July Gardening Activities – Region 2
Southwest, Desert, Interior Valleys/Southern California Gardens
States in this region include: Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas (western) and California (Desert, Interior Valleys, Southern).
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Protect your home
from nature’s flames – hot, dry conditions can spell F-I-R-E! Clear a defensible space around your property and plant nonflammable plants near your perimeters. Trees, shrubs and small plants next to your house can create a “fire ladder” that can instantly ignite your house in a wildfire. Dry plants are especially dangerous!
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Got mulch? If your landscape beds haven’t been mulched yet, it’s time to get it done! A few inches of organic mulch is all that’s needed to keep weeds at bay, conserve needed soil moisture and protect roots from the hot, scorching sun. (A word to the wise: Never mound mulch around the crown or trunk of plants; keep it a few inches away.)
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Cutback leggy or ratty-looking annuals by 1/3 or more to encourage new growth and flowers. (Besides, it will give your beds, baskets and planters a tidy, neater appearance.) Liquid-feed them after pruning to give them a much needed shot-in-the-arm.
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Wear loose, lightweight, light-colored
clothing
when working in the garden. (And don’t forget the hat, sunscreen and water bottle!) Early morning and evening hours are the coolest times to work outside. Remember to pace yourself – the garden will be there tomorrow.
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Try succession plantings of squash, carrots, pole and
bush beans, leaf lettuce and sweet corn for a productive crop. This will provide you with fresh vegetables well into fall.
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Inspect your irrigation system regularly and repair any problems. Make sure sprinklers are running the proper length of time, as well as watering deeply and responsibly so they’re not wasting water.
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Use a
drip irrigation
system for watering containers, planters and baskets. It’s a great way to conserve water, while providing your planters with the attention they need.
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Continue to harvest vegetables as they ripen, and remember to
share
any excess produce – perhaps with a food co-op or shelter. (This is a great summertime act of kindness, especially when children are involved!)
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Don’t fertilize the lawn while it’s this hot. As hot as it is, though, you can still plant seedlings of marigolds, zinnias, gaillardias, petunias, lisianthus, impatiens, vincas, gerberas, gazanias, coreopsis and all the
coneflowers
in the garden.
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Get out your camera and garden
journal
– it’s time to take inventory of what’s doing well and what’s struggling in your garden! Documenting how your garden grows will help you decide what to plant next season. They say a picture’s worth a thousand words, so photograph the good (for replication next year), capture the bad (so mistakes aren’t repeated) and avoid the ugly next year.
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Plant with
natives
as much as possible.
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Keep the kids busy
over summer with fun, memorable projects that give fingers and minds something to do beyond text messaging.
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