Fertilizing

• Continue side dressing your garden vegetables.
• July is the month we recommend giving landscape plants a second (last) feeding of fertilizer.
• Take soil samples form your lawn areas for testing. Soil boxes are available at the County Extension Center.

Planting

• Plants of brussel sprouts and collards can be set out in mid-July.
• You can begin your fall vegetable garden this month. Plant beans, carrots, brussels sprouts, and tomatoes in July.
• Start broccoli, cabbage and cauliflower plants in peat pots to transplant into the vegetable garden in mid-August.
• Begin repotting overgrown houseplants.

Pruning

• Prune “bleeder” trees like maple, dogwood, birch and elm this month.
• Prune the fruiting canes of raspberry and blackberry plants after harvest is over. Cut canes at ground level.
• Prune off dieback limbs on hybrid rhododendron, azalea, mountain laurel, and blueberry.
• Trim hedges as needed.
• Continue pruning white pines and narrowleaf evergreens like juniper early in the month.
• Remove faded flowers on flowering perennials to encourage a second flowering.
• Pinch your chrysanthemums the first week only!
• Do NOT prune spring flowering shrubs now.

Spraying

• Spray the following landscape shrubs for the following insect pests: arborvitae (bagworms), azalea and pyracantha (lace bug).
• Spray for Japanese beetles as needed.
• Continue with rose spray program.
• Spray your tree fruits and bunch grapes on a regular basis.
• Spray the following vegetables if insects are observed: cucumber (cucumber beetle), squash (aphids), tomato and eggplant (flea beetle).
• Spray woody weeds like poison ivy, honeysuckle and kudzu with a recommended herbicide.
• NOTE, spray only as needed, and follow all instructions on pesticide labels.

Lawn Care

• Remember to change direction when moving your lawn. Travel north to south on one mowing and east to west on the next cutting.
• Continue feeding your zoysia lawn with fertilizer. Do NOT give tall fescue or bluegrass lawns any fertilizer this month.
• Maintain 3″ mowing height on fescue.

Propagation

• This month is still a great time to take semi-hardwood cuttings of azaleas, holly, rhododendron and many other shrubs.
• July is an ideal time to divide and transplant your iris and daylilies.

Specific Chores

• July is a good month to see if and where your home can use some additional shade trees.
• Blossom-end rot may be seen on tomatoes this month. Two factors – too little water and too little lime /calcium the soil – may be the reason.
• In dry weather, both your vegetable garden and landscape plants will benefit from a good soaking watering. Slow watering will penetrate the root zone better. Apply 1″ of water early in the day.

From http://catawba.ces.ncsu.edu/calendar-2/

Lawn Care
•    Fertilize warm-season grasses like Bermuda, Zoysia, and St. Augustine if you haven’t already done so. (Cool season grasses such as fescue should NOT be fertilized at this time.)
•    A 1/3rd of the growth should be removed when mowing warm season grasses.
•    Core aerate your warm season yard two days after a good rain or irrigation.
•    Zoysia lawns can be started this month

Fertilizing
•    Fertilize or sidedress vegetables as needed.
•    June is the only month to fertilize centipede grass.  A ½ pound of 15-0-14 per 1,000 sq.ft is recommended however; the fertilizing needs can be better determined with a soil test.
•    Dogwoods can be fertilized at this time.  Be sure to follow the soil analysis so that you don’t over-fertilize.

Planting
•    Vegetable to be planted in June: beans, lima beans, southern peas, peppers, sweet potato, pumpkins, and tomato.
•    Brussel sprouts and collards can be planted at this time for transplanting in mid-July.
•    Trees like dogwoods can be transplanted at this time.  Use proper planting techniques when doing a transplant.  Dogwoods for example, grow best in soils which contain lots of organic matter.

Pruning
•    New growth on white pines can be pruned.
•    Outgrown hedges can be pruned.
•    Pinch off garden mums till mid-July.
•    Narrowleaf evergreens like junipers and arborvitaes can be pruned.
•    Bigleaf or florist hydrangea can be pruned when the flowers fade.
•    The dieback on hybrid rhododendrons, azaleas, and blueberries can be pruned out
•    Lastly, don’t forget to pinch your chrysanthemums to encourage branching.

Spraying
•    Watch shrubs for the following insects: bag worms, leaf miners, aphids, spider mites, and lace bugs.  Bag worms already enclosed in their bags will need to be picked off by hand and destroyed.
•    Japanese beetles are also emerging and can be controlled.
•    Watch tomato leaves for dark spots which could be blight.  Spray with the appropriate fungicide if observed.
•    Use recommended herbicide to control poison ivy, kudzu, and honeysuckle if desired.
•    Spray the following vegetables if insects are observed: cucumber (cucumber beetle), squash (squash borers and aphids), tomato and eggplant (flea beetle), broccoli, cabbage and cauliflower (worms).
•    Continue pest control program for fruit trees and bunch grapes.  .
•    Continue with rose spraying program.

(Pesticides should be used sparingly!  Use only when needed and always follow the label)

Other Activities
•    Renovate strawberry beds after the final harvest.
•    Build a coldframe for rooting your shrub cuttings.
•    Water lawns in the early morning during dry periods.  Don’t forget watering lawns late in the evening encourages diseases.
•    Also, vegetables gardens should be watered about an inch a week.