ADRIAN — June is over and July is here. Your planting is done. So what do you focus on now? Maintenance!
Late June and July are peak, high-maintenance months for your lawn and garden. As the weather gets warmer and the spring rains drop off, it’s important to be consistent with watering, weeding and harvesting. Focus on deep watering in the early hours of the day. Try to water at the base of the plants, avoiding the leaves if possible.
Watering in the morning gives plants time to dry off. This cuts back on evaporation and disease. Pots like to be fertilized using a liquid fertilizer about once every couple of weeks. Dead-heading or removing old blooms will keep your plant/pot looking great and encourage new growth and flowers. Cut the spent bloom at the juncture of the first set of leaves.
Watch for signs of pests. Squash bugs and Japanese beetles are two pests that become active this time of the summer.
The best, environmentally conscious way to deal with these pests is to hand pick them off and drop them in a bucket of soapy water. If you have an infestation that is too much to keep up with, you may have to consider using a pesticide for control. Be sure to read and follow all label instructions. If you keep an eye out, you should avoid this problem.
Do not immediately kill Japanese beetles! Before you flick any into a bucket of soapy water, check for signs of Winsome flies that may have parasitized the beetles. The Winsome flies lay their eggs on the beetles, which show up as white spots on the beetles’ bodies. They prefer to lay eggs on female Japanese beetles. This helps reduce both the beetle’s life span and its egg laying capacity.
Be sure to keep weeds down. They can easily take over a garden and will fight with the plants for water and nutrients. Weeds can grow anywhere and seed out rather quickly, so be vigilant. Ground covers or mulch will help to keep the weeds down and also keep moisture in the ground. Grass clippings are a great form of mulch. Just be sure that your lawn hasn’t been recently treated. The treatment can kill your plants if exposed too soon.
Hold off on spraying herbicides in the lawn until fall, when temperatures are cooler and the perennial weeds start pulling energy into their crowns for winter. You can manually pull weeds during this time without doing too much damage to the lawn. Raise your mower deck to keep grass 2.5 to 3 inches tall; this shades the soil and reduces water needs. If you are watering your lawn, early in the day is best.
Most of your vegetables have a good start. You fertilized when you planted, so those in the ground should be good. Vegetables grown in pots may need more fertilizer. Tomatoes may need a shot of fertilizer to keep them going strong. Apply fertilizer when the flowers begin to appear and when the first fruits appear. If you apply too early, you will get a terrific plant and no fruit.
Be sure to harvest your herbs as they are ready. This will keep them producing and cut back on flowering.
Now is the time to start preparing for fall planting if you do any. Order your bulbs and perennials that you may want to add to your garden this fall.
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