July Garden Tips

July is a very exciting month in the garden! Robust leaves and early fruits should be prominent and plots containing your more sizeable plants are probably approaching jungle status!

What to do in your garden this month?

Onions should be fully developed and can be harvested and prepared for storage. Other plants like broccoli, peas and cauliflower will be coming to a completion as well. Strawberries are hanging in there and producing pretty consistently and beautiful ripe red raspberries should be popping out all over the place! Be prepared to get your harvest on this month! All those big beautiful zucchinis, cucumbers and juicy ripe tomatoes are right around the corner. This time of year tends to be very hot and dry so you need to be on the top of your game when it comes to watering. Your garden needs about one inch of water each week. Early morning is the best time to water. Evening watering is less desirable because plant leaves that remain wet through the night are more susceptible to fungus diseases. Check the soil moisture of container grown vegetables and flowers daily. As the temperature rises, some plants may need water twice a day. A reapplication of straw mulch can be applied to plants to reduce water lose and improve yields. You may also want to apply a mid season fertilizer to assure consistent production through the rest of the growing season.

What to plant this month?

Continue to make successive plantings of crops like beans, cucumbers and sweet corn to provide a continuous harvest until fall. A small garden will produce a large quantity of vegetables if replanting is done throughout the summer. Although the excitement of ripe summer vegetables make it hard to think about fall and early winter crops timing is everything when it comes to planting. For a sufficient fall/winter harvest of lettuce, radish, broccoli, turnips, kale and spinach, sow seeds in late July.

Final Thoughts?

Once again, make sure to weed, weed, weed! It’s a continual process, and a daunting task, I know, but keeping your beds free of weeds will allow your plants to thrive without having to fight for sunlight, water and soil nutrients. Also perform frequent plant prunings. When you think of pruning you probably don’t think about vegetables, but snipping off wilted branches and dead or pest-munched leaves allows the plants "support system" to send vital energy and nutrients to healthy areas, provides better air circulation and stimulates more vigorous growth.

Happy Planting!