My Task List for the July Garden

The heat is on, and the big, black grasshoppers have come out of hiding. I worked very hard in May to find them as they hatched out and give them a huge, hearty helping of Sevin and/or malathion. Their numbers seem to be down a little this year, but it's early yet. Now that they have grown their wings, there's not much in the insecticide aisle that will kill them. I find that the bottom of my shoe works best.

After July 4th, when all the guests have left, and you have the garden to yourself again, it's time to cut back all the impatiens. This is always difficult for me to do because they are so tall and beautiful right now, but I've learned that if I wait, they get scraggly and leggy, and damaged by the hail storms we're having every afternoon. Cutting them back now produces a great, grand show in time for Labor Day, when all those guests that just left suddenly re-appear at your door. Hummmmmm.

Your roses will also benefit from a mid-summer pruning, as long as you keep it light and easy. Remove all the dead wood, any huge succers branching off the root stock, and any other branches that seem to make the bush look out-of-shape. Keep dead-heading spent flowers, and the bush will come into bloom again soon. After pruning, fertilize and water well.

In fact, remember to keep dead-heading all the re-blooming perinneals and annuals like daylilies, zinnias, marigolds, calendula, etc. If the annuals seem spent, now is a great time to add a second planting of these plants, which will carry the seasonal color well into the fall. Pinch back the mums now, but be sure to stop pinching by the last week in July - this will give them time to branch out and develop a spectacular display for October.

Now is the time to divide spring flowering plants like irises (not Louisianas), Shasta dasies, gaillardia, canna, early daylilies (finished blooming), liriope, and ajuga. Simply dig the clump up, cut it into two or more sections, making sure each section has a strong root system attached, and replant in the garden. Always be sure to share some with a friend!

Stop pruning all shrubs! Spring bloomers such as Azaleas are setting bud for next Spring, and you'll prune it off. For other shrubs, the pruning will cause the plant to put out new growth, which will be weak and tender when the first cold snap arrives in the fall. Hold off on all pruning of non-flowering shrubs until the dead of winter, when they're dormant. Spring flowering shrubs should only be pruned immediately after they have finished their bloom.

Keep up with the watering. Drought-resistant plants like hollies will still shed their berries under drought related stress - and you'll miss the color come Christmas. Take time now to plan for a nice shady spot for a new bird bath - then keep it clean and filled. Enjoy the wildlife in your garden this summer!

My Task List for the May Garden

We are perched precariously on the precipice between cool spring evenings and hot summer nights. This is probably the broadest range of temperatures that we will face until the cool down in November. This is the last month for planting shrubs, dividing perinnials, and getting things mulched and ready for the hot days ahead.

If you love clematis as much as I do, plant some right away, and then sit back and let it take over a trellis. Best bets for the Coastal South include Nelly Moser (mauve with deep pink centers), Henryi (white, with a purplish tinge), and Jackmanii (purple). I used to be a purist, and only planted one variety in each place, but I have come to love the way the vine scrambles over the trellis, and intermingles with whatever is nearby. This year, I'm putting in a Nelly Moser and Henryi next to my back door, in a dry, sunny spot, and hoping for a big show come October. It will replace a thunbergia that I grew from seed two years ago, but that struggles in that sunny spot during the hot weather. The black-eyed Susan vine will take over a place of prestiege in the shade near the main gate to the back yard. It is one of those plants that dislikes our hot summer nights, but it will sit tight for the summer, and come out with a big bang in the fall, blooming happily throughout the winter on my south-facing back wall.

Clematis loves lots of sun as long as their "feet" are in shade. Do plan on planting something at their base that will hold leaves through out the summer, and then mulch them in well. Plan on providing a LOT of water, and fertilize lightly every six weeks throughout the growing season. There's a lot of debate about pruning clematis, and I just stay out of it. If it's too big, cut it back. If it's not, leave it alone. You can increase the number of vines you have by draping one branch in a circle around the base of the plant in October, and then bury it in the dirt about an inch deep. When new growth begins in the spring, each leaf axil will produce a new vine. The plant can be cut back and divided the following winter, providing several more plants for the garden.

This is the week that I am pulling out my cool season vegetables such as lettuce and cabbage, which are starting to bolt (grow flower stalks out the top, and set seed) Bolting makes them taste bitter, so I will make a grand, large salad, and enjoy the last of it until next fall. I will put in carrot and radish seeds, basil and thyme, and plot my next move regarding the tomatoes. I really don't have enough sun for them to thrive, but every year I try them, anyway. My other MUST HAVE summer vegetable is an eggplant called "Ichiban." It is first and foremost, a beautiful plant with broad leaves and dark purple stems. The fruit is long and cylindrical, dark purple and very sweet. The skin is so tender that you don't have to peel it off. It is great grilled, but makes the best Eggplant Parmesan you have ever tasted. (My recipe is in the sidebar to the right.)

The St. Augustine has been creeping into all the flower beds, so this is the time to pull it all out, and trim up the edging of the walkways and beds. The plastic edging never works for the fast-spreading grasses that do so well in the coastal South, so I use brick edging as much as I can. I put in a vertical row, and then a horizontal row on the outside, providing a ground-level platform for the wheels of the mower to ride on. Where I don't use brick, I edge in liriope, but those beds have to be trimmed regularly using the half-moon edger and digging down about 6 inches to provide a moat to stop the grass. Well, nothing stops it, but the moat provides a place where I can grab a-hold and pull it out. The St. Augustine has disguised itself in the liriope by growing tall, but you'll recognize it by it's bright green color against the cooler dark blue-green of the liriope. Clean out the grass now, because the liriope will begin their bloom season next month, and you don't want to pull up any of the flower stalks.

And speaking of grass.... Fertilize lawns now - but check with your local AgCenter (listed on this page) for recommended formulations and application rates. Centipede needs different treatment than St. Aug - so do your homework, and you won't be fighting brown patch this Fall. Never apply fertilizer to wet grass! After application, water in well. If you don't get a good rain within a week (an inch or so in a week) then water again within 7-10 days. Remember to raise your blade as high as you can stand it - this will provide a lusher lawn that will shade out weeds. Mowing on the lowest seting may save you time mowing, but it will ruin your grass in the long-run. Save mowing time now, only to spend it laying sod later. Your choice.

Now is a great time to plant bulbs that will put on a show well into the fall. Plant calla lilies, crinum, ginger, tuberose, and cannas. There several new varieties of dwarf canna that produce a smaller plant, but great big flowers. You can put out summer bedding plants, too, such as marigolds, salvia, and impatiens. Mulch them well, and provide lots of water. All these bulbs and plants will benefit from a liquid fertilizer such as MiracleGro throughout the summer.

Find a place in the shade for your houseplants, and give them a big boost of fertilizer and water. Peace Lilies will want full shade, and lots of water.

Aphids are a huge problem right now, so watch for infestations and spray with insecticidal soap. Be sure your plants are well-watered before treatment, and don't spray a heavy dose on new, tender growth. Watch weekly for re-infestation, and treat immediately. Persistence is the name of the game here. It's too hot now to treat camellias with oil sprays, but watch them for aphids and camellia scale, and treat with insecticidal soap. It's a stop-gap measure that will help some - the real treatment is to plan now for oil sprays in the Fall and Spring.

Enjoy the lilies, and look forward to the hydrangeas...it will be a beautiful summer on the Coast!