 | July/August Garden Tips
Water the garden before 10 a.m. Avoid watering during the hottest part of the day (10 a.m. to 2 p.m.) . Watering at this time will cause the loss of 50 percent of the water applied.
- Avoid working in the garden when the foliage is wet. This will help to prevent the spread of disease.
- Do not over fertilize. Too much fertilizer, especially nitrogen, can make vegetables susceptible to disease.
- Water the vegetable garden with the equivalent of one inch of water per week. Watering deeply, 8 - 10 inches, will promote deep root development. This will help the vegetables tolerate drought periods.
- Watch for blossom end rot on tomatoes. It starts as a water-soaked spot on the bottom of the tomato. It will turn black. Blossom end rot often appears when first fruit are ripening. It is not a disease, but a physiological disorder, which is caused by a calcium deficiency in the plant caused by wide fluctuations in soil moisture. Peppers and eggplant can also be affected. Remove the affected fruits, maintain even soil moisture (one inch per week) and use mulches to help reduce the problem.
- Water newly planted trees. Water regularly for two to three years until the tree’s root system is established. Place a hose at the base of the tree at a slow trickle.
Do not use pruning sealants to seal pruning cuts. Research has shown that sealants do not prevent decay or speed up the healing process.
Mulch around trees and shrubs. Mulch should be 2-3 inches deep. The mulch should not touch the trunk. Mulching newly planted trees will help preserve moisture.
Watch for leaf drop and leaf scorch on trees in hot, dry weather. Maple and ash trees are especially prone to dropping leaves when under stress from heat and drought. Leaf scorching occurs when the leaf tissue turns brown and dies. Scorching occurs on the leaf edges.
Prevent blackspot on roses by starting a fungicide spray program. Symptoms include black spots on the upper surface of the leaves starting from the bottom of the plant and working their way up. Mulch around roses to prevent splashing which can spread the disease.
Check your roses and other ornamentals for Japanese Beetles. Adults are copper colored with a shiny metallic green head. They will skeletonize leaves during the day from 9am to 3pm. The beetles may be active well into August. Japanese beetle traps will attract more beetles than they control.
August is the time of year to start taking cuttings from annuals you want to overwinter indoors. Your plants are healthier and will root faster now than later in the season. Some plants to consider overwintering are coleus, geraniums, wax begonias, impatiens, fuschia and herbs.
This is the time of year to dig and divide spring-blooming perennials so they have time to become established for the next growing season.
Avoid late season (August and later) pruning and fertilizing of trees and shrubs. This helps reduce soft growth that will be damaged by cold weather and frost.
Remember to water consistently in the heat of the summer. Some perennials, especially astilbe, will do poorly if allowed to dry out.
It is also important to water tomatoes consistently, this will prevent blossom end rot, a condition tomatoes succumb to when watering is not consistent. Blossom end rot leaves the bottoms of tomatoes looking black and unhealthy.
If a perennial is sickly or looking otherwise awful, cut it back to just a few inches. It will come back this year or next spring with healthier growth.
If your lawn is turning brown, it's probably because it's gone dormant. You have two choices: Allow it to continue in its dormancy by not watering, or bring it out of dormancy with good, regular waterings. The one thing you won't want to do is to bring it out of dormancy repeatedly -- a very stressful situation for turf grass. If you're going to water, keep up with the watering.
Continue to mow regularly, your best defense against weeds. If you haven't already, make sure you're mowing grass high -- not making it too short and "scalping" it, which damages the grass and opens up areas for weeds to germinate. Bluegrasses, for example, should be cut at 3 inches during hot weather.
- Avoid pruning evergreens when it's so hot. And pruning them in the fall will encourage fresh new growth that may get nipped by winter's cold. It's best at this point to wait until next spring.
Harvesting Vegetables -- Keep up with the harvest from your vegetable garden. Be sure to pick small and often. Tiny filet green beans, for example, need picking daily. Corn is ready when the tassels start to turn brown and a kernel, when pierced with a thumbnail, runs barely milky.
| | | | | |
|
