Sally Scalera

Brevard County Horticulture Extension Agent
3695 Lake Drive -- Cocoa FL 32926 -- 321-633-1702

July gardening

June 26, 2009

July is only a few days away and with it should come more heat and rain (not that we really need anymore of either of those.) If you have a lot of grass you may be feeling like a slave to your lawn mower but, just in case you have the time and desire to do other projects, here are some ideas of things to do.

If you don’t already have a rain gauge in your yard, go buy one today! It is very helpful to know how much your rain your yard receives. Hint, the lar ger the opening for the rain gauge the better.

Let the clippings fall! This returns nutrients and organic matter back to the soil.

For automated irrigation systems hook up a rain shut off device or turn your system on and off manually so that your irrigation doesn’t come on while its raining or too soon after it has rained.

To green up your lawn without encouraging growth, apply supplemental iron, two ounces of iron sulfate per three to five gallons of water per 100 square feet or a chelated iron source. This effect will only be temporary, approximately two to four weeks, therefore, repeat applications are necessary for summer-long color.

Continue pruning the new growth of poinsettias to produce bushy plants.

Do not prune azaleas or camellias any more this year. The flower buds are forming now so if you do prune, you will be pruning off next year’s flowers.

Continue to prune out any diseased or dead wood from trees and shrubs. You can continue to transplant palms and sagos.

If a flower bed is looking bad or you want to add a new one be sure to amend the soil of the entire bed with organic matter like compost or manure before planting your flowers. Flowers for full sun locations include: wax begonia, coleus, amaranthus, gaillardia, marigolds, coreopsis, lisianthus, portulaca, salvia, comos, gomphrena, melampodium, torenia, and zinnia.

For your shady areas plant coleus, impatiens, angelwing begonias or crossandra. Herbs that can be planted now include; basil, chives, dill, ginger, mint, oregano, sage, sweet marjoram, rosemary and thyme.

Bulb type plants that can be planted include; lily-of-the-Nile (Agapanthus), Aztec lily (Sprekelia formosissima), white butterfly ginger (Hedychium spp.), gladiolus, spider lily (Hymenocallis spp.), Louisiana iris (German and Japanese iris usually don’t grow well in Florida), Walking iris (Neomarica gracilis), African iris (Morea spp.), kaffir lily (Clivia minata), crinum lily, and society garlic (Tulbaghia violacea).

Root six to eight inch tip cuttings of poinsettias to use for Christmas gifts. Root the cuttings in a light weight fast draining potting mix and set them in a shady location and keep them moist.

Sow eggplant, pumpkin, sweet corn, summer squash, watermelon, peppers, okra, Southern peas, pole beans, collards, celery and broccoli seeds so that you will have transplants ready for planting in the garden in August.

Continue to fertilize banana plants monthly. Vegetables that can be planted in July include: okra, Southern peas, calabaza, cherry tomatoes, Seminole pumpkin, sweet cassava, malabar spinach and winged beans.

Cut back your blackberry bushes if you didn't do it last month.

Though we have been getting a lot of rain remember, water citrus trees with an inch of water every 7-10 days if your yard doesn’t get an inch of rain.