Provided is a list of tasks you must perform in your garden during July. Please understand your gardening zone which is identified in the menu above. Look for Hardiness Zones.
Zone 1
- Reap herbs for maximum flavor by harvesting them as the first flower buds appear
- Lanky annuals need your help! Pinch them back now to encourage bushy growth and more flowers.
- Don’t forget watering chores: potted plants, especially, dry out quickly in warm weather
- Set out warm season vegetables and annuals
- Harvest veggies as soon as they’re ripe to encourage further production
- Avoid weed-infested gardens: weed before you leave on vacation
- Mulching around trees prevents mower damage and weed whacker blight
- The best time to cut flowers for vases? Early in the day when stems are firm and water filled.
- Maintain a thick layer (3 to 4 inches) of mulch on flower and vegetable gardens. It conserves moisture, reduces weeds, and adds organic matter to the soil.
- Deadhead the faded roses you haven’t cut by taking off the spent flower stems down to a five-leaflet leaf
Zone 2
- Create your own gardener’s gold! Start a compost pile.
- Now that temperatures have warmed, plant summer-flowering bulbs and tubers
- Sow biennial seeds (hollyhocks, English daisies, foxgloves, violas, Canterbury bells, and sweet William) for flowers next year
- Tall flowers, such as lupines and foxgloves, need staked support against the wind
- To maintain freshness, cool fruits and veggies(except tomatoes) as quickly as possible after harvest
- Relax — there’s no need to fertilize the lawn in midsummer
- Harvest veggies regularly; avoid rotting produce that attracts insects and reduces yields
- Cut stems of annual herbs just above a pair of leaves, allowing 4 to 6 inches of plant to remain for regrowth and additional harvest
- Leave the larvae on dill and carrots for beautiful fall butterflies
- Note the native plants in bloom this month and include them in your own wildflower garden
Zone 3
- Now’s the time to start seeds of cool-season vegetables for fall growing
- Rogue out (remove) virus-infected plants from the garden and control leaf-hopping insects to prevent virus spread
- By pruning off faded blooms from annuals, you can prevent seed formation and coax additional flowers
- Mulch flowerbeds with dried grass clipping or compost to maintain moisture and reduce weeds
- Save maintenance and water by allowing perennial rye and Kentucky blue grass lawns to go dormant during the summer
- Raspberries are ripe when they pull readily from the central core
- Prune water sprouts (upright, vigorous shoots)from apple trees
- Avoid deep cultivation around shallow rooted trees and shrubs such as evergreens
- Add a water-soluble fertilizer to hanging baskets and patio pots every 2 weeks to keep plants blooming their best
- Cut flowers for drying at their prime or when just opening
Zone 4
- Add one last planting of gladioli bulbs for flowers into fall
- Harvest veggies as soon as they’re ripe to encourage further production
- Avoid the sight of a weed-infested garden: weed first before you leave on vacation
- Harvest sweet corn when silks are brown and punctured kernels produce a milky juice
- Prevent blossom-end rot on tomatoes by providing plants with at least an inch of water each week
- Let melons ripen on the vine–this is where they will develop their best flavor
- Start fall garden transplants from seed
- Petunias, coleus and other summer annuals might be leggy by now. Pinch them back just above a leaf to encourage bushy growth and more flowers
- Leave faded flowers on those plants that form ornamental seed heads, pods, or berries
- Provide water in a shallow pan or birdbath for your feathered and fluttering friends
Zone 5
- Remove annuals with stunted or unusual color; these are usually virus infected and the disease can spread to neighboring healthy plants
- To control disease on fruit trees, maintain a summer spray schedule
- Clean hummingbird feeders filled with nectar solution regularly to ward off mold and bacteria
- Consider drip irrigation and/or soaker hoses for watering in the flowerbed and vegetable garden
- Bats help control mosquitoes; attract these friendly mammals with bat houses
- Muskmelons and cantaloupes are ready for picking when the stem “slips” easily from the fruit with gentle pressure
- Harvest veggies as soon as they’re ripe to encourage additional production
- Sharp mower blades prevent leaf blade damage and lawn stress
- Prevent diseases on susceptible rose varieties: apply fungicide every 7-10 days
- Lanky annuals need your help! Pinch them back now to encourage bushy growth and more flowers
Zone 6
- Deadhead blooming annuals and perennials for repeat flowering
- Harvest veggies immediately when ripe; rotting produce attracts insects
- Avoid weed-infested gardens: weed before you leave on vacation
- Water hanging baskets and patio pots daily during warm weather
- Fertilize annual flowerbeds with an all-purpose fertilizer to encourage more blooms
- Harvest lavender stems for use in bath sachets or drying
- Sharp shears make quick work of herb and flower harvests
- Mow cool season grasses at 3 inches during the summer to shade and insulate the soil
- Enjoy a glass of tea flavored with mint, pineapple sage, or lemon balm from the garden
- Provide birds and butterflies with a shallow water source
Zone 7
- Remove faded flowers from perennials after they finish blooming. Deadheading redirects energy towards healthy roots.
