July 2003 Gardening Tips
by Thea Fiskin, Master Gardener

Homegrown fruits and vegetables grow and ripen quickly this month. Be sure to harvest frequently to enjoy them in their prime. Tomatoes should be firm, not mushy. Zucchini should be 6-8" long, not the size of baseball bats or logs. Share extra produce with friends and neighbors.

LAWNS
Water lawns in early morning instead of evening, to conserve water and prevent fungal diseases. Warm season lawns like bermuda, St. Augustine and zoysiagrass will benefit from fertilizer this month. These grasses should be watered deeply to promote root growth and prevent crabgrass. Once or twice a week is usually often enough. You can also plant, patch and reseed these lawns all summer.

Cool season lawns like tall fescue and perennial ryegrass really don't like the hot summer and their growth slows down until the weather cools. You should notice a decrease in the amount of clippings. Raise the mower height about a half an inch to help reduce the heat stress. Adding fertilizer now is like putting salt on a wound, it burns. It's better to let fescue lawns "limp through" July and August, and then fertilize again in September.

WEED CONTROL
Crabgrass - This summer annual weed continuously germinates and grows in hot, moist areas. It's usually found in lawns that receive too frequent watering. Mowing cool season lawns a little higher and watering less frequently will help prevent its spread. In winter apply a preemergent to prevent seeds from germinating next spring.

Nutsedge - Nutsedge thrives in wet, waterlogged conditions, so improve drainage and keep the area as dry as possible. Spot treatments of Roundup or Finale, or watered in preemergence herbicides can be used in flowerbeds. The herbicide Manage is available for use in lawns. Nutsedge is one tough weed so be diligent with hand pulling, hoeing, spraying and avoid over-irrigation to get rid of it.

Spurge - This is the flat creeping weed with a red spot on the leaves. When you pull it, sticky sap gets on your hands. Ants love it. Try hand pulling or hoeing spurge plants before they set seeds and remove them from the site. In flowerbeds spot treat with Roundup and add mulch to prevent seed germination. To discourage infestations in lawns mow fescue at 3-inches to shade seedlings and fertilize bermudagrass to keep it healthy.

CRITTERS
Aphids - In spring it is the Green Peach aphid and in summer it is the Melon aphid that plagues the majority of our flower bushes and vegetables. Wash them off with a strong squirt of water. Good bugs can usually reduce aphid populations, if you are patient. For really bad infestations use insecticidal soap sprays before resorting to harsher insecticides.

To attract ladybugs and other "good" bugs try planting dill, cosmos, fennel, feverfew, sweet alyssum, and yarrow.

Tobacco Budworm - If your geraniums, petunias or roses have stopped blooming the culprit may be the tobacco budworm. The worm is the larva of a night flying moth that lays eggs in flower buds. The hatching larvae feed on the bud then travel down the stem. Try spraying BT (Bacillus thuringiensis) or use a rose systemic.

GARDEN CHORES
1. The number one chore of the month is watering. The goal is to water less often for a longer time with low flow to allow water to penetrate deeply and supply roots. Shallow watering encourages surface roots, which require constant irrigation. Daily watering often causes plants to die because roots rot or disease organisms infect.

2. Containers and new transplants will probably need watering twice a day. Water stone fruit trees deeply to prevent Siamese twin fruit next spring.

3. Divide bearded iris. First carefully dig up plants and discard old rhizome and any diseased or rotted sections. Replant the young and healthy rhizomes, and then water in.

4. When blackberries or boysenberries are harvested, it's time to clean them up. Cut this year's fruiting canes back to the ground and then tie up the new green canes to take their place. It's also a good time to spread some compost or fertilizer in the bed.

Gardeners love to look and plan their future gardens. Take a break from the heat, sip a lemonade, and browse through the bulb catalogs that are starting to arrive in the mail. You might just end up ordering something special for your winter and spring gardens!

 

July 3, 2003