July

Greens bolt and wither
Searing heat and glare above
Seek shade and cool water

Late July in California

July can get too hot to spend much time outside. Early morning and late evening make working in the garden far more comfortable, but leave most of the heavy work to the plants as they produce leaves, stems, and fruit in response to all that sunlight. The best things you can do for your garden in July is irrigate properly and monitor plants for pests and diseases.

Monitoring for pests and diseases

You know what they say about an ounce of prevention. Well, here are a few helpful July ideas that work to prevent problems in the garden before they have a chance to get started:

• Check on the undersides of leaves for pest damage, fungal growth, frass, or webbing.
• Inspect leaves for curling, galls, stippling, or wilting that can be caused by water stress, thrips, aphids, or other pests. Common summer pests include cucumber beetles, stinkbugs, squash bugs, mites, crickets and grasshoppers, and hornworm. Of course, we’re never done battling earwigs, aphids, or slugs and snails!
• Use trellises and other supports to lift melons, squash, and other produce off the ground to keep them away from pests and fungi.
• Eliminate all standing water, no matter how small. Mosquitoes can be a serious health hazard.
• Keep the compost pile decomposing properly with plenty of moisture. It should be as wet as a wrung out sponge.
• Avoid fertilizing in summer. New growth uses a lot of water and can stress a marginally healthy plant.
• Use netting, row covers, tree cages, and chicken wire to help protect plants against damage by squirrels, rats, birds, and voles.
• Be sure to harvest the fruits of your labors as soon as they are ready. Allowing ripe produce to sit only invites pests and disease, and it takes away from the delicious freshness you were looking forward to when you started your garden in the first place!

Trees

It’s all too easy to forget about the trees in your landscape, but scorching summer heat and an extended drought can be devastating. Trees are a big investment of time and space, so be sure to include them in your watering plan. The only exception is California live oaks - they are accustomed to hot, dry summers and watering them only makes them susceptible to disease.

Irrigation

There is no fixed magic formula for watering plants in the garden. There are simply too many variables, such as plant variety and age, soil structure, feeding practices, sun and wind exposure, overall plant health and life stage - you get the idea. The best way to assure that your garden plants are getting the water they need is to learn as much as you can about the specific varieties and their water needs. This information will help you to provide them with the growing conditions they need. Be sure to water tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, and squash consistently, to avoid blossom end rot.

Container plants

During summer, container plants may need a drink practically every day. Just be sure to avoid overwatering - a drowning plant looks an awful lot like a plant that’s dying of thirst. An inexpensive moisture meter ($10-15) can help prevent irrigation errors. Also, be sure to get those containers up off the concrete. Even the smallest air space underneath can significantly reduce temperatures for potted plants.

Lawn

If you still have a lawn, be sure to raise the blade on your mower. Taller grass shades the ground, reducing water loss and stabilizing soil temperatures. By the end of July, your lawn will probably be brown, and that’s okay. Keep watering it. The root system will stay alive, and green shoots will come back in the fall after temperatures go down. [I use water from my washing machine with no negative results and my lawn stays green far longer.]

Basil and other heat lovers

It is finally warm enough for crops such as basil, melons, eggplant, and peppers to really thrive. These are some of my favorite plants. You can train melons up a trellis or ladder, and you can never have too much basil. If you have more than you can use fresh, simply whip up a batch of pesto and throw it in the freezer. Come January, you’ll be glad you did!

Mulch and top dressings

Summer is an excellent time to mulch unused garden areas. As it breaks down, the organic material will improve soil structure and add valuable plant nutrients. This is particularly helpful if you have compacted soil. Until it does break down, mulch stabilizes soil temperatures, reduces weed competition, and helps soil retain water. In the same way, top dressing the plants in your garden or foodscape with aged compost is a trouble-free way to add nutrients to growing plants without applying chemical fertilizers.

Fire safe gardening 

Summer fires can be devastating, but you can slow the spread of fire with fire safe gardening. Rural areas of California and other states are required, by law, to maintain a defensible space around homes. You can use the same ideas to protect your home and family:

• remove all dead vegetation
• remove dry leaves and pine needles from the roof and rain gutters
• prune tree branches to keep them 10 feet away from your home and each other
• move patio furniture and other flammables away from trees and shrubs
• move wood piles and other flammable materials as far from the house as possible
• keep grasses mowed to 4 inches or less
• rake up fallen leaves, needles, and twigs
• create horizontal space between shrubs and trees
• create vertical space between trees, shrubs, and grass

And leave the fireworks to the pros.

As you lounge in the shade with an iced tea, remember that July is an excellent time to consider what cool season crops can be added in fall!