July Gardening Tip

• Warm season grasses can be fertilized in July at a rate of 1 pound of nitrogen (N) per 1,000 square feet.  Do not fertilize cool season fescue lawns!
• Be sure to keep up with watering new transplants.  On average, provide about an inch of water each week (rain gauges are handy for this). It’s always better to water deeply and less frequently to encourage deep root growth.
• Need to replenish any mulch?  Has it compacted or run off in the spring rains?  Adequate mulch makes a big difference in the success of your garden and helps you stay ahead of pesky weeds.
• Take advantage of plant bargains at Logan’s!  There are great deals every day that will let you fill in those gaps very economically, both in annuals, perennials and shrubs and trees.  Check our website for some examples!
• Keep annuals like begonias, impatiens and coleus pinched back, if they are getting leggy.  To keep the plant from looking like it just got a crew cut, pinch out a third of the plant at a time, let it begin to flush back out, then pinch back other leggy stems.  Pinch out coleus blooms to keep the plants energy focused on that spectacular foliage.
• Stop pinching back fall bloomers like asters and mums in mid-July, so they can set their blooms.
• To prolong blooming, deadhead annuals, perennials and roses.  Butterfly bushes and crape myrtles that are within reach can also be deadheaded for a second flush of blooms.
• Walk through your yard and garden regularly to catch any pests or diseases that strike when plants are stressed by our hot summers.  July is when we start seeing bagworms, particularly in conifers like arborvitae, junipers, spruce and Leyland cypress.  Telltale signs are brown bags of plant debris and “silk” hanging off limbs.  Bagworms can be manually picked off and destroyed or treated with Spinosad.
• July is the time to begin planning your fall vegetable garden seeds. Vegetables that take 60 days or more to mature will need to be planted in late July or early August.  Plant seeds of beets, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, carrots and collards in mid-late July.  Plant cauliflower, cucumbers, kale, lettuce, radishes, spinach and turnips can be planted in August.
• If you’re harvesting more vegetables and herbs than you can possibly eat or preserve, consider donating your excess to the Plant a Row for the Hungry program. You can drop off fresh produce at Logan’s that will be donated to the Inter-Faith Food Shuttle.  For every 4th donation, Logan’s will give you a free gift!
• Don’t forget our feathered friends.  Keep their feeders and birdbaths clean and stocked.