July Garden Calendar

Plants in Flower

• Trumpet Creeper, Phlox, Butterfly Weed, Daylily, Red Hot Poker, Rose-of-Sharon, Sourwood, Crapemyrtle, Stewartia, St. John's Wort, Abelia, Peegee Hydrangea, Chaste-Tree, Canna, Dahlia, Shasta Daisy and summer annuals.

Fertilizing

• Continue sidedressing your garden vegetables.
• July is the month we recommend giving landscape plants a second (last) feeding of fertilizer.
• Take soil samples form your lawn areas for testing. Soil boxes are available at the County Extension Center.

Planting

• Plants of brussel sprouts and collards can be set out in mid-July.
• You can begin your fall vegetable garden this month. Plant beans, carrots,brussels sprouts, and tomatoes in July.
• Start broccoli, cabbage and cauliflower plants in peat pots to transplant into the vegetable garden in mid-August.
• Begin repotting overgrown houseplants.

Pruning

• Prune "bleeder" trees like maple, dogwood, birch and elm this month.
• Prune the fruiting canes of raspberry and blackberry plants after harvest is over. Cut canes at ground level.
• Prune off dieback limbs on hybrid rhododendron, azalea, mountain laurel, and blueberry.
• Trim hedges as needed.
• Continue pruning white pines and narrowleaf evergreens like juniper early in the month.
• Remove faded flowers on flowering perennials to encourage a second flowering.
• Pinch your chrysanthemums the first week only!
• Do NOT prune spring flowering shrubs now.
• Prune raspberry and blackberry canes at ground level when harvesting is done.

Spraying

• Spray the following landscape shrubs for the following insect pests: arborvitae (bagworms), azalea and pyracantha (lace bug).
• Spray for Japanese beetles as needed.
• Continue with rose spray program.
• Spray your tree fruits and bunch grapes on a regular basis.
• Spray the following vegetables if insects are observed: cucumber (cucumber beetle), squash (aphids), tomato and eggplant (flea beetle).
• Spray woody weeds like poison ivy, honeysuckle and kudzu with a recommended herbicide.

Lawn Care

• Remember to change direction when moving your lawn. Travel north to south on one mowing and east to west on the next cutting.
• Continue feeding your zoysia lawn with fertilizer. Do NOT give tall fescue or bluegrass lawns any fertilizer this month.
• Maintain 3" mowing height on fescue.

Propagation

• This month is still a great time to take semi-hardwood cuttings of azaleas, holly, rhododendron and many other shrubs.
• July is an ideal time to divide and transplant your iris and daylilies.

Specific Chores

• July is a good month to see if and where your home can use some additional shade trees.
• Blossom-end rot may be seen on tomatoes this month. Two factors - too little water and too little lime /calcium the soil - may be the reason.
• In dry weather, both your vegetable garden and landscape plants will benefit from a good soaking watering. Slow watering will penetrate the root zone better. Apply 1" of water early in the day.

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