July gardening tasks run the gamut. If only July were more foreseeable in the garden. It does not matter how damp the spring was, rain can become extremely evasive in July.
There’s no definitive list of gardening tasks for the July garden. Gardeners just need to play it by ear. Most importantly, keep a close eye on pests and illness, then kick back and enjoy your garden and all the efforts you put in earlier in the year to get it where it is now.
July Gardening Chores for All Strength Zones
Slow down and offer you and your plants a rest from the heat. It can be really stressful growing and setting flower buds for several months, not to mention doing it in heat.
Provide plants a mid-season feeding or side dressing of garden compost, to get them through to the fall.
Keep tabs on rains and water as needed. Most plants need at lest an inch of water each week, more if the weather condition is really hot and dry. Remember to water deeply.
Stay ahead of weeds. Pulling them prior to they flower could conserve you from countless new weeds.
Change mulch as needed. It naturally disintegrates and may need renewing.
Check garden centers for mark downs on staying plants. Make certain to examine that they are healthy and not pot bound or loaded with weeds.
Keep yards at about 3 inches, to protect from summertime heat.
Keep bird feeders and baths clean.
Unique Care for Ornamental Plants in July
Keep up on deadheading. The more you deadhead, the more your flowers will re-bloom.
Shear back invested annuals by one-third. The old foliage gets worn out by mid-summer and shearing it back will motivate fresh brand-new development to complete.
Focus on heat and rain resistant flowers like: coleus, hibiscus, melampodium, pentas, plumbago, portulaca and zinnias.
Do a final pinching by mid-July, of fall flowering flowers like mums and asters.
Divide Iris.
Veggie Garden Maintenance in July
Harvest daily. Some vegetables, like cabbages and zucchini, can develop in the blink of an eye. Do not let them get split or tough open.
Find a Plant a Row for the Starving program to contribute your surplus vegetables to.
Succession plant bush beans and lettuce, to change fading plants.
Start fall crops of peas and cole crops. Keep them well watered, up until temperatures cool down.
Time to dig the garlic, onions and early season potatoes. Onion tops will tip over when they are ready to harvest. Garlic and potato plants will start to decline as they mature underground. Dig a couple of to test.
Treat yourself to some new potatoes if your potatoes are not quite prepared to harvest. Carefully loosen the soil under your plants to discover a few little potatoes to harvest.
Plant a cover crop in bare spots in the veggie garden. It will feed the soil and keep weeds from relocating.