Prune Tropical Hibiscus
you plan to bring indoors for the winter. Plan to place your plant in
the sunniest window during the winter months. Trim back enough to fit
your location indoors and bring your Hibiscus inside around December or
before first frost. After pruning check your Hibiscus for insects and
spray with appropriate insecticide. Now is a good time to fertilize your
Hibiscus. Hibiscuses are heavy feeders and should be fertilized
monthly.
Remove faded blooms and seedpods on your Crepe Myrtles. You may be rewarded with more blooms before first frost. The recommended fertilizer formulation for Crepe Myrtles is 10-15-9 or a similar combination. Don’t forget to fertilize your Crepe Myrtles.
Roses prune out dead canes, and weak, bushy growth. Cut back tall, vigorous bushes by 1/3 the original plant height. Fertilize roses on a monthly basis until October. After pruning you should see new blooms coming in about 6 weeks.
Azaleas Lace
bugs on your Azaleas increase rapidly in summer. Check your Azaleas for
insects. The damaged caused by these sucking insects looks like tiny
white dots and the entire leaf is almost completely white. Spray with
appropriate insecticide labeled for Azalea Lace Bugs.
Lawns check
your grass for insects, especially for chinch bugs and white grubs.
These insects are most active in the summer months. The signs for chinch
bugs are irregular circles, and the grass is thin, and then dies. For
white grubs, the signs are irregular circles, and the grass is loosely
rooted. Check the soil underneath the loosely rooted grass by digging up
the soil, the grubs should be about an inch down in the soil, if you
have them. Apply the appropriate insecticide and follow the package
directions carefully.
Lawn Mower Blades should be sharpened once each summer. A
sharpened lawn mower blade prevents shredding the grass, and giving your
lawn a nice, clean cut.
Mulch
check all shrub beds and trees for mulch thickness. We are experiencing
extreme heat this summer and shrubs and trees that have 2 to 3 inches
of mulch keeps the roots cool and helps the soil retain moisture.
Fruits and Vegetables
Start planning your fall vegetable garden this August. Till the soil
and add Gypsum and Composted Cottonseed hull. The additives lowers the
alkalinity and helps the soil stay loose. Tomatoes, Peppers, and Beans
should planted by August 1st. Starter plants usually are available by August 15th.
Pick the varieties of tomatoes that mature in 65-70 days. Cool season
vegetables, broccoli, carrots, lettuce, cabbage, cauliflower, swiss
chard, collards, kale, and snow peas are planted in September. Blackberry and Raspberry plants
at this time of year have a tendency to trail along the ground. Take
the trailing canes or runners and tie them back to their arbor. For more information on planting fall vegetables click to read my blog post Here.
Seeds
sow cool season seeds of snapdragons, dianthus, pansies, calendulas,
and sweet alyssum to be planted in mid to late fall. Sow seeds of
bluebonnets and other Georgia spring wildflowers this month to be
planted in the garden. The wildflowers will establish a root system
during the fall for spring blooms.
Tropical Foliage Plants Check
plants that are spending the summer outdoors for insects. Use an
insecticidal soap, if needed. Your houseplants can be fertilized
biweekly with a water soluble plant food. Hibiscus and More has a
wonderful selection of houseplants.
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Cheryl Ann Meola
Certified Texas Nursery Professional #1282
