July garden calendar

Vegetables and fruits

• Harvest fruits of your labor and enjoy.

• Control weed growth to preserve water and nutrients.

• Fertilize vegetables to encourage plant development.

• Watch for foliar disease development on lower tomato leaves and treat with a fungicide.

• Prepare for fall gardening. Plant potatoes, broccoli, and other fall crops.

• Spray sweet corn to control corn earworms as silks emerge.

• Be on the lookout for pests of the garden and control.

• Remove old raspberry canes after harvest.

Flowers

• Remove faded flowers from annuals to stimulate more flowers for late summer color, and from perennials to prevent reseeding.

• Keep gardens well mulched.

• Cut fresh bouquets for enjoyment on hot summer days.

• Lightly fertilize annuals to promote growth.

• Dig, divide, and replant crowded irises.

• Fertilize roses for fall blossoms.

• Fertilize and water container gardens.

• Complete the final pinching of chrysanthemum tips for bushier plants.

Lawns

• Mow bluegrass and tall fescue around 3 to 3 1/2 inches.

• Mow zoysia at 1 1/2 inches.

• Fertilize zoysia to encourage summer growth with a high nitrogen fertilizer. Let grass clippings fall to return nutrients to soil and grass.

• Be on the lookout for summer diseases such as brown patch.

• Watch for grubs. If they begin to hatch, an insecticide may be required. Apply in late July or early August.

• Keep mower blades sharpened.

• Replace lawn mower air filter and change lawn mower oil per owner’s manual.

• Prepare to control perennial grassy weeds such as zoysia, fescue, and nimblewill.

• Take a soil test to prepare for fall lawn renovation.

• Water deeply and less often for deep roots and a healthy lawn.

Trees and Shrubs

• Water newly planted shrubs and young trees (planted within the last three to five years) during dry weather.

• Keep plants mulched to conserve moisture and cool roots.

• Remove sucker growth from the base of trees and along branches.

• Prune diseased, dead, or hazardous limbs.

Miscellaneous

• Water weekly by deeply soaking the soil. Use surface irrigation and avoid watering late at night to help reduce disease development.

• Take photos of gardens.

Kelsey Nordyke is the Ag and Natural Resources Agent at K-State Research and Extension, Cowley County, P.O. Box 538, 311 East 9th Ave., Winfield, KS 67156. For more information about agriculture and gardening, contact the Cowley County Extension Office at (620) 221-5450 or (620) 441-4565.