JULY CHECKLIST

Summer is in full swing. Flowers are abundant, berries are looking delicious, your veggies are growing. We bet that you are thinking about vacations, but before you do, think about how you are going to water your plants.

Here's a checklist:

Around the home

• Spend some time removing dead flowers from your hanging baskets and containers, to promote further blooming.
• Now that your plants are pushing delicious leafy greens and flowers, your garden is like a buffet for slugs, deer, and other critters. Bait for slugs and protect plants from deer. Sorry to say, but the pests are plentiful this year.
• Work on a watering strategy. Mulch to conserve soil moisture, try drip irrigation, use soaker hoses.
• Refresh your containers with new flowers.

Edible gardening

• You can still plant warm season veggies. Plant basil, beans, corn, cucumbers, and squash, including zucchini and pumpkins. Note that there's probably not enough time to grow these from seed.
• You can plant leafy greens now too. See our article on the main page about planting for fall crops. Note that you veggies like to "bolt" during hot weather, so you may need to shade them a bit.
• Water, water, water.

Lawn care

• Remove dandelions before they seed. You know what the best remedy for dandelions and weeds are? More grass! Reseeding, fertilizing, and keeping your lawn healthy creates an environment that doesn't give dandelions much room to grow.
• Focus on deep, slow, infrequent watering. Deep watering encourages deep root growth.

Indoor plants

• Now that there's more sunlight, your plants will start growing again. It's okay to fertilize them again.
• And now that your plants are growing, it's a good time to see if they are outgrowing their pots and need repotting. Although you can repot your plants yourself, you can also have us repot them for you. We will charge for materials and labor (typically around $5-10 for small jobs, plus the pot price) or you can come in during our Houseplant Clinic, and we will help you out. The next Houseplant Clinic is Jul 5.)
• If you are moving your houseplants outside for the summer, this is a good time to acclimate them by moving them to a shady (but warm) spot for about a week, then move them slowly into sunnier areas for about a week. Watch the weather forecasts. If the temps dip below 50F, move your plants back to a warmer spot.