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Monthly
Gardening Calendar
Sharon Morrisey, Consumer
Horticulture Agent
Milwaukee County UW-Extension
July is when Mother Nature typically turns up the heat. Tomatoes, peppers and the vine crops love it.
Unfortunately, so do the weeds, bugs, slugs and fungi. With the ample rainfall so far this season, all are out in full force and thriving. Layers of organic mulch help keep weeds in check but also tend to hold moisture creating conditions ideal for slugs and root rots. This year its may be advisable to thin out mulch around susceptible plants like hostas and marigolds.
Keep vegetables up off the ground. Harvest regularly. Remove excess stems and foliage to allow for better air circulation through tomato plants to reduce leafspot problems.
Donate your excess harvest to help the hungry in your community through the "Harvest for the Hungry" program. Produce can be taken to your local food pantry or to one of the sixteen local garden centers and nurseries that are serving as official drop-off sites. To determine a location near your home call Second Harvest Food Bank of Wisconsin. In the Milwaukee area call 414-931-7400 or 1-800-236-1208 outside of Milwaukee.
Official Drop-Off Sites for "Harvest for the Hungry" for 2001
Bluemel's Floral &
Garden Center
Greenfield 414-282-4220
Flower Source
Greenhouse & G.C.
Hawks Nursery
Wauwatosa 414-258-5525
Lied's Nursery Co.,
Inc.
Luxembourg Gardens
Franklin 414-425-5696
Mega Discount Nursery
Milaeger's, Inc.
2 locations in Racine
262-639-2040 262-886-2117
Nature's
Nook
Minor's Garden Center
Milwaukee 414-354-4886
Prospect Hill Gardens
Shady Lane Greenhouses
Menomonee Falls 262-251-1660
Town 'n Country Garden
Cntr.
Yerke Greenhouse
Mukwonago 262-363-8911
Caan Floral &
Greenhouses
In this month's calendar, the UWEX Infosource documents are available
for further discussion on a topic. Just follow the
link under the
paragraph of that topic.
For more local gardening information and links to many other great gardening websites, visit the UW-Extension Hort Team site at www.uwex.edu/ces/wihort.
First
Week
Be vigilant in
watching the leaves of your tomato plants for signs of leaf spot
diseases. The most common, septoria and early blight, appear
first on lower leaves and can be effectively controlled if
leaves are removed as soon as leaf spots are seen. If it has
gotten away from you, chemical control is also possible with a
fungicide containing chlorothalonil.
To prevent
bacterial wilt of squashes, melons, cucumbers, and gourds, apply
rotenone, carbaryl or methoxychlor as a dust if either striped
or spotted cucumber beetles are present. Dust late in the day
after flowers have closed and bees are no longer active. Plants
already infected with the wilt should be removed and destroyed
immediately.
Squash vine borer
is a difficult to control pest of vine crops, particularly
summer squashes. Adults lay eggs for a three week period
starting in late June. Cover lower section of stems with
floating row cover or even aluminum foil to prevent egg laying.
Look for and remove by hand any brown egg masses seen on the
lower stems. Spraying carbaryl (Sevin) is more effective than
using the dust formulation. If entrance holes and
"sawdust" are seen, a wire can be inserted and
threaded through the stem for some distance to kill developing
larvae inside. Or slit stems lengthwise to find and destroy the
caterpillar. Then bury slit stem section under some soil.
Renovate
June-bearing strawberry plantings immediately after harvest.
Control any weeds that have invaded and then mow over the top
with the mower set high enough not to damage the crowns.
Eliminate new plants between the rows by cultivating. Then
sidedress with a 10-10-10 fertilizer. Lightly work it into the
soil and water in.
Pinch back garden
chrysanthemums one last time. Flower buds will form on new
growth and be ready for fall display.
No further
pruning should be done on trees or shrubs since the new growth
this stimulates will not mature sufficiently before the cold
days of winter are again upon us.
