JULY GARDENING TIPS

As the heat ramps up for summer there are many things to be done in the garden to keep things looking great and lay the foundation for a beautiful fall.

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• Spent bulb foliage: Now is the time to cut back any remaining daffodil foliage as it turns yellow. The foliage should be left intact for as long as possible but has generally ripened sufficiently by early July.

• Shaping perennials: The last pinch to shape and encourage branching on late summer perennials should occur in early July. It’s still ok to thin stems on congested perennials to improve air circulation. Don’t be afraid to give a hard cut to catmint (Nepeta), lady’s mantle (Alchemilla mollis) and perennial geraniums (Geranium sp.) after the spring flush of flowering concludes.

• Container plants: Consider compost tea or organic liquid feed like fish emulsion or seaweed extract for container plants. Feed every 7-10 days. As the summer heats up and container plants fill their pots, twice a day watering might be necessary. Make sure to check the soil by inserting your finger into the first inch or so to see if the soil is moist. When watering containers water deeply (until water seeps out the bottom), to be sure all roots have access to moisture.

• Weeds: Catch weeds before they go to seed and continue to apply organic mulch to spots left bare by the removal of bulb foliage and/or weeds. Shredded leaves held over from fall cleanup make a wonderful mulch for annual and perennial borders as well as vegetable gardens. It’s natural, free, local and breaks down over the course of the growing season to add organic material to the soil.

• Peonies: Remove spent flowers from peonies once flowering is finished. If plants were staked or tied up to prevent flopping during bloom, the stakes and strings can now be removed providing stems are strong enough to stand on their own.

• Vegetable garden: Direct sow succession crops in your vegetable garden for the next round of harvest, such as radish, lettuce, carrots, chard, and beets. Side dress heavy feeders and long season crops like corn, tomatoes, squash, peppers, potatoes, onions and eggplant with a balanced fertilizer now.

• Biennials: Sow seeds of biennials like foxgloves, Angelica, Salvia sclarea, Lunaria and Dianthus now for planting in the garden in late summer. These will produce leaves this year, overwinter and flower next year, ending their life cycle when they set seed in their second season.

• Irrigation: Irrigate borders and lawns infrequently and deeply. Generally, lawns and gardens need 1” of water each week, or a deep irrigation that penetrates to 6”. Check your sprinklers using a tuna can to see how long it takes to apply 1” of water or, if using drip irrigation, time a run and use a trowel to see how deeply the water has penetrated. Keep track of rainfall using a rain gauge and supplement only as needed. Consider converting parts of your lawn to lower maintenance groundcovers, shrub or perennial borders, or meadow plantings.

• Japanese beetles: Depending on your location, Japanese beetles begin to emerge from the soil around July 4th. Keep a close eye out for them, scouting in the morning when they are sluggish and knocking them into a pail of soapy water. The solitary fly, Istocheta aldrichi, is an internal parastite of adult Japanese beetle. Female flies lay eggs on the thorax of female beetles. Upon hatching, the maggot bores into the beetle, killing it. Japanese beetles observed with these eggs on them should be saved to encourage this natrual control method.

• Fruit espalier: Lightly prune fruit tree espaliers to maintain shape and thin and/or reduce the length of upright growth. Tie cordons to frames or wires as wood begins to grow stiffer”

  -Joann Vieira, Director of Horticulture, Trustees (UMass Extension Landscape, Nursery and Urban Forestry Program)

  
  

  Always think ahead when gardening. Timing is everything!