July 2022 Gardening Advice

Sneezeweed

submitted by Jennifer Fairfield, Garden Mill and Manchester Community & School Gardens

The really great guy who does the mowing at my house was having a hard time keeping up with the growth during the first couple of weeks of June because of all the rain we were getting. And then, Mother Nature decided to turn off the taps and turn up the heat, and our grass got totally dried up and brown, which meant Mike and his crew got to take a break from mowing — but not for too long! With at least a 50% chance of rain every day this week, it looks like they’ll be back to working day and night trying to keep up again!

The high temperatures and sudden lack of rain meant no break for me. Instead, it had me dragging sprinklers all over the yard on a daily basis for almost two weeks, just to keep my flowers from wilting. Fortunately, I have my veggie garden on a soaker hose system with a timer, so I only had to remember to turn the water on — every day. I’m happy for the break, at least for a little while, that Mother Nature seems to be sending us. Other than keeping up with the watering, there are lots of things to be done in the garden and yard at this time of year:

In the flower garden:

• July is garden pest time — not my favorite thing to have to deal with in my gardens. So far, the sawfly larva have been hard at work making my hardy hibiscus leaves into lace, while the flea beetles are putting tiny holes in the rest of the hibiscus leaves. The sawflies are one of my least-favorite pests — they’re just really destructive, and also a little creepy! So, I grabbed my insecticidal soap and headed out to spray them. Just as I was about to take aim, I saw another insect hiding under one of the leaves — a firefly (or lightning bug, if you prefer). It was a good reminder to me that broadcast spraying of insecticides is never a good idea, as you are likely to harm insects that you don’t intend to (fireflies are totally harmless to our plants, and their populations are in decline). The best thing to do when using insecticides is to do targeted spraying. Be sure to read the labels on products to be sure that you are using the right product for the pest you are trying to rid your plants of, and to know when to spray. Using insecticides at dusk is generally a good practice, as you are less likely to harm bees and other beneficial insects. Neem oil, in particular, should not be used on many plants when it’s sunny out, as it can burn the leaves, and possibly cause more damage than the insects do.
• Japanese beetles are also starting to show up in large numbers now. The best way to deal with Japanese beetles is to simply pluck them (or shake them) off the plants and drop them into a bucket of soapy water. The soap coats their wings, making it impossible for them to get out of the water, and they eventually drown. Japanese beetles are most active in the warmest part of the day, so you are more likely to have more luck getting them in the afternoon, especially if it’s cool in the morning. Getting as many as you see on a daily basis will help keep them under control. If you wait too long, the few you have will suddenly turn into a mob, because when they find a plant they like, they send out a signal to all their friends to join them.
• Fertilize your annual flowers early this month. It takes a lot of energy to put out all those beautiful blossoms, so giving them a fertilizer boost now will help them to keep blooming. Fertilize flowers in containers weekly. With frequent watering, fertilizer tends to get flushed out of the container (yellow leaves are often a sign of a lack of nutrients), so regular feedings are a must — just be careful not to over do it, because you can easily burn your plants with too much fertilizer.  Also, don’t forget to deadhead. By removing dead flowers, you encourage the growth of new ones throughout the season, and for those plants that don’t require deadheading, it still keeps your plants looking nice.
• Most established perennials don’t need to be fertilized, or need very little fertilizer but roses are an exception to the rule, when it comes to fertilizing perennials. Be sure to fertilize roses throughout the month, but stop fertilizing at the end of the month to allow the new growth to harden off before winter. Also remove diseased leaves immediately and pick up any that have fallen to keep diseases under control. Aphids and mites can be major rose pests and can cause serious damage if not kept under control. Careful spraying when these pests are spotted is generally all that is necessary. Regular fungicide spraying will also help keep your roses healthy, as they can be very susceptible to things like powdery mildew and black spot.
• Keep weeds under control in the flower garden, so they don’t compete with your flowers for moisture and nutrients.
• Deadhead perennial flowers that have finished blooming. For some, this may help bring a second bloom, but mostly, it helps the plant put energy into putting out more roots, rather than maturing seeds. Of course, if you want more flowers next year, letting your flowers go to seed can be a great way to get more. Just be careful what you wish for! In one of my native plant beds, I have to keep on top of a particular flower, to keep it from taking over the whole space. Sneezeweed (Helenium autumnale), is an absolutely gorgeous native that blooms from about mid-July all the way up until we get hard frosts. It is a favorite of the bees and butterflies in my yard, and it produces tons of seeds, if left to its own devices. I am forever pulling out the small volunteer plants everywhere – even on the other side of the yard!