Likewise, woody
plants should not be fertilized again until leaves begin to
color and drop this fall. Fertilizing, like pruning, stimulates
new growth.
Garden flowers, whether annuals or perennials, benefit from "deadheading" after flowering. By removing the spent flower heads, energy is used to produce more flowers or foliage and roots.
In general, flowering requires lots of energy so it can be quite helpful to fertilize floweringherbaceous plants once flowering begins. Fertilize once again before the end of the season.
Prevent peach tree borers on plum, cherry, apricot and peach by painting or spraying the trunks and lower limbs with chlorpyrifos. Follow label directions exactly.
Second
Week
Watch for cabbage
worm, corn borers, cutworms, potato leafhoppers, aphids,
tarnished plantbugs, and thrips on many vegetable crops. Obtain
a copy of UW-Extension publication A2088 to help you manage
insects in the home vegetable garden. In Milwaukee County, call
290-2400 for ordering information.
preview
UW-Extension pub A2088
Keep cole crops
and potatoes covered with floating row cover to exclude cabbage
worm and leafhoppers.
(COLE CROPS)
(POTATOES)
Seeds can
continue to be sown throughout July for late crops of beets,
bush beans, carrots, chard, Chinese cabbage, cucumbers,
kohlrabi, and corn.
Transplants of broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, Chinese cabbage, collards, kale, kohlrabi, onion sets, and onion plants can be planted for fall crops.
Keep tomato
plants well mulched and evenly moist to reduce the incidence of
blossom end rot and cracking.
Oak, elm, ash,
and maples infected with one of the wilt diseases will begin to
show typical symptoms as the summer heats up. Bring samples of
branches that have recently wilted to your county UW-Extension
office.
(LEAF WILT)
(DUTCH ELM)
(OAK WILT)
Begin looking for webs of fall webworm on woody plants. Control by cutting out branches wrapped in webbing where possible. Spraying with the botanical insecticide B.t. (Dipel, Thuricide, and others) is only very effective on young larvae.
Third
Week
The final
preventative spray of chlorpyrifos should be applied to the
trunk and lower limbs of white-barked birches susceptible to
bronze birch borer. Annual treatment includes two additional
sprays on May 20 and June 15. Trees weakened by attacks
leafminer are more at risk for bronze birch borer.
(LEAF MINER)
(BRONZE BIRCH BORER)
Allow asparagus
to produce tops now. Fertilize the plantings with 10-10-10
fertilizer.
Summer
raspberries should be coming in well now. Watch plantings
closely for the many possible insect and disease problems.
Harvest fruit often and thoroughly to reduce the number of
picnic bugs competing with you for fruit. Viruses cause plants
to be stunted and discolored, and fruits to crumble easily. See
UW-Extension publication A1610 for pest descriptions and
controls.
preview
UW-Extension pub A1610
Ornamental kale, grown for its colorful foliage should be transplanted in mid-July. When planted earlier, this cole family member tends to bolt causing misshapen, cone-shaped plants.
Watch for
yellowing and wilted leaves on cole crops such as broccoli,
cauliflower, and cabbage. This may indicate black rot or club
root, two serious diseases of these crops.
Divide iris
plantings every 3 - 5 years to renovate plantings and clean-out
borer infested plants.
(DIVIDING)
(WILT)
Fourth
Week
Alpine currant shrubs infected with the anthracnose fungus will lose leaves and sometimes completely defoliate by mid-summer. Fallen leaves will be spotted with the fungus and should be diligently removed and destroyed to reduce the infection next year.
Honeysuckles
susceptible to the common leaffolding aphid should be sprayed
every 10 - 14 days with insecticidal soap. Pruning out infected
stems every fall will reduce the population considerably but the
prevalence of the insect means that others will probably fly in
again. Since many species of honeysuckle are invasive especially
in our natural areas, it might be best to consider replacing
them with something else.
