In your Garden in July

Your garden will respond this month to the long days of sunshine and warm weather. The annuals you planted earlier in the year should be looking their best and the fruit trees should be loaded with fruit. Some of the vegetables you've planted are being harvested and your garden overall should look spectacular. Spend more time outside doing simple chores and enjoy what you've created.

Color: While many of your annuals are probably at their peak, it's not too late to add a few plants to your beds and pots. Marigolds, Salvia, Zinnia, Verbena and many other varieties are available to plant in the sun. As always, bedding Begonias and Impatiens are available for the shade along with Coleus and Kalanchoe.

Fruits & Vegetables: Plums and Peaches on your fruit trees should be ready to pick and enjoy. Early crops such as beans and cucumbers may be ready to harvest this month. Remove fruit and vegetables as they ripen. Leaving them on the plant can encourage pests and diseases. You can replant now for another vegetable crop later this year. Prune spent canes off of fruiting vines.

Lawn: Continue to fertilize your lawn monthly through October. Raising the blade on your lawnmower and allowing the blades to grow to 2-2 ½" will help keep the ground moisture in your lawn.

Roses & Flowers: Deadhead roses and feed after the bloom cycle. Keep deadheading all flowers to prolong the bloom period.

Mulch flower beds and around shrubs and trees to help retain soil moisture through these typically hottest months.

Like every month, do a test run on your irrigation system to ensure that all lines are clear and emitters are working efficiently. Make sure that you establish a watering schedule for plants in pots that are not part of the irrigation system.