Gardening tasks for July.

• Plant fall pansy seed.
• Water containers daily if it doesn’t rain.
• Water lawns & gardens early in the morning.
• Continue to deadhead & pinch back mums.
• Root verbenas, ivy, climbing roses, vinca, pachysandra etc. by layering into the warm soil. Bury a section of the plant that has “eyes” in the soil holding down with “U” shaped wire or rocks.
• Sow hollyhocks, foxgloves & sweetwilliam.
• Make geranium cuttings for indoor winter bloom.
• Empty areas of the vegetable garden that have finished producing & sow seeds for cool season crops such as collards & broccoli or a cover crop of clover to add nitrogen to the soil.
• If you eat bananas, bury the peels around roses to add potassium, which they love.
• Water & turn the compost bins.
• Clean up any standing water to deter mosquitoes.
• Cut back spent canna blooms to the next flower head.
• Sow zinnia seed & plant fall-blooming bulbs such as spider lilies & crocus.
• Look out for spider mites. They love dry, hot weather. To check for the little buggers, hold a piece of white paper under the suspect plant & thump the leaves. If you see little, tiny moving “dots”, yup, you have mites. Use a strong spray of water to control.
• Start your fall gardens.