If you plant landscape plants now, be sure to plant immediately and hand water every other day through the hot summer months until roots are well established. Established shrubs, trees and vines should not need as much water but if rain is scarce water deeply about once a week or every two weeks. It is better to plant shrubs, trees and vines in the late fall and early winter to get roots established before the temperatures get too hot in the late spring for our area.
Water container plants daily. Completely water the pot by letting the water drain through. Fertilize with a slow release fertilizer to ensure continued blooming. Dead head or pinch off dead blooms to encourage more blooms.
Plant heat tolerant annuals such as zinnias, moss rose, pentas, lantanas, cleome, Dahlberg daisies, angelonias, gomphrena for sunny areas. Plant wax and dragon wing begonias and flowering tobacco for shady areas. For foliar color, use ornamental sweet potato vines, copper plants, firebush, purple fountain grass, amaranthus and alternantheras for sunny areas. Other plants for shady areas include coleus and caladiums. Perennial salvias such as “mystic spires”, plumbagos and cupheas are also good choices for our hot summer ahead.
Plant flowering tropical annuals such as hibiscus, Gold Star Esperanzas, mandevilla, Mexican heather, and Pride of Barbados. Bananas, variegated tapioca, bougainvillea, sea hibiscus, ti plants and crotons give great foliar color.
It’s starting to get really hot, so add mulch to your vegetable gardens and flower beds where needed to help conserve moisture, moderate soil temperature, reduce compaction of soil and crusting, and deter weeds.
You can still plant muskmelon and watermelon, eggplant, peppers, winter squash, sweet potato and southern peas this month. Water the soil deeply before planting seeds. Then plant seeds a day or two later and follow up with water to wet the seed.
Continue to fertilize warm-season vegetable crops to promote moderate vigor and high yields. Pick those tomatoes as they begin to turn pink/red so that the birds don’t decide to have a meal. Harvest peppers while they are still green or allow them to turn yellow or red. Harvest eggplant while the skins are still tender. Harvest cantaloupes when the vine at the “belly-button” end of the fruit has started detaching about ¾ of the way around the point of attachment. Harvest watermelons when the pale spot where the fruit contacts the ground turns from chartreuse toward a more creamy color. An additional indicator of maturity is that the tendril on the vine adjacent to where the fruit attaches will start to dry up.
Control spider mites with a blast of water on the underneath side of the foliage. Repeat this process for 2 or 3 weeks. Insecticidal soap sprays may also deter them. Control caterpillars with Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) but do so earlier when they are still young. Stink bugs and the leaf-footed bugs (see next article) are out attacking the tomato plants by now. They are not easy to control with sprays as the bugs will scatter when sprayed. Learn to know what their egg masses look like and get rid of them before they hatch and get out of control.
For new lawns, sow Bermuda grass seed. Keep areas damp until sprouts appear (may have to do this 2-3 times a day for short periods) and then continue watering daily to keep from drying out. Plant Warm Season grasses of Bermuda, St. Augustine, zoysia or buffalograss from sod. Water daily for first couple of weeks to keep grass from drying out.
For established lawns water only as needed to prevent stress to the lawn. Try to apply about 1” of water but once it starts to run off, it’s time to turn off the water.
If you have areas of the yard that are just too shady for grass to grow, consider replacing with a shade loving groundcover.
Water container plants daily. Completely water the pot by letting the water drain through. Fertilize with a slow release fertilizer to ensure continued blooming. Dead head or pinch off dead blooms to encourage more blooms.
Plant heat tolerant annuals such as zinnias, moss rose, pentas, lantanas, cleome, Dahlberg daisies, angelonias, gomphrena for sunny areas. Plant wax and dragon wing begonias and flowering tobacco for shady areas. For foliar color, use ornamental sweet potato vines, copper plants, firebush, purple fountain grass, amaranthus and alternantheras for sunny areas. Other plants for shady areas include coleus and caladiums. Perennial salvias such as “mystic spires”, plumbagos and cupheas are also good choices for our hot summer ahead.
Plant flowering tropical annuals such as hibiscus, Gold Star Esperanzas, mandevilla, Mexican heather, and Pride of Barbados. Bananas, variegated tapioca, bougainvillea, sea hibiscus, ti plants and crotons give great foliar color.
It’s starting to get really hot, so add mulch to your vegetable gardens and flower beds where needed to help conserve moisture, moderate soil temperature, reduce compaction of soil and crusting, and deter weeds.
You can still plant muskmelon and watermelon, eggplant, peppers, winter squash, sweet potato and southern peas this month. Water the soil deeply before planting seeds. Then plant seeds a day or two later and follow up with water to wet the seed.
Continue to fertilize warm-season vegetable crops to promote moderate vigor and high yields. Pick those tomatoes as they begin to turn pink/red so that the birds don’t decide to have a meal. Harvest peppers while they are still green or allow them to turn yellow or red. Harvest eggplant while the skins are still tender. Harvest cantaloupes when the vine at the “belly-button” end of the fruit has started detaching about ¾ of the way around the point of attachment. Harvest watermelons when the pale spot where the fruit contacts the ground turns from chartreuse toward a more creamy color. An additional indicator of maturity is that the tendril on the vine adjacent to where the fruit attaches will start to dry up.
Control spider mites with a blast of water on the underneath side of the foliage. Repeat this process for 2 or 3 weeks. Insecticidal soap sprays may also deter them. Control caterpillars with Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) but do so earlier when they are still young. Stink bugs and the leaf-footed bugs (see next article) are out attacking the tomato plants by now. They are not easy to control with sprays as the bugs will scatter when sprayed. Learn to know what their egg masses look like and get rid of them before they hatch and get out of control.
For new lawns, sow Bermuda grass seed. Keep areas damp until sprouts appear (may have to do this 2-3 times a day for short periods) and then continue watering daily to keep from drying out. Plant Warm Season grasses of Bermuda, St. Augustine, zoysia or buffalograss from sod. Water daily for first couple of weeks to keep grass from drying out.
For established lawns water only as needed to prevent stress to the lawn. Try to apply about 1” of water but once it starts to run off, it’s time to turn off the water.
If you have areas of the yard that are just too shady for grass to grow, consider replacing with a shade loving groundcover.