves into the bulbs. When the green tops fall over, it’s a sign that the neck of the onion simply doesn’t have enough carbs left to support the weight of the green leaves. When leaves fall over, it’s time to harvest. Pull onions gently from soil, letting them lie in the sun for a day or two, or shifting them to a shaded porch or open shed. Letting onions dry, so that moisture evaporates from roots and leaves, is called curing. Once necks are dry, clip tops and roots, then transfer to a dry, well-ventilated area for storage.

Take time to scrub outdoor furniture a couple times through the summer. Wash it according to manufacturer instructions, and let it fully dry before replacing outdoor cushions. Clean cushions according to manufacturer instructions, too. A pressure washer makes quick work of cleaning furniture, but be careful using it on wood to avoid damaging the finish. In most cases, simple household cleaners and a little elbow grease yield good results.

Continue to weed throughout summer. Small weeds are always easier to pull, but if your weed issue is overwhelming, start with ones that are setting seed first. That helps reduce next year’s weed issues. If you have a particular problem weed, figure out what it is using online resources, and research how best to control it. Sometimes a weed that resembles grass might need a specific type of chemical for effective kill. An example is nutgrass or sedge. The best time to weed is after a rain, when soil is soft.

If you want to lure pollinator insects to your garden, including lawn grub-eating beauties like this blue-winged wasp, grow a patch of mint and let it bloom. Mint flower spikes feature many small blossoms, the kind that pollinating insects can’t resist. Expect to see bees, beneficial wasps, flower flies, sweat bees and butterflies. If you want to harvest mint for drying, do so before flowers appear. Once blossoms start to form, the flavor profile of leaves shifts toward bitter.

Cool-season lawns (bluegrass, fescue and rye) need about 3 inches of water weekly, while warm-season turf (Bermuda or St. Augustine) needs 2 to 2-1/2 inches of water weekly. For efficient irrigation, apply water several times per week to achieve those goals, instead of hitting the mark in one watering session. Cool-season grasses go dormant during drought. If that happens, don’t water it to green it up unless you’re committed to watering for the duration of the drought. The lawn will naturally awaken from dormancy when fall rains arrive

If you’re unable to have a compost pile, you can still compost as long as you have a place to dig. Burying food scraps and yard trimmings is known as trench composting or composting-in-place. Dig a hole 12 to 24 inches deep or for a trench, go about 18 inches deep. Add your compostables, and top everything off with a generous layer of garden soil. Eventually, your buried materials will decompose. This method works great in an existing garden area as a simple way to continuously amend soil. A post-hole digger works well to excavate a hole.

In Southern regions, plant veggies now for autumn harvest. The list includes cabbage, collards, mustard and turnip greens and parsley. It’s also the right time to tuck tomatoes and peppers into the garden for fall harvest. If existing tomato and pepper plants are healthy, prune them lightly before giving them an all-purpose fertilizer. This jump-starts fresh growth that will yield in fall.

In many zones, summer storms can really dump the rain. As tomato roots absorb so much water so fast, tomatoes literally split their skins. This problem occurs with cherry tomatoes especially, but happens with all types. If there’s a storm in the forecast, gather any tomatoes that are ripe and get them inside before rain arrives. This same principle applies to many fruits and vegetables. If a berry, squash or melon is ripe, pick it before a storm.

Count on native wildflowers to bring color to summer gardens, especially as temperatures climb. Visit local botanic gardens or Master Gardener display gardens to discover native plants adapted to your region. Purple coneflower (Echinacea) is a summer classic, and thanks to the efforts of plant breeders, is available in a rainbow of colors. Other great summer wildflowers to consider include joe-pye weed (Eupatorium), prairie winecups (Callirhoe involucrata) or butterfly weed (Asclepias).

Kale and cabbage worms go together like peanut butter and jelly. When leaves start showing tell-tale signs of caterpillar feasting, it’s time to act. Hand-pick caterpillars, dropping them into soapy water or adding them to a birdfeeder dish. An easy way to control caterpillars is spraying with Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis), a soil bacteria that targets caterpillars and doesn’t harm bees. Bt is OMRI listed, which means it’s used in organic gardening. It’s safe to use on edible crops. Simply wash before eating.

