It can be a challenge to keep gardens growing well as summer heats up, so Utah State University Extension provides a Gardener’s Almanac to help. The almanac provides a checklist of tasks with tips, links and further information.
July Checklist
· Start enjoying the tomato harvest.
· Side dress (fertilize) potatoes in the garden with nitrogen in early July.
· Harvest summer squash and zucchini when they are still small and tender.
· Deep water established trees and shrubs about once per month during the heat of summer.
· Deadhead (cut off) spent blossoms of perennial and annual flowers.
· Divide crowded iris or daylilies once they have finished blooming.
· Remove water sprouts (vertical shoots in the canopy) of fruit trees to discourage regrowth and reduce shading.
· Renovate perennial strawberry beds by tearing out old crowns (mother plants) and applying fertilizer to stimulate new runners.
Pests and Problems
· If tomatoes are not producing, it could be due to hot weather (95°F and above), which causes flower abortion.
· Blossom end rot (black sunken areas on the end of tomatoes) is common and is caused by uneven watering.
· Check under leaves of pumpkins, melons and squash plants for squash bugs.
· Treat corn for corn earworm.
· Spider mites prefer dry, hot weather and affect many plants. Treat for spider mites by using “softer” solutions such as spraying them with a hard stream of water or by using an insecticidal soap. Spider mites can be easily identified. Shake leaves over a white piece of paper, and if the small specs move, you have mites.
· Control codling moth in apples and pears to reduce wormy fruit. For specific timing, see our Utah Pests Advisories.
· Historically, control of the greater peach tree borer in peaches, nectarines and apricots occurs the first of July. However, for specific timing, see our Utah Pests Advisories.
· Click here for instructions on how to submit a sample to the Utah Plant Pest Diagnostic Lab.
· Watch for symptoms of turfgrass diseases.
· Monitor for damaging turfgrass insects.
· For drought information, click here. For information from the Center for Water-Efficient Landscaping, click here.
To see a video of the July Gardener’s Almanac tips, click here. To learn more gardening tips and tricks, click here.
By: JayDee Gunnell, Utah State University Extension horticulturist, Jaydee.gunnell@usu.edu
Categories: Gardening