First Week
- Low limbs in the way when you mow? You can safely remove one fourth of the foliage of any healthy tree during the growing season.
- How much water should you apply? Each week a shrub needs one gallon per foot of height.
- Collect the seeds from foxglove stalks. Scratch the soil around the plant, scatter the seed and cover with a bit of earth. Water occasionally and the seedlings that sprout this year will bloom next year.
- Look for small new seedlings under your Lenten rose. They can be transplanted now to other spots.
Second Week
- Check your lawn for circular, dead, brown spots. Could be "Brown Patch" but correct your fertilization and watering practices before you reach for a fungicide.
- Mulch your vegetable garden. Try using three sheets of newspaper to cover the ground around each plant, then cover the paper with straw or leaves. Otherwise, pine straw or wheat straw by itself works fine.
- Remove stakes and guy wires from trees that have been planted for several months. They can stand on their own now.
Third Week
- Plant annuals in small beds that make a visual impact but are still easy to water. Try color bowls or large container plantings near the entry to your home
- Raise the height of your mower by one notch. It will help your lawn grass withstand dry weather. Remove the faded flowers(deadhead) from geraniums and marigolds to help them make more blooms.
- Pick okra and squash regularly. Just one fully ripe fruit halts blooming on the entire plant.
Fourth Week
- If restrictions allow, water your lawn only once per week but make it a deep, thorough soaking: one inch of precipitation.
- Tree roots are almost bone dry! Give them 15 gallons per inch of trunk thickness once each week if regulations allow.
- Prune back your hydrangeas when most of the blooms have faded. You'll quickly get lots of new branches, which may give more flowers this fall.
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