July Gardening Checklist

July heat calls for water

Depending on where you live, July is often the warmest month of the year and everything that you've planted starts looking productive. There really are tomatoes on the tomato plants albeit a bit hard and green. Colorful flowers, from dainty sweet peas to aromatic lavenders, are in full bloom so working in the garden is often a pleasure.

To prolong the vitality of your garden from now until fall as well as get a jump start on next year, the following tips can help.

Start perennials

This month is a great time to start next year's perennials.

Prepare a seed bed of finely worked, rich soil amended with loam. leaf mold, and well-rotted manure.
Water the soil thoroughly and allow to drain.
Sow seeds and cover lightly with soil.
Mulch with straw to protect and keep the seeds moist. You'll have to monitor the soil moisture. Make sure the soil doesn't bake.
Remove the mulch when the seeds sprout.
Thin as the young plants develop.
Transplant once to a temporary bed before setting in their final location.
Transplant to final location later in the fall or early next spring.

Cut those flowers

Cutting flowers not only brings the outside in, but encourages healthy plant growth. Water the evening before, then cut early in the morning for the freshest blooms. Keep flowers in cold water for a couple hours before arranging. To prolong life, recut stems, use a cut-flower preservative, and remove all leaves below the waterline. If you are gone during the day, put your floral arrangements in a cool room out of direct light, then put them back in the evening where you can enjoy them. And don't forget to change the water every day.

Tomatoes

Stake tomatoes if you haven't already. If you didn't add tomato cages a month or so ago, now is the time to jerry rig a frame around them. Check your garden center for metal or bamboo. Be careful to minimize damage to root systems though.
Remove suckers between the main stem and branches. It encourages bushier growth. While you're at it, pinch back tops of plants that have become leggy.
Water tomatoes from below to prevent fungal infections. Cultivate and remove weeds from base of plants.

Perennial maintenance

Deadhead flowers at regular intervals to prevent setting seed pods and prolong bloom time.
Cut back flowers that have finished blooming. This encourages a rest and possible repeat bloom in some plants, and results in a much neater garden.
Cultivate around plants and fill in with annuals where empty patches occur.
Add a light layer of fresh compost and work it in to keep plants healthy. Top with mulch to retain moisture as needed.
Lift spring bulbs like daffodils and hyacinths after foliage has died back completely. Wash them and dry thoroughly, then store in a cool place until it's time to replant them in the fall.

Baskets, window boxes, and containers

In addition to making sure they are kept evenly moist, fertilize container plantings to keep them attractive every couple weeks. Once a week, take baskets down and set them to soak thoroughly in a bucket or small tub.

Ants, spiders, and aphids

When the weather gets hot and plants get stressed, you'll see black ants and aphids arrive. You can get any number of treatments at the nursery, but dishwater works just as well. Once the aphids leave, so will the ants.

Little red spiders can be sprayed off plants with a fine spray from the hose.

To prevent plant stress, make sure they get plenty of water with good deep waterings twice a week, freshened compost, compost tea, or fertilizer every few weeks, and additional mulch as needed.

Vacations

Ask a neighbor or friend to do minimal maintenance on your garden. Even if you have a sprinkler system and a timer, it's a good idea to have someone make sure it's working properly as well as lightly deadheading and trimming to keep your garden looking neat. Also, an unkempt garden with flyers on the door is a sign that nobody's home...a sure temptation to thieves.

Trellises and Arbors

With some of the blooming successes in your garden, a trellis or arbor might be the perfect solution for plants that need extra support or a vertical path. Installing it this year might be problematic, but it's a good time to make a plan and be ready to begin construction later in the fall or early next spring.

Garden walks and paths

Kill weeds that start to erupt between stones, bricks, or along gravel paths. Boiling water strategically poured is very effective at parboiling the vegetation and precludes the need for toxins. Some people use salt water but that seems a bad idea if you are inclined to reorganize and move stuff around because it can wreck the soil.

Books

Butterfly Gardening: Creating Summer Magic in Your Garden —Make your garden a haven for butterflies.

100 Heirloom Tomatoes for the American Garden —Find out more about tomatoes.

Planning a July vacation? Whether you need help in the garden short or long term, a professional yard service can take care of your lawn and garden. Find a qualified service at NextStep Remodeling .