Mansfield Garden Calendar for JULY
Jun 26, 2015 12:41PM ● By Mary Phillips
Mid-Summer in Mansfield doesn't have to be a month to hide from our gardens. Here is your July garden check list to be sure the great outdoors stays beautiful, despite the heat.
Planting:
-Vegetables: Tomato plants, pepper plants, eggplant plants, and okra, black-eyed pea, cucumber, winter squash, pumpkin (for a Halloween harvest!), watermelon, and cantaloupe seeds.
-Plan your fall vegetable garden beds!
-Lawn and Landscape: Warm season turf grass (water regularly until established). Tropical / heat and drought resistant annuals for summer and early fall color in containers: mandevilla vines, portulaca, purslane, black-foot daisy. Heat and drought friendly perennials for garden bed boosts this year and beyond: Texas tarragon, ruellia, sedum/stonecrop, ornamental grasses, rock rose, hyssop, cone flower (pictured here). Looking for interesting, native or more unusual plants for your landscape? Try your local farmers market!
Pruning:
-Prune any dead wood or dying growth from trees, shrubs and perennials.
-Remove and replant any cooler weather annuals than have died back.
-Dead-head (cut back spent blooms) from perennials that are finished blooming to encourage healthy leaf and root growth.
-Carefully and minimally prune any plants that may have too much top-growth and root damage. This is particularly important after very wet spring seasons!
General Garden Care:
-Be water wise! Water garden and lawn areas between 3 and 8 am for best absorption and to reduce the likelihood of disease or sun scorch.
-Do a quick walk through to inspect for insects. Treat any growing or noticeable infestations appropriately.
-Hot, humid days are the ideal conditions for spider mites – be sure to check evergreens and vegetable crops in particular. If caught early, a rinse with dilute soapy water will fix the problem.
-Notice any plants looking like they may be nutrient deficient? Signs of leaf yellowing? Fertilize sparingly and appropriately using a good organic supplement.
-Empty any standing water to reduce mosquito populations.
Happy Gardening – let's make Mansfield even more beautiful!