1st Week of July

1. Snapdragons should be pinched back after blooming to promote a second flush of growth.
2. Cut back and fertilize delphinium and phlox to encourage a second flowering.
3. A brown or grayish cast over a lawn can be caused by a dull or improperly adjusted mower blades that shred grass rather than cut it.
4. Certain pesticides have a waiting period of several days between the time of the last spray and harvest. Read and follow directions on all labels before applying to your vegetable crops.
5. Check the soil moisture of container grown vegetables and flowers daily.

2nd Week of July

1. Dig, divide, and replant iris if it hasn’t been done in five or six years.
2. Divide Oriental poppies and bleeding heart after the foliage dies.
3. Continue to water, weed, and defend the vegetable garden against insects, birds, and animals.
4. Pick summer squash, beans, peppers, and cucumbers to keep plants producing.
5. Plant cool-weather crops for a fall harvest.

3rd Week of July

1. Water newly planted trees and shrubs thoroughly once a week during dry weather.
2. Wait until tomatoes, peppers, and eggplant have set some fruit before you fertilize them.
3. Spruces with yellowing needles may be infested with mites.
4. Prune and fertilize climbing roses after they’ve flowered.
5. Continue to protect fruit trees against insects and diseases.

4th Week of July

1. Continue a regular insect and disease control program for roses.
2. Keep birch trees growing vigorously by watering and fertilizing them.
3. Cut poinsettias back so shoots are about 4 inches long. Root the cuttings now and they can be flowering by Christmas.
4. Remove old flower heads from lilacs and rhododendrons.
5. Keep checking house plants set outdoors for the summer. They dry out quickly, so they may need watering at least once a day.

5h Week of July

1. Water newly planted trees and shrubs thoroughly once a week during dry weather.
2. If you have been pinching back your mums this summer, now is the time to stop so they will be able to develop flower buds for the fall.
3. Sow seeds of hollyhocks, English daisies, foxgloves, violas, Canterbury bells, and Sweet William now for next year's bloom.
4. Begin to cut and dry herbs and flowers.
5. Many of the trees and shrubs popular in home landscapes can be started from cuttings during July and August. But remember, it may be three to five years before they reach the size you see in the nursery.