If you spot these white oblong objects — held in place with webbing — on your kale, cabbage or broccoli, particularly when cabbage worms are already present, do not remove them. These are the cocoons of a braconid wasp, a beneficial predator insect that feeds on cabbage worms. It actually lays its eggs inside the cabbage worm. After the eggs hatch, the wasp larva feed on the worm until they crawl out and create these fuzzy cocoons. If these cocoons are present, avoid spraying plants with anything that might harm these beneficial wasps. They’re already helping you beat the cabbage worms.

One of the most important strategies for keeping mosquitoes at bay is eliminating any standing water, from plant saucers to clogged gutters. Birdbaths are okay as long as you keep them cleaned or, like these natural stone baths, puddles are shallow enough to dry out before mosquitoes hatch. If you have a pond, use a fountain head to keep water moving, or add fish to gobble mosquito nymphs. For outdoor living spaces like a porch or patio, install a small, quiet, outdoor fan (specially made for gardens) to keep air moving. Mosquitoes hate even a slight breeze.

In desert regions, prickly pears start ripening this month, first at lower elevations and later at higher altitudes. Fully ripe prickly pears won’t have any green showing on the ends and are a bright magenta hue. You should be able to remove them easily from the cactus with a little twist. Wear thick gloves and use long tongs to harvest the pears, placing them into a basket or thick bag. After washing and blending, freezing or cooking, mash the fruits and strain the juice from the flesh, which contains seeds. Toss this seedy slurry back into the desert to help propagate the cactus.

Nothing says summer like gathering around your backyard fire pit. Before planning to burn, do a quick weather check. Avoid burning during strong winds or if air quality is poor or at an alert level. Check your fire pit before building a fire. Look for rust spots or thin areas that could burn through unexpectedly. Keep kids and pets at least three feet away from flames, and protect yourself by using long-handled tools with insulated, stay-cool handles to maneuver logs.

Keep up with harvest in the garden, whether it’s ripe tomatoes, raspberries or fresh herbs. Once plants start bearing, check the garden daily, if possible, or at least every other day to gather whatever is ready. If you have too much of a good thing for your family, share the produce with neighbors or a community food pantry. In some towns, community gardens place produce on a public stand or in a communal fridge. That’s another great place to share your own homegrown extra.

Summer is the right time to fertilize warm-season grasses. This includes St. Augustine, Bermuda hybrids or Zoysia. Select a well-balanced lawn food recommended for your region. If you’re new to a region, check in with the local extension office for expert advice. Apply lawn food carefully according to label instructions, especially with regard to mowing or watering before or after application.

Judging when garlic is ready to harvest is something of an art. In general, when two to three of the lowest leaves turn yellow or brown, it’s safe to harvest. Try to dig bulbs when the soil is dry. If a storm is in the forecast and bulbs are ready, get them out of the ground if possible. Don’t brush soil off bulbs when you harvest. Wait until after curing to do that.

Remove suckers from apple trees when you spot them. These non-productive stems grow vertically from horizontal branches. If suckers are young enough, you can rub them out with your fingers. For bigger suckers, use a pair of hand pruners for removal. Also, set traps this month to catch adult apple maggot flies. Alternatively, treat trees with spinosad, an organic treatment made from soil bacteria.

Cleaning the birdbath is a dirty job that needs to be done weekly. A strong blast of water (try the “jet” setting on a hose nozzle) can help remove dirty water and any algae that are clinging to the bowl. For a deep clean, scrub the bath with a designated brush or scrubber sponge, using a mild soap like Castille. Add a splash of hydrogen peroxide to your soapy water to kill algae. Moving water from a solar fountain or dripper helps reduce algae, as does positioning your bath away from full sun.

In warmer regions, it’s time to plant pumpkins for autumn decorating and feasting. Pumpkins need 90 to 120 days to grow and produce mature fruits. Select varieties based on final use. If you want pumpkins for pie, choose pie varieties. If you’re partial to pricey varieties at the local pumpkin patch, try growing your own of that type. Pumpkins are easy to grow. Just give them plenty of sunshine, ample water and lots of room to wander. If space is at a premium, opt for a bush variety that doesn’t send sprawling vines everywhere.

Try to visit your tomato plants at least every two days to keep tabs on ripening fruit and also inspect for pests. The tomato hornworm is one pest that can literally obliterate plants overnight. These caterpillars munch their way up and down a plant, making leaves disappear like a magician. They can be tough to spot. The easiest sign to watch for is frass (caterpillar poo), which resembles black peppercorns. If you see those, look beneath leaves for a hornworm, which usually hides during the day and feeds at night. Knock tomato hornworms into a container of soapy water. But if you see a hornworm with white cocoons on it, let it live. It’s been attacked by a braconid wasp and is slowly dying from the inside out. Those cocoons will release the next generation of braconid wasps, which will combat future hornworms.

