July Landscape Maintenance
Keep watering your lawns and gardens. Young trees and shrubs would also benefit from regular soakings. Midsummer is not a busy time in the garden. It is the time to enjoy the results of your spring projects. While enjoying the garden, remember to keep pulling weeds and making sure there is adequate moisture. If plants look wilted, they usually need to be watered. Keep up with your applications of fungicide on your perennials and other plants prone to fungus, such as Azaleas, Roses and Lilacs. Many lawns would also benefit. The fungicide I use is Infuse. There are also granular fungicides that can be used.
This is your last chance this summer to trim your evergreens. You do not want to trim evergreens much after mid July. Trimming promotes new growth, if that happens too late in the season, the new growth will not harden off before winter and can turn brown. Most deciduous shrubs can be lightly sheared if you like a more formal look, but stay away from the Lilacs, Azaleas, Rhododendrons, Forsythias and other plants that bloom early in the spring, for they have already started setting next years flower buds. Shrubs planted in heavier shade can be trimmed to encourage more branching. Shrubs that flower on new wood like most Spireas, can be sheared to promote a second flowering.
Keep feeding annuals and roses. Things that are long blooming, are heavy feeders and need to be fertilized more often. Only fertilize things you have been watering regularly. Do not feed drought stressed plants. Things such as hanging baskets and Hibiscus that get almost daily waterings, should be fed more often, as the frequent watering leeches out the nutrients.
Keep watering your lawn, it should receive one inch of water EVERY week. Keep the mower blade set to one of the highest settings, around three inches. Cutting the grass shorter during hot, dry periods will stress the grass and promote weed growth. Taller grass shades the ground and keeps it cooler. You do not mow the grass because it is tall, you mow it because it grows unevenly. Newly mowed grass at 3", looks just as nice as newly mowed grass at 1". Keep your mower blade sharp to make clean cuts. Dull blades beat and rip grass and cause stress.
Jeff Hauer, Landscape Designer and Owner