Monthly Gardening Calendar For July

July is summer at its best. Picnics, trips to the beach, reunions, and seemingly endless days of warmth and sunshine are here. It can make one almost believe that he or she is in sunny Florida! The Fourth of July brings a festive air to this month. This is a big month for outdoors goings-on.

July also sees a beginning of less frantic times for gardeners. As the pace settles into a gentle rhythm, there are still some gardening essentials that will help to maintain the productivity and appearance of yard and garden this month:

1. Continue to pinch back mums until July 10, to promote fullness and more profuse blooming this Fall.

2. If you haven't already done so, set the mower up a notch or two. The inconsistency of rain means the grass will begin to go through a summer dormancy. Maintaining the lawn at a taller height helps to conserve moisture at ground level, and will help to keep the crowns or the grass from scorching.

3. Continue to water deeply. Those summer showers that the region often sees in late afternoon and early evening can be deceiving! Unless a monster storm comes in that is a literal cloudburst, don't expect Nature to provide enough rain. Water should be applied at root level. Water early in the morning before the heat of the day, and early in the evening. Stop an hour or two before sunset. The minimum should be an inch a week.

4. Shear back annuals that have become a bit bedraggled. They will soon resume a more compact appearance, and will resume good flower production.

5. Bearded or German iris can be divided and reset later this month.

6. Begin to order fall planted bulbs from your mail order sources for the best selections that these sources offer. Start planning next Spring's display from the comfort of your air conditioned home or from your front porch while sipping a glass of lemonade!

7. Continue to keep vegetables picked. As crops start to finish producing, relegate the spent plants to the compost pile. Plant the vacant spots with seeds and plants for the Fall vegetable garden.

8. Continue to apply mulch, as needed.

9. Continue to fertilize annuals, perennials, roses, and vegetables.

10. Now is a good time to start seeds of perennial and biennial plants.

11. Deadhead flowers and roses.

12. Assess your trees and shrubs for storm damage after thunderstorms. Cleanly prune torn branches away.

13. Keep an eye out for pests. Hand pick Japanese Beetles and drown them in a pail of soapy water, or use a garden-friendly pesticide such as NEEM. Set out small saucers or partially buried tuna cans filled with beer or grape juice around plants like hostas. This will attract slugs, who will drop in and drown. If you haven't already done so, start using organic fertilizers, and earth-friendly pest and disease controls.

14. Pull weeds and grasses after watering.

15. Early in the month, prune back the canes of once-flowering roses as they finish blooming. Cut them back by a third, and thin out any weak branches and old, thick canes.

16. Continue to change hummingbird feeder solution and clean the feeders at least every other day.

17. Pull weeds and grasses after watering.