Added on July 3, 2023 Sara Swanson

July 2023 Gardening Advice

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Tree watering bags are needed when the rain is scarce!

submitted by Jennifer Fairfield, Garden Mill

I can’t tell you how much I appreciated the rain we saw at the beginning of this week! We all could have done without the high winds and other extremes that came with the rain (or the power outages for many), but I, for one, was super happy to see all that wet stuff. I honestly thought that I had finally burned out my well pump this year because of all the watering I was doing in May and June. Fortunately, that wasn’t the case – just a bad pressure tank that was still under warranty. Thanks to the folks at Cribley Drilling Company, we were back up to full pressure in no time, which was a good thing, since the new little trees I had planted this spring really needed to be kept hydrated.

I’m betting that we are not done yet with the dry weather. This week’s rain certainly helped, and the weather gurus are saying we will see more rain in the next little bit, but we have also seen their predictions of rain come up empty, so I think we should keep the hoses and sprinklers handy this month. Watering is especially important when the temperatures go up, which they are bound to do, since July tends to be the hottest month in Southeast Michigan, and we often go for long stretches of time in with no rain.

In the vegetable garden:

Insects are apparently plaguing lots of people’s gardens right now, based on what customers are coming in looking for these days. We have been having lots of conversations with customers about aphids especially, but also flea beetles, slugs, and other things that are eating their plants. I’m finding cabbage moth caterpillars (pictured here) on the kale and bok choy in my veggie garden right now, along with flea beetles on my eggplants. Insecticidal soap, Neem oil, Spinosad, and Bt are among my recommendations for controlling some of the critters people are having problems with in their gardens. Each is better for dealing with different pests, so knowing what is eating your plants is important in deciding what to use to control them. Proper timing and use of pesticides is also important, as pretty much anything you use to kill unwanted insects can also kill ones you do want, such as bees and butterflies. You should always try to spray at times when beneficial insects are not present in your garden, not spray when it’s windy out, and not spray to the point of allowing the product to drip or run off the plant you are spraying. All these steps will help ensure that you are not harming insects you don’t intend to.
Weeds tend to thrive whether or not we are getting rain, which is not a good thing because they will rob your desired plants of the moisture and nutrients they need. The best thing to do is to try to get them while they’re small, mostly because they are easier to pull out before their roots are too established.
July should be harvesting time for many crops. Normally, spring crops, such as lettuce, spinach, and peas are mostly finished producing about now, but the haze from the Canadian wildfire smoke has been keeping some of the heat of the sun at bay, so you may get an extended harvest of those plants this year. Bush beans are just now starting to produce, and pole beans should be getting going soon too, while our favorite summer crops such as zucchini, cucumbers, and early tomatoes will likely start to produce by the end of the month.
Garlic is generally ready for harvesting between mid-July and early August, depending on the variety and when it was planted (fall vs. spring). If possible, stop watering your garlic about two to three weeks before you expect to be harvesting. You can tell that it’s ready to be harvested by the foliage. When about one-third of the leaves have yellowed and withered, it’s time to check on your bulbs. Gently wipe some of the soil away from a bulb and check the size and form of your garlic. If it looks like a good size, it’s ready to come out. If not, leave it for another few days to a week, and check again. Don’t leave garlic in the ground too long past peak harvest time though, as this could lead to rotting.
July is also a time for planting and starting new seedlings for a fall harvest. If you want to have broccoli and cabbage for fall, start your own inside by no later than July 10th, transplanting the seedlings into your garden when they are four to six weeks old. They should be ready to harvest by early October. These can be good “succession crops” to be put into the garden in place of things like onions and garlic, once those have been harvested.
Around the end of the month, you can plant late season successions of lettuce, spinach, peas, beets, carrots, and Swiss chard, to be ready for picking before we see our first frosts in the fall. Radishes shouldn’t be planted until early or mid- August, as it will generally still be too hot until then for these cool-weather plants (they mature very quickly, and will bolt in the heat of Late July and early August before they can get big enough for eating).
Make sure your vegetable garden is getting the water it needs. Your plants generally need about an inch of water every week, when Mother Nature isn’t providing it. A good soaking once a week is better than a little bit every day or two, but 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. That’s a great way to stress your plants. Keep in mind that your garden’s needs may differ, depending on your soil and the type of garden. For instance, if you have mostly sandy soil, you will likely need to water more frequently. Same goes if your garden is in raised beds, like mine. I generally water every two to three days, depending on how hot it is and how much rain we are getting, because my raised beds dry out much more quickly than the clay soil around them. Knowing your garden’s water needs will help ensure healthy, happy plants.
Another way to ensure healthy, happy (and productive) plants is to make sure they are getting the nutrients they need, when they need them. Side dressing your vegetable plants with a balanced fertilizer this month will provide them with a little extra food when they need it most – as they are doing the most growing and as they are producing flowers and fruit. By the time they are ready to start putting out flowers, the plants have used up much of the available nutrition in your garden. Providing a little more fertilizer at this point will make a big difference in whether your garden produces in abundance, which is the whole point of all the work you’re doing! The term side-dressing just means to apply fertilizer around the plant, in the root zone. Carefully work the fertilizer into the top inch or so of soil so that it doesn’t get washed away before it can break down and be useful to the plant. Apply the fertilizer about four inches from the stem of the plant, so that it’s available to the new root growth as the plant is growing and putting out more roots, and so that you don’t risk disturbing existing roots.
Keep up with your program of fungicide spraying. There are a lot of diseases that really get going as summer progresses, especially on tomatoes, cucumbers, and squash. Michigan State University Extension has already confirmed cucumber downy mildew in Michigan’s Thumb area as well as at least one West Michigan county, which means we can pretty much count on it showing up in Southeast Michigan soon. Treating your plants with an organic fungicide, such as Bonide® Revitalize Biofungicide and Safer® Garden Fungicide, on a regular basis, can help keep them from succumbing to disease, which means that you might actually get to eat a lot of what you planted! It’s important to treat your plants before you see signs of infection, because most of the diseases we see in our gardens can’t be cured once they set in. Prevention is really the only way to keep the diseases from taking over.

