July Gardening Tips

Birds and Wildlife

Keep birdbaths full and clean. Clean water is in short supply and is essential to the birds and butterflies.
Butterflies are attracted to overripe fruit, blooms, and mud. Make a muddy spot in your landscape for them to enjoy or place overripe fruit in a container.
Hummingbirds will reward you with their antics if you keep plenty of sugar water in feeders for them. Clean and change the water in the feeders weekly.

Keep rose bushes cleaned out to help prevent fungus and insect problems.
Spray with water the bottom side of foliage on rose bushes to keep them fresh and help control spider mites.
Fertilize roses with a complete rose food to help encourage blooming.
Fertilize caladiums with slow-release lawn fertilizer at the rate of 1/3-1/2 lb. per 100 square feet of bed. Water it in.
Deadhead spent flowers on annuals and perennials to encourage more blooms.
Plant zinnias which are among the easiest annuals to grow from seed.
For summer color and fall beauty, plant Texas’ tough annuals and heat-loving tropicals in beds and containers. To brighten a landscape in the heat of the summer, plant lantana, bougainvillea, mandevilla vine, allamanda, hibiscus, salvia, periwinkle, marigold, zinnia, portulaca, purslane, copper plant, and Bush Morning Glory.
Give special attention to water requirements of leafy garden plants such as coleus, caladiums and elephant ears during hot, sunny periods. Mulch heavily.
Maintain heavy (two to four inches) mulch throughout your landscape and gardens to reduce water needs and reduce weeding. Water plants when needed and not according to the calendar or day of the week. Water (soak) thoroughly rather than applying frequent light sprinklings.

Water fruit trees with one inch of water over the drip line per week until the fruit are harvested.
Take out the old canes in the blackberries to make way for the new ones next spring.

Iron deficiency (chlorosis) can show up in many landscape and garden plants at this time of year. Look for yellowed leaves with characteristic darker green veins. Frequent applications of iron sulfate (Copperas) as a foliar spray or applications to mulching materials may be needed to correct this deficiency. Green sand can also be used and is effective.

It’s reasonably safe to prune oak trees in July and August. Be sure to paint with latex-based paint all the wounds you make.
When pruning, only take out the dead, damaged or diseased limbs. It’s best to prune in January or February.

Set your lawnmower height at the highest level while it’s hot. 3 h 4 inches for St. Augustine.
Only if you can see your footprints in the grass should you water the lawn. Water deeply but not often.
If you see dead areas in the St. Augustine, check for grubs and chinch bugs. To check for grubs, dig a hole a foot square and about 2-3 inches deep. If you find more than 3 grubs in the soil, apply an approved insecticide. Chinch bugs like the hottest part of the yard; like beside driveways and sidewalks. Cut the top and bottom out of a coffee can. Push it down into the soil about an inch and then fill it with water. If little bugs float up, they’re usually chinch bugs. Apply an approved insecticide.
If you failed to make a second application of fertilizer to your lawn in June and moisture is available, do so now. Use a formula of a slow-release fertilizer such as 19-5-9 or 20-6-12. Water thoroughly after application.

Start over in the vegetable garden. Diffuse sunlight on young seedlings and transplants and protect them from pest damage until well established by using a cloth covering such as Grow Web, Plant Shield or Plant Guard.. .an old sheer curtain works, too.
Install a drip or trickle irrigation system with a battery-powered timer in your vegetable and flower gardens to make watering more efficient and less time- consuming. Water early in the morning.
Remove spent tomatoes, beans, and other veggies. They serve as disease and insect hosts now.
Prepare for fall gardening. Add about 2-3 inches of compost and 1-2 cups 19-5-9 slow release fertilizer to the veggie beds and till in as deeply as possible.