July

• Summer flowers abound! Company’s coming! Choose summer color to accent your garden or patio. Plant flowers such as Cosmos, Snapdragons, Salvias, Vinca rosea, and Zinnias.
• Feed vegetables, perennials, containers, and hanging baskets with a water-soluble fertilizer. We recommend PW Organics Fish On or Maxsea All Purpose Fertilizer. Avoid feeding during the heat of day.
• Fertilize Camellias, Azaleas, and Rhododendrons with E.B. Stone Organics Azalea, Camellia, and Gardenia Food. Always feed when soil is damp. Top dress with Azalea, Camellia and Gardenia Soil or Sloat Forest Mulch Plus to conserve moisture.
• Feed your shrubs and garden beds with E.B. Stone Organics All Purpose Food. Always feed when soil is damp and water again after application.
• Cut or pinch off spent flowers to promote more blooms. Finish pruning spring-flowering shrubs.
• Mulch garden beds with Sloat’s Forest Mulch Plus to protect the soil from summer heat, conserve moisture, and keep garden maintenance down.
• Check shade shrubs for thrips. (Key symptom: silvering of leaves with black specks). Spray with Horticultural Oil or Organocide 3-in-1, as needed. Apply late in the day to prevent leaf scorch.
• Though drought tolerant, many cacti and succulents appreciate some water, especially during hot weather. Full sun may be too strong for succulents, especially in inland locations.
• Provide a water source for birds and thirsty bees, such as a bird bath.
• Monitor whiteflies — use sticky traps, thin out dense branches for air circulation, and apply earth worm castings as a mulch around susceptible plants to discourage them. Using a reflective mulch or a Nu Vue Plant Halo will repel them.
• Check fuchsias for fuchsia mite: If found, cut back 6” from the infected site.
• Utilize gopher baskets and cages to keep valuable plants safe. Repel moles and gophers with Bonide MoleMax. Remember, trapping is the permanent solution to gophers.
• Set yellow jacket traps at the perimeter of the yard (not near eating areas) to discourage yellow jackets from visiting.

Curious if we have your favorite plant or product in stock? Call one of our locations directly, and we'll be happy to check.