In the flower garden:

Much like in the veggie garden, keeping insects under control this month is often challenging, though I haven’t seen too many of my usual nemeses so far. I have seen aphids on a number of my plants, and just saw my first Japanese beetles of the season yesterday. Other plant-munching beetles, and one of my least favorite pests – sawfly larva – have yet to make an appearance, but I’m sure it’s just a matter of time. I tend to rely on either Insecticidal Soap, Neem Oil, or Spinosad (in the form of Captain Jack’s Dead Bug Brew) for the aphids, milkweed beetles, and sawfly larva, but the best way to deal with Japanese beetles is to simply pluck or shake them off the plants 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. The best time of day to do this is in the afternoon, when it has warmed up, and they are most active. 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, as they don’t like to dine alone, and once one has found your garden, it will send out signals to all its friends to come and join it. Squashing them also sends out a message to their friends, who then show up in droves to avenge their buddy, so dunking is really the best answer. Don’t fall for those bags that trap the beetles, either. All those do is attract more of them to your yard.
Be sure to fertilize roses throughout the month, but stop fertilizing at the end of the month to allow new growth to harden off before winter. Remove diseased leaves immediately and pick up any that have fallen to help prevent the spread of disease. Aphids and mites can be major rose pests, and can cause serious damage if not kept under control. Careful spraying (again, Neem Oil and Spinosad are effective here) when these pests are spotted is generally all that is necessary. These tasks, along with regular fungicide spraying to keep diseases such as powdery mildew under control, will help keep your roses healthy.
As in your vegetable garden, keep weeds under control in the flower garden, so they don’t compete with your flowers for moisture and nutrients. One option for controlling weeds in areas where you don’t have to worry about harming plants you want (think sidewalks, driveways, etc.) is Bonide® Burnout Formula II. This non-specific weed killer will kill almost anything it comes in contact with, so you want to be careful not to spray when it’s windy, or too close to plants you don’t want to get rid of. It has become my favorite, organic way to control weeds around my house.
Cut back perennials when they have finished blooming over the summer to help them concentrate on putting down new roots before winter. This will give you more lush plants next year.
To keep your potted annual flowers looking great all summer long, be sure to fertilize them. With frequent watering, fertilizer tends to get flushed out of the container, so regular feedings are a must. Also, don’t forget to deadhead. By removing dead flowers, you encourage the growth of new ones throughout the season.
And don't forget to water! Container plants are often placed in areas where what rain we might get doesn’t reach them, and they dry out much more quickly than plants in the ground, so be sure to water them frequently – as much as every day, when it’s hot and sunny.

