July can be a busy time in the garden. It’s often one of the hottest months of the season for all gardening zones, and with that comes the good and the bad.
The good is that fruits and vegetables are ripening and ready to be picked and many flowers are at their peak. Nothing is more satisfying than seeing your hard work produce wonderful results! The bad comes in the form of insect and critter damage, plant diseases, weeds, and inconsistent moisture levels. Each of those can wreak havoc in the garden.
That means gardeners need to be on their games. To ensure a healthy, thriving garden, inspect it daily and follow the tips below. I walk my garden twice a day: once in the morning and again in the evening. I do this beginning in July and going into September, as those are critical months in my zone 6a. Catching problems early saves a lot of headaches down the road.
As you review the list below, remember to identify your specific gardening zone and adjust your tasks accordingly. The tips included here can be applied to all zones, but you will probably want to add others based on your geographic location.
This post may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Affiliate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
1. Deadhead Perennials
Removing spent blooms from your perennials helps your plant redirect its energy from producing seeds to growing stronger roots. This is especially true for plants like peonies and daylilies. It can also encourage repeat flowering in some varieties, like salvia.
2. Watch for Insect and Critter Damage
With warm weather come the bugs…and some are quite the nuisance. Inspect your plants and shrubs daily for signs of critter damage. Japanese beetles, for example, can devour flowers quickly (they love our rugosa roses and pea blossoms). Others to watch for include aphids, tomato hornworms, thrips, scale, spider mites, and slugs.
Neem oil can address a number of insect problems. For Japanese beetles, knocking them into a jar of soapy water is a popular approach that won’t hurt your beneficial pollinators. Do so in the morning and evening when they’re not as active. Hornworms should be picked off of plants by hand (wear gloves) and dispatched.
In addition to insects, our furry friends can cause their own unique brand of damage. Rabbits, while so cute to look at, have been eyeballing your veggie garden for just the right time to make it their personal buffet. Protecting your garden with wire fencing small enough to prevent them from slipping through – like hardware cloth or chicken wire – helps a great deal and it’s a humane approach. This can also help thwart attacks by tunneling animals like groundhogs and chipmunks.
3. Keep Moisture Levels Consistent
This is a big one for July. Ensuring your plants receive consistent moisture is super important. Too little and they will become stressed and weaken, making them susceptible to insect infestations and diseases. It also affects fruit, vegetable, and flower production. Too much water and plants can suffer from root rot.
The best way to achieve moisture consistency is through drip irrigation. The slow, constant drip provided by these systems offers gardeners the best control over how much water is applied, and keeps moisture off of leaves which helps avoid mildew and other fungal infections. It requires a bit of effort to install, but will save lots of time down the road.
If you’re unsure about whether or not your plants need water, consider investing in a soil moisture meter. Just stick it in the ground near your plant and allow it to determine the moisture level of the soil for you. Many also measure additional factors like sunlight and soil pH.
Mulching is a great way to retain soil moisture during the dog days of summer. Choose from types that break down quickly for your vegetable garden, like chopped leaves, straw, or a thick layer of compost. These can be tilled into the soil for next season’s plantings. Landscaped beds benefit from a 3-4-inch layer of shredded bark, bark chips, or pine straw. Mulch prevents soil moisture from evaporating too quickly and keeps the roots of your plants cool and protected.
4. Harvest Regularly
This is the best July garden chore – picking your fruits and vegetables! After all, this is why you planted them in the first place. Harvesting daily ensures you’re getting fruits and veggies at their peak, when they have the best flavor. It also helps your plants direct their energy into ripening other fruits and producing the next batch of tomatoes, zucchini, peppers, etc.
5. Refresh Annuals
By July, many annuals have become leggy and tired looking. Take time to pinch back petunias, calibrachoa, and impatiens to encourage new, bushier growth. It’s also a good time to check on their fertilizer needs. Unlike perennials, annuals require regular feeding to keep them healthy and blooming. Many pros suggest weekly feedings with a fertilizer designated for annuals.
Signs your annuals need fertilizing include yellow leaves, lack of flowers, stunted growth, and pale bloom color. Follow the manufacturer’s instructions to avoid burning your plants and use an organic variety if you can.
6. Monitor Plants for Diseases
Heat and humidity are breeding grounds for plant diseases, and many can spread quickly if left unchecked. Powdery leaf mildew, blossom end rot, blight, leaf spot, and a host of other can ravage your crops. Some, like blossom end rot shown in the image above, are due to soil deficiencies and not bacterial or fungal infections. Such an issue is easily treated by amending the soil, in this case with calcium.
Others require more aggressive treatment. As noted above, neem oil is a popular fungicide and insecticide for treating a wide variety of problems. Some diseases, like early or late blight, may get so advanced that the only solution is pulling the plant up and dispose of it in the trash to avoid spreading the disease to other plants.
7. Add a Birdbath
When a lack of rain affects your garden, it also affects the surrounding wildlife, including beneficial pollinators like birds and butterflies. Add a birdbath to your landscape to give your winged friends a spot for a drink and a place to cool off. This will also encourage them to visit your garden and work their pollinating magic on your plants.
8. Pull Weeds
Not everyone’s favorite chore, but an important one, nonetheless. Weeds not only look bad, they rob plants of valuable soil nutrients and can crowd out what you’re trying to grow. Staying on top of this task will keep it from getting out of control. Plan to pull weeds daily, especially before they go to seed and spread more hate and discontent around.
A great way to prevent weeds from popping up is by mulching (see #3 above). A thick layer keeps them at bay and it’s an organic approach that’s good for you and the environment.
Looking for more garden inspiration? Check out these posts: