Southern Homes & Gardens Blog

July has arrived in full force which means we’re in the heat of summer and our plants, trees, yards and landscapes need some extra TLC. 

• Keep your lawn and garden adequately watered during the hot, dry summer months. Lawns need about an inch of water per week. Remember, a deep, thorough soaking is more beneficial than a light sprinkling.   

• Fertilize flower beds every 14-28 days.
• Cut back leggy annuals to encourage fuller plants and plenty of blooms. 
• Fertilize crape myrtles, butterfly bushes and hydrangeas with All Purpose Plant Food.  

• Watch for lacebugs, aphids and spider mites on flowers and shrubs. Use Triple Action to get rid of these pest.
•  Be sure that all tall annuals and perennials are securely staked so that they will remain upright during the afternoon thunderstorms that are so common at this time of year.
• Off with their heads! Remove dead blooms as they occur on crape myrtles and hydrangeas and you may be rewarded with a new flush of blooms.  
• Rejuvenate roses in July and August. Do not fertilize, but continue to spray for insects and diseases. Give the plants a light pruning in July to encourage new fall growth.

• Continue to pinch Chrysanthemums and Dahlias through the month of July.
•  Tomatoes are ripe for the picking. If blossom-end rot (brown blotches on the bottom of the tomato) strikes, sprinkle several cupfuls of lime around the base of each plant to increase calcium in the soil. Tomatoes that split on the vine are the result of inconsistent watering. Keep the soil uniformly moist throughout the planting season.  

• Set bird baths in a shaded spot to slow evaporation and keep the water temperature from becoming too hot.