Trees & Shrubs:

Regularly water any trees and shrubs planted in the past couple of years. With the extended dry period that we had earlier, we are still not caught up on where we should be at this point for ground water, and newly planted trees and shrubs don’t yet have the established root systems needed to efficiently pull water from the soil. The term “newly planted” applies to the first three years after you have put in new trees and shrubs – that’s how long it takes to get their roots established, in good times. When we are experiencing drought conditions, you should water trees and shrubs that were planted even longer ago, as going for long periods without water can severely stress them. Tree watering bags can be a life-saver (literally for your trees, and figuratively for you) during extended dry periods like we had this spring. You only have to fill them up once or twice per week, and they slowly water your trees for you. If you only have a couple of trees or shrubs to water, soaker rings are another really great option. Hook a hose up to them and just let them do the watering for you.
If you need to fertilizer your trees or shrubs, don’t apply fertilizer after the 4^th of July, to avoid a flush of new growth that doesn’t have time to harden before winter. Newly planted trees and shrubs should not be fertilized for the first two to three years after planting. Fertilizing encourages foliage and stem growth, and you really want your trees and shrubs concentrating on root growth for the first couple of years.
Finish up pruning of trees and shrubs this month or early next. Pruning too late in the season can encourage new growth that will not have time to harden off before winter sets in. And remember that you should never prune oak trees outside of the depths of winter, in order to avoid the devastating disease of oak wilt. If your oak trees sustain damage, such as due to strong winds or storms, it’s important to prune back damaged branches quickly and then immediately seal the wounds with latex paint to keep seeping sap from attracting disease-carrying beetles.

Lawn:

The good thing about the lack of rain this spring is that we haven’t had to mow as much as usual. When you are 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 will help it retain moisture during the hot, dry summer we are likely to have, and will help suppress weeds.
You’ve probably noticed brown areas in your lawn this spring, unless you’ve been irrigating. Not to worry - those brown, dead-looking areas are most likely dormant – not dead – because of the lack of rain. With the rain we recently saw, I’m seeing those brown patches turn back to green in my lawn, but I expect to see the brown appear again, if we don’t see regular rain. Unless we really get into prolonged drought conditions, watering your lawn shouldn’t be necessary to keep it alive. It’s natural for the types of grass that grow in Michigan to go dormant when it dries up for a while.
Another good thing about the dry conditions is that it makes it harder for Japanese beetles and their grubs. The grubs (larva of the beetles) don’t survive well when the soil is dry, and the eggs laid by adults can’t hatch in dry soil. So if the dry conditions continue, we may have a lower Japanese beetle population this year and next! If you have been irrigating your lawn, you may be experiencing more of a problem with Japanese beetles, and therefore may also have more of an issue with grubs later in the season. Milky Spore is a good long-term solution for keeping grubs under control.

For the Birds:

Keep your birdbaths full, and consider putting out additional baths or even filling things like overturned trash can lids or large saucers with water for them. Dry conditions are as difficult on birds as on our gardens, and they are going to be looking for water wherever they can find it. One place they may try to relieve their thirst is in your garden – by sucking out the juice of your crops! Making sure they have a consistent source of water may save your harvest. Just be sure to dump the water and refill it every day, to discourage mosquitoes from laying eggs.
Bees and butterflies would also appreciate some watering spots in your yard. You can provide water for them in shallow containers (planter saucers work perfectly for this). Fill the container with pebbles, rocks, or marbles and then fill with water to just below the surface of the pebbles. The pebbles or marbles give the bees and butterflies a place to land and safely sip. Be sure to change the water regularly, and be very careful about keeping pesticides away from your watering station. The National Wildlife Federation has some great tips for providing water for butterflies.
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 few days.