- Maintain a 3 to 4 inch mulch layer around trees and shrubs to protect them from mower and weed whacker damage.
- Check plants regularly for insect problems; hand pick or use suitable control measures if found
- Fertilize warm-season grasses
- Plant butterfly nectar and larval food plants such as asclepias, buddleia, and passionflower
- Replace spent annuals with heat-tolerant lantana, verbena, pentas, and hibiscus
- Consider drip irrigation and/or soaker hoses as efficient watering alternatives
- Harvest raspberries and blackberries daily to avoid attracting insects to overripe fruit
- Prune water sprouts from apple trees
- Water flowerbeds and vegetable gardens deeply.This encourages a deep root system
Zone 8
- Start basil seedlings for a fall herb garden
- Mow warm-season grasses at a height of 2.5to 3 inches; apply at least an inch of water a week
- Prevent rose diseases with a fungicide spray program
- For longest vase life, harvest cut flowers just as they begin to open and condition them in floral preservative
- Fertilize container plants every two weeks with a water-soluble fertilizer solution for best bloom
- Keep annuals in bloom by removing faded flowers
- Bats help control mosquitoes; attract these friendly mammals with bat houses
- Help trees survive the heat by mulching heavily over the root system–avoid mulch too close to the trunk
- Water your garden more efficiently with drip irrigation or soaker hoses
- Save space in the garden with trellises, fences, and stakes-harvest is easier too
Zone 9
- Cultivate your own tropical paradise going by planting palms, bananas, and fruit trees
- Start tomato transplants for your fall vegetable garden
- A sunny yellow garden of cosmos, sunflowers, and zinnias brightens up the summer landscape
- Mow warm-season grasses at a height of 2.5to 3 inches; apply at least an inch of water weekly
- Inspect plants for possible insect pest problems
- Attract butterflies to the garden by providing caterpillar food plants like carrots, dill, and parsley
- Beat the heat with durable annuals like zinnia, sunflower, and celosia
- Hibiscus makes a great addition to hanging baskets, patio pots, or flowerbeds
- Clean hummingbird feeders regularly to prevent mold and bacteria growth
- Get the most from garden space by installing trellises and stakes for plants to grow up on–harvest is easier too
Zone 10
- Start tomato seedlings for your fall garden; consider container varieties for your patio
- Remove dying foliage regularly from water garden to maintain a healthy pond pH
- Water gardens and yards early in the morning before the wind comes up; apply at least an inch of water weekly
- Remove grass from around trees and shrubs and replace with moisture-conserving mulch
- To build up delicious nutmeats, thoroughly water nut trees
- A mixture of flower colors, sizes and bloom times provides butterfly nectar throughout the season
- Plant a variety of basil flavors for a fall herb garden
- Check the filter in your water garden for clogs
- Install drip irrigation in the vegetable garden and flowerbeds to water more efficiently
- Plant morning glory vines to provide nectar for hummingbirds
Zone 11
- Gasping fish at the water garden’s surface need additional oxygen from cleaner water
- Inspect plants regularly for potential pest problems
- Fertilize container plants every 2 weeks with a water-soluble fertilizer for best bloom
- A mixture of flower colors, sizes, and bloom times will attract butterflies throughout the season
- Remove grass from the area directly around trees and shrubs and replace with moisture conserving mulch
- Keep an eye on the water garden during hot spells and provide additional aeration and/or mist the water to help cool it
- Hummingbirds love shrimp plants, four o’clock, and morning glories; include these in your garden and you’re sure to have regular visitors
- Water gardens and yards early in the morning before wind levels increase
- The best time to cut flowers for vases? Early in the day when stems are firm and water filled.
- Lawns should be cut at 2 1/2 to 3 inches; mow frequently enough to remove only 1/3 of the leaf surface at any one time