Early summer is the time to control plant height on tall, flop-prone perennials that flower later in summer and fall. The list includes autumn sun coneflower (Rudbeckia laciniata ‘Herbstonne’, shown), tall sedums, joe-pye weed, asters and monkshood. When pruning, reduce stem height by the amount you’d like to shorten stems. Usually removing up to one-third of the current stem length is sufficient. Pruning results in later flowering and more blooms, as stems will branch where you place cuts.

There’s an ancient practice known as oleification that helps speed up fig ripening. First, cut open the oldest fig on the plant (older figs are on lower branches). If the pulp on that fig is pink, that’s the go sign for oleification. Dip the end of a cotton swab in olive oil, and apply a dab to the eye at the bottom of each remaining fig. Treated figs will ripen in about a week.

If bean leaves are sporting holes that create a windowpane effect, chances are Mexican bean beetles are present. Affected leaves ultimately turn brown and crispy, dropping from the plant. The beetles tend to fly away when disturbed, but if you look beneath leaves, you may see neat little clusters of yellow eggs or this yellow, spiny-looking larva. The traditional treatment is Sevin insecticide. For an organic approach, try spinosad, neem oil or pyrethrum. Follow label instructions carefully, and also clean up all plant debris at the end of the season. Mexican bean beetles overwinter in plant debris.

Summer lilies bring glorious color to the garden, and tiger lily (Tigrinum splendens) is no exception. This gorgeous, deer-resistant lily boasts large orange blooms speckled with black. The recurving petals add elegance to the garden and look beautiful paired with purple Russian sage. Plant bulbs in fall or spring. Mature plants grow 3 to 4 feet tall with flowers 5 to 6 inches across. Tiger lilies are drought-tolerant once established.

Creating a new planting bed from an area already filled with established weeds shouts of back-breaking work, unless you tackle the project with a tarp. The heat of summer is the perfect time to tarp an area you intend to plant, either with turf, ornamentals or edibles. Cut down weeds first, and consider digging any perennial weeds. Till first if desired. Add a thick opaque plastic tarp, weighing down edges well. Avoid walking on the tarp to keep sharp stones or stems from poking through the plastic. After four to six weeks under the tarp in the hot summer sun, the soil should be ready for planting.

A mix of flowering perennials, shrubs and trees keeps desert gardens in high color even as summer sizzles. Many of the blossoms beckon hummingbirds and butterflies, adding another dimension of beauty to the garden. Xeriscape plants thrive in desert conditions, including these trees and shrubs: dwarf poinciana (Caesalpinia pulcherrima, shown), crape myrtle, yellow bird-of-paradise (Caesalpinia gilliesii), butterfly bush, desert willow (Chilopsis linearis) and rose of Sharon. Among perennials, look to hyssop, Russian sage, yarrow and purple coneflower for a colorful xeriscape garden.

The dreaded squash vine borer has caused many gardeners to give up growing squash. One of the easiest ways to outwit this pest is to plant squash later in the season. For instance, after harvesting garlic or onions in midsummer, tuck in seeds of summer squash, such as zucchini, patty pan or crookneck. Summer squash grows quickly, typically maturing in 60 days. A July planting gives most regions plenty of time to enjoy the harvest.

Looking for a wildlife-friendly plant? Consider serviceberry (Amelanchier canadensis), a large shrub or small tree. In summer it bears edible fruit that appeals to wildlife of all kinds, including cedar waxwing birds (shown). This deciduous shrub, also called Juneberry or Canadian serviceberry, is known for its four-season color of white flowers in the spring, fruit in the summer, beautiful fall foliage and appealing bark in winter. What else does serviceberry offer? It is very hardy, deer-resistant, drought-tolerant and tolerates pollution.

Not much is worse than wrestling with a full-size perennial that’s been wind-thrown by heavy summer thunderstorms. Beat Mother Nature to the punch by staking plants early in the season. The job becomes easier when you keep stakes on hand. You can purchase half-hoop supports, or make your own with a pair of bolt cutters and metal tomato cages cut apart into hoops. Stakes insert easiest into moist soil. Water if needed to help get stakes into place before storms arrive.