July

July 1, 2010

Hello, Sun!

Thought we'd start July with a little SALE: 25% off Trees and Shrubs July 2nd through 5th. Remember we love our holidays and are closed Sunday, July 4th.

Our other fun July event will be our second year sponsoring Open Eye Figure Theater's summer driveway puppet show: The Adventures of Katie Tomatie! A kid friendly 10:30 am will be start time on Sunday, July 25th. Bring a blanket and a snack and enjoy this community event. No charge, but we do pass the hat for the wonderful puppeteers and performers.

And now, since July can sometimes be the month where one gives up the ghost in gardening, a little encouragement and a few tips:

Weeds: Try it like this. Walk through your garden every other day and see what is going on. Pick a small area and weed it. Or pick a weed out of every area. Get a better tool. Try the circle hoe to make little problems go away before they become big problems. Mulch.

Water: We've had a lot of rain, but your garden needs one inch of rain per week from either you or the clouds. Do not skimp. Water deeply at the roots and put a rain gauge somewhere. Sharpies work on mason jars. Washed out tuna or cat food cans are about an inch tall. Frequent, light watering makes wimpy undeveloped plants and lots of evaporation. Get it down there. Before you go on your garden tour, fill up a watering can and douse your pots on the way.

Bugs: Yes, it's bad. Refer to our Facebook page for some tips on our Bugs of the Week. And become our friend while you're there if you enjoy social media.

Prune your spring flowering ornamentals like lilacs now. Later in July they will start into their next phase of bud development for next year and you don't want to wait too long. Prune off the dead flowers on Spirea and hope for another bloom. Cut back and divide Bleeding Hearts, they are done for the year.

Deadhead your annuals. You may feel fear, but if they look leggy and lame, what's to lose? Cut off the flower at the stem just above the next leaf or cut it further if it's ugly. Pinch off those petunias, geraniums and dahlia.  Creating seed takes lots of energy that could be going toward making more beautiful blooms for you. Perennials like Gallardia, Blanket Flower also benefit from deadheading.  Get rid of things that aren't working in your pots and put some summer flowers in there. You'll be happy you did come August.

Plant a new round of basil so it's not all gone to flower with big woody stems by the time your tomatoes are ready. Stake, tie up and prune out those annoying suckers. Pull out anything remaining from your spring veggie garden and make space. Direct sow some bush beans, chard or carrots for a late harvest. You'll be seeing some starts and more seeds in the store by late July.

You can do it!

By the way, we are now using compost tea on our (and your) plants as part of our regular watering. We have received many compliments on how healthy our plants are looking and we thought you'd like to know that the sound practices started in the nurseries of our main growers are continuing on the lot at the store. Compost tea has been shown to decrease plant pathogens and disease and to boost the nutrients available to the plant, resulting in healthier plants. It even increases the nutritional quality of vegetables!

Have a wonderful and relaxing holiday weekend.