Gardening Calendar for July

During weeks 1 and 2:

• Prune climbing roses and rambler roses after bloom.
• Hot, dry weather is ideal for spider mite development. Damage may be present even before webs are noticed.
• Spray hollies for leaf miner control.
• Blackberries are ripening now.
• Divide and reset oriental poppies after flowering as the foliage dies.
• Don’t pinch mums after mid-July or you may delay flowering.
• Dig potatoes when the tops die. Plant fall potatoes by the 15th.

• Harvest onions and garlic when the tops turn brown.
• Keep cukes well watered. Drought conditions will cause bitter fruit.
• Sweet corn is ripe when the silks turn brown.
• Powdery mildew is unsightly on lilacs, but rarely harmful. Shrubs grown in full sun are less prone to this disease.

• Semi-hardwood cuttings of spring flowering shrubs can be made now.
• Summer pruning of shade trees can be done now.
• For the fall garden, sow seeds of collards, kale, sweet corn and summer squash as earlier crops are harvested.
• Set out broccoli, cabbage and cauliflower transplants for the fall garden.
• Early peach varieties ripen now.
• Monitor lawns for newly hatched white grubs. If damage is occurring, apply appropriate controls, following product label directions.