Lawn and Garden Tips

• Plant the following vegetables no later than July 20 to allow time to mature before frost: tomatoes, peppers, okra, com, cucumbers, squash, snap beans, pole beans and lima beans. • Divide and reset Oriental poppies after flowering as the foliage dies. • Plant seed of marigolds, sunflowers and cosmos now for fall blooms. • Plant zinnia seed by July 4 for late blooms in annual border. • Later in the month, plant more basil for combining with those

September tomatoes and dill for late pickles. • Replace dead annuals with hardy annual or perennial newcomers.

FERTILIZE

• Apply no fertilizers to trees and shrubs after July 4. Fertilizing late may cause lush growth susceptible to winter kill. • Fertilize all container plants frequently because daily watering leaches out nutrients pretty quickly. • Give all tomato and pepper plants and potted flowers a drink of fish emulsion, according to label instruction. • Spread a couple of inches of compost over asparagus beds. Remember to keep the soil moist. • Fertilize zoysia lawns now with a 26-4-12 lawn fertilizer. • Check azaleas and camellias for iron chlorosis (pale green leaves, darker green veins). If necessary, use copper or iron chelate to correct iron deficiency.

PRUNE

• Clip the flower stalks off garlic. Once the leaves have turned brown, garlic can be harvested. • Cut back about three quarters of the new growth on thyme plants regularly throughout the summer. • Perennials that have finished blooming should be deadheaded.

Keep deadheading spent annual flowers for continued blooms. • Don't pinch mums and asters after mid-July or you may delay flowering. • Prune climbing roses and rambler roses after bloom. • Always be on the lookout for dead, damaged, diseased wood in trees and shrubs and prune as discovered. Summer pruning of shade trees can be done now.

July 2020

• Keep cucumbers well-watered. Drought conditions will cause bitter fruit.

• Newly planted trees and shrubs should continue to be watered thoroughly, once a week. Water frequently enough to prevent wilting. • Early morning irrigation allows turf to dry before nightfall and will reduce the chance of disease.

• During long dry periods, soak the garden thoroughly once a week; don't just sprinkle daily. Light, frequent irrigation helps only during the period of seed germination.

• To keep hanging baskets looking attractive, soak the baskets in a tub of water every few days in addition to the regular daily watering. • Be sure to make arrangements for neighbors to harvest and water your garden while you are on vacation. • Check water hoses while they're under full water pressure. Look for leaky connections. Repair as needed. • Trade out the sprinkler. Where possible, install soaker hoses or a drip-tube system; both deliver water directly to soil.

PEST CONTROL

• If you see white butterflies flitting among your vegetables, you'll soon spot green worms feasting on cabbage family crops (cabbage, broccoli, Brussels sprouts). Treat plants with Bacillus thuringiensis, a natural bacterium. Caterpillars consume Bt when they munch on treated leaves and the bacteria kill them.

• If you're dealing with flea beetles or Mexican bean beetles on vegetables, dust crops with a pesticide such as carbaryl or spray an organic control like pyrethrum. Be sure to coat leaf undersides.

• Apply final treatment for borers on hardwood trees. • Apply second spray to trunks of peach trees for peach borers.

• Continue attracting insect-eating birds to the garden area by providing them with a fresh water source. Keep feeders and baths clean.

• Fall webworms begin nest building near the ends of branches of infested trees. Prune off webs. Spray with Bt if defoliation becomes severe. • Hot, dry weather is ideal for spider mite development. With spider mite damage, leaves may be speckled above and yellowed below. Evergreen needles appear dull gray-green to yellow or brown. Damage may be present even before webs are noticed.

• Keep weeds from making seeds now. This will mean less weeding next year. • Monitor lawns for newly hatched white grubs. If damage is occurring, apply appropriate controls, following product label directions.

ODD JOBS

• Check garden centers for markdowns on remaining plants. • Replace mulch as needed. • Houseplants, including amaryllis, can spend the summer outdoors in a sheltered location with filtered bright light (not direct sun). Feed regularly. • Harvest vegetables frequently. • Don't bag or rake clippings; let them lie on the lawn to return nitrogen to the soil. • Don't let the compost heap dry out completely, or it will not "cook." Turning it to aerate will also hasten decomposition, but things will rot eventually even if not turned. • Start planning the fall garden. • Keep lawns at about three inches to protect from summer heat.

• Clean up fallen fruits under trees. • Maintain a three to four inch mulch layer around trees and shrubs to protect them from mower and weed whacker damage. Don't place the mulch too close to the trunk. • Bats help control mosquitoes; attract these friendly mammals with bat houses.

• Divide spring and early summer perennials including daffodils, daylilies, iris, etc. and replant the best clumps. Discard the diseased or damaged material, and share any surplus with friends. • Low areas in the lawn may be gradually filled with shallow applications of good topsoil where needed. Avoid temptation to apply a layer of sandy loam over the entire lawn area just because your neighbor does.

If you have any specific lawn and garden questions, please send them to advertising@alafarm.com.

Herdsman 1/2 Page