July

• Order spring bulbs.

• Fertilize container plants.

• Direct seed kale for fall harvest.

• Sow fall crop of peas.

• Pinch basil plants to promote bushiness.

• Side dress vegetables with nitrogen.

• If vegetables are not yielding as desired, plant high nectar flowers to attract bees and other pollinators.

• Pict the zucchini while it's young and tender.

• Net blueberries to protect from birds.

• Remove fruiting raspberry canes after harvesting berries.

• Trim strawberry runner growth or they will be all leaves and no berries.

• Dead-head spent blossoms.

• Sow seeds of biennials and perennials.

• Cut back delphiniums when they are finished flowering.

• Chrysanthemums will give a better fall display if fertilized now. Continue pinching back until mid-July for more blooms.

• Madonna lilies should be divided as soon as the flowering is over.

• Oriental poppies may be moved. Summer is the only time of the year they can be divided. Dig up the roots and cut into 2 inch pieces and replant in new locations.

• Dahlias require little artificial watering normally, but should be soaked once a week during drought.

• Water roses at least once a week.

• Regularly snip old flower clusters off floribunda roses to promote continuous flowering.

• Transplant iris. Trim back foliage but only replant healthy, firm rhizomes. Set them quite close to the surface.

• Divide spring blooming perennials.

• Start cuttings of coleus, geraniums, begonias and other plants you want inside in winter.

• Trim deciduous hedges so that the sides slope out toward the bottom to be sure that sunlight reaches the base of the plants.

• Prune wisteria. Dead-head daylilies so they bloom more profusely and give the possibility of a "re-bloom".

• Watch for tomato hornworm and hand pick them.