SUMMER HAS OFFICIALLY begun, school is out, for a couple weeks the barbecue grill is positioned and the fridge is stocked with cold drinks for the warm days.
Your garden is planted, fruit trees are laden with fruit and the veggie garden is rolling on.
So as we head through summer, here is a to-do list for July guaranteed to keep your garden green, lush and prolific.
1. Deadhead.
Anyone who knows, I am always harping on the virtues of removing old flowers from plants. Removing old blossoms from your summer flowers before they fade to brown will not only result in your plants having dozens, if not hundreds, more blooms but will extend the length of their beauty well into autumn. Also, removing spent flowers will reduce the chance of infestation or disease. Do this chore weekly.
2. Pinch.
Don’t just stop at deadheading, earn a gold star by selectively pinching your plants. Every week, remove some leaves along with the old blossoms, pruning the plant and creating new growth that would not have existed had you not pinched them back. To get that effect, you must remove a few leaf sets. This will delay blooms for two or three weeks, so only do 10 percent to 15 percent of one branch weekly.
3. Dis-bud.
Claim the trifecta by disbudding various plants to create “commercial cut flower” quality blooms. Almost all florist flowers are disbudded. As the name implies, it requires you to remove buds from each growth tip. In the case of grandiflora and floribunda roses, along with dahlias, asters, zinnias, peonies, mums, carnations and marigolds, remove all side buds as soon as you see them. With plume-type blossoms such as celosia, delphinium, gladiola, lupine, snapdragon, liatris, larkspur, foxglove and astilbe, remove the very tip of the buds. This keeps the tip straight and causes all of the lower buds to open.
4. De-stamen.
The life of your lily blossom will be extended and its look drastically improved if you remove the stamen as soon as the bud starts to open. With the stamen gone, the pollen will not stain the bloom and the flower will try to hang on as long as possible in order to get pollinated, which now it cannot. This is a win-win situation, so make this one of your mandatory jobs. If you do this horticultural trick just once, you will be hooked for life because of the outcome.
5. Deep water trees.
Any nice big trees, especially fruit trees, you wish to see decades from now, need deep watering every three weeks through September. On nice sunny summer days, fruit and specimen trees can transpire (release into the atmosphere) hundreds of gallons of water. Help them to keep their fruit and stay vigorous and healthy by watering enough to soak 2 feet down (4 to 5 hours of sprinkler or drip watering a day).
6. Shape prune.
The next few weeks are perfect to shape prune your woody ornamentals. It is still early summer, so there’s plenty of time for new growth to develop and mature before late fall frost can damage tender growth. This season’s new growth is also rampant, and thinning or shaping now gives a manicured look to the rest of summer.
7. Veggie garden.
Right now is the absolute perfect time to sow new rows of beans, Brussel sprouts, broccoli, kohlrabi, cauliflower, beets and spinach, even green onions. And if you lay down new rows of edible or sweet peas this week, you will have a stupendous early fall harvest. The vegetable garden has its best months ahead, in fact. Go buy seed today.
8. Pestilence.
Unfortunately, summer is not the time to kick back in the lawn chair and sip lemonade as far as bugs, slugs, mice, weeds and disease are concerned. In fact, it’s just the opposite. Lay down pet-safe slug bait every 3 to 4 weeks, lay mouse traps, toss out dying plants, water in the morning, deadhead and go organic along with cultivating, and these “sound cultural practices” will lead to a very carefree garden.
9. Lavender Festival.
The time is soon to get up and enjoy the day at the Lavender Festival in Sequim, July 19-21. Tantalize your senses at wonderful farms and at a great street fair. Gather ideas for your own garden, meet new people and just immerse yourself in a horticultural extravaganza.
If you can’t make it, then check out some other gardens in the next few weeks.
They will be peaking in color and ideas, all for your pleasure. And please … stay well all!
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Andrew May is a freelance writer and ornamental horticulturist who dreams of having Clallam and Jefferson counties nationally recognized as “Flower Peninsula USA.” Send him questions c/o Peninsula Daily News, P.O. Box 1330, Port Angeles, WA 98362, or email news@peninsuladailynews.com (subject line: Andrew May).