In the vegetable garden:

• July is a great time to start new plants for late summer and fall harvest. You can direct seed Brussels sprouts, broccoli, cabbage, and cauliflower in the garden now. If you get bush beans planted now, you can be enjoying them all through September. Plant kale and beets at the end of this month, spinach and head lettuces in early August, and radishes and leaf lettuces in mid-August. If you don’t have room in your garden for everything now, start head lettuce, cabbage, broccoli, and cauliflower indoors and plant them out after you have harvested your garlic and onions later this month or in early August.
• Garlic is ready to harvest when about half of the leaves have turned yellow and withered. Harvest them when the soil is dry, using a trowel or fork to loosen the soil around them and carefully working the bulb out of the soil — be careful not to damage the bulb. Keep the leaves and roots intact, and place the plants in a warm, airy place out of direct sun, to dry out for about a week. After that, cut the roots off to about ½ inch, and carefully brush off remaining soil. After about another week, cut off the stems and leaves. At this point, garlic should be stored in a cool, dry place until you’re ready to use it.
• Onions are ready to harvest when the leaves have fallen over. Harvest them in the same way you do garlic — carefully loosen the soil around them to pull the bulbs out. Let them dry in a warm, dry, airy place, out of the sun, for about two to three weeks before cutting off the tops and roots. Store them in a cool, dry place.
• July should be harvest time for many other crops as well. Spring crops, such as lettuce, spinach, and peas will mostly finish producing early this month, while summer crops, such as zucchini, cucumbers, and early tomatoes will generally just be getting started by the end of the month — though the way my tomatoes are going this year, I may be getting some a little earlier than usual.
• Give your summer-producing plants a little fertilizer this month (known as side-dressing), just as they are really starting to produce. Side dressing provides fertilizer to your plants when they most need it — as they are beginning to flower and fruit.
• Just like in flower gardens, July is garden pest time in vegetable gardens, too. Keeping them under control is essential because they not only eat your plants, but they can also carry diseases to your plants — both of these things lead to you not getting as much to enjoy. In my garden, the grasshoppers are just now starting to show up, while the slugs have been giving me a hard time for a while. I also just saw my first potato beetle the other day — on an eggplant, which is a relative of potatoes. That one got squashed immediately — they are voracious eaters, and are very hard to control with pesticides, so I don’t want them getting established. Flea beetles have been an issue for the eggplants and other plants as well. I’m also scouting my squash plants for squash vine borer moths and their eggs. I had a lot of damage last year because I didn’t do a good job of keeping them under control. I don’t want to let that happen again this year!
• Weeding is most people’s least-favorite thing to do in the garden (though I do know a few people who find it calming). Since weeds compete for water and nutrition with the plants you want, it’s best to get them while they’re small. They are also easier to pull out before their roots are too established.
• Keep an eye on the amount of rain you’re getting at your house. Don’t think that, just because we got some rain today, your gardens are all set. In general, your plants need about an inch of water every week, either from you or Mother Nature. When the temps are really high, and especially when accompanied by wind, a little more water is even better. Don’t overdo it, but definitely make sure that your soil doesn’t totally dry out between watering, to be sure that your plants aren’t stressed. My veggie garden is in raised beds that drain very well, so tend to dry out easily and need to be watered more often than if they were in traditional rows in the ground. Your conditions are probably different from mine, so make sure to pay close attention to what's going on in your garden. A rain gauge is the best way to know how much rain you are getting, which helps you decide whether or not to water.
• Keep up with the program of fungicide spraying that you started when you put your plants in the garden — you did remember to do that, right? If not, start now — it’s not too late! There are a lot of diseases that really get going as summer progresses, especially on tomatoes, cucumbers, and squash, which can kill your plants before you get to enjoy any of the fruits of your labor. You can help to stave off disease by spraying with organic fungicide on a regular basis.

Trees & Shrubs

• If you planted any trees or shrubs this spring (or really any time in the last couple of years), be sure to regularly water them. If we have an extended period of dry conditions, consider watering even older, established trees and shrubs to keep them from becoming stressed leading into winter. Tree watering bags make your life much easier during extended dry periods. You only have to fill them up once or twice per week, and they slowly water your trees for you.
• Do not apply fertilizer to trees or shrubs after the Fourth of July, to avoid a flush of new growth that doesn’t have time to harden before winter.
• Pruning too late in the season can also encourage new growth that will not have time to harden off before winter sets in, so finish pruning any trees and shrubs this month or early next.

Lawn:

• When mowing this summer, leave your grass between 3 and 4 inches tall, and only cut off the top third of the blades at each mowing. Keeping your grass a little higher provides it with all kinds of benefits, including healthy roots, moisture retention, and weed suppression.
• When mowing and weed trimming, be careful not to get too close to your trees and shrubs. Damage done to them by lawn equipment is one of the most common causes of disease and death. Diseases enter through the wounds, infecting the entire tree, and eventually killing it.

For the Birds:

• We are still dealing with the Avian Flu here in Michigan — as are many other states. While it seems not to be spreading as quickly in backyard flocks, some wild species of birds are being devastated by this disease. The Caspian Tern, a shore nesting seabird found on many islands in Lake Michigan, has been hit especially hard, according to a Michigan Radio report. So, please keep your bird feeders cleaned out regularly. Use a 10% bleach solution weekly, then rinse well and let feeders dry out before refilling. Keep debris, such as sunflower shells, cleaned up around your feeders.
• Also keep bird baths cleaned out. It’s always a good idea to dump out and refill feeders daily, to keep mosquitoes from laying eggs in the water, but also use a 10% bleach solution at least once per week to disinfect your bird baths. Just be sure to thoroughly rinse them before filling them back up.
• Keep hummingbird feeders cleaned out and filled. Sugar water left out in the heat for a number of days can breed bacteria that is harmful to the beautiful birds visiting your feeders, so be sure to clean them out every two days when it’s really hot out, and no less than once per week during cooler spells.

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by Sara Swanson

Sara Swanson is an editor, writer and founder of the Manchester Mirror.