Here are a few
suggestions for July gardening:
First thing you
want to do with the start of July is to walk out in the middle of your
yard and pray for a long, healthy
monsoon season. Tucson gardens and all of Arizona can use any
rain we can get. Yes, a micro-burst might blow your roof off, cut off
power, blow down trees or flood the streets, but we still need the rain.
Are you ready for the rains? Are your tree wells built up? Do you have roof gutters
with drain pipes that direct the water where it can be most useful or is
the rain water going to run down an arroyo or into the street and down a
drain? Don't waste the free
water. Direct runoff to where it'll do the most good in your garden or
capture it in a container to use at a another time.
Don't double dip. And
I'm not talking about onion dip. If it
rains and there's plenty of runoff going into your garden make sure your
automatic irrigation system doesn't kick in and water again before it's
needed.
Double check your staked trees so
they can withstand a sudden wind storm.
If you've been using those plastic green ties to hold your trees to
stakes you better go out and replace them. Plastic has a tendency to rot and
with the first good July wind you'll find your tree broken in two or laying over sideways.
July is still a
survival month but you get a bit of relief every time it rains.
Take it easy in the garden and
enjoy the evenings when and if the thunderstorms build up over the
mountains or roll down into the valley off the Mogollon Rim. The humidity may
be up but it's always a bit cooler after a rain and there's the great
smell of wet creosote that comes with summer thunderstorms.
High humidity and moisture will
bring out the bugs. Leaf cutter ants became active in late June and
will pick up their activity in July stripping vegetation during the night
and early morning. Standing rain water in containers is
bound to bring out the mosquitoes. Make sure you don't have anything in
the garden that will become a breeding ground for the nasty biting insect.
Have you been
neglecting your houseplants? The air conditioning sucks the moisture out
of your home's air. It can suck the moisture from the houseplant's soil as
well. Make sure your collection of
indoor plants is getting enough moisture, humidity, and fertilizer.
You might want to expose the houseplants to a nice summer shower if it happens to
rain in your neighborhood. Rain water is soft water and plants like it a
whole lot better than our tap water.
Save up those gardening projects.
September isn't too far away and that's the beginning of a more enjoyable
gardening season for both gardener and plant.
