How does your garden grow? It can be a challenge to keep it growing well as summer heats up. Utah State University Extension’s Gardener’s Almanac provides a checklist of tasks to help your garden, grass and plants grow well in July. Also included are links for tips and further information.

July Checklist

• Start enjoying the tomato harvest.
• Side dress (fertilize)potatoes in the garden with nitrogen in early July.
• Harvest summer squashand zucchini when they are still small and tender.
• Deep waterestablished trees and shrubs about once per month during the heat of summer.
• Deadhead (cut off) spent blossoms of perennial and annual flowers.
• Divide crowded iris or daylilies once they have finished blooming.
• Visit alpine areas for wildflowerdisplays.
• Remove water sprouts (vertical shoots in the canopy) of fruit treesto discourage regrowth and to reduce shading.
• Renovate perennial strawberrybeds by tearing out old crowns (mother plants) and applying fertilizer to stimulate new runners.
• Turfgrass only needs 1 ½ to 2 inches of irrigation per week. Click hereto learn about irrigation needs in your area.

Pests and Problems

• If tomatoes are not producing, it could be due to hot weather (95°F and above), which causes flower abortion.
• Blossom end rot  (black sunken areas on the end of tomatoes) is common and is caused by uneven watering.
• Check under leaves of pumpkins, melons and squash plants for squash bugs.
• Treat corn for corn earworm.
• Spider mites prefer dry, hot weather and affect many plants. Treat for spider mites by using “softer” solutions such as spraying them with a hard stream of water or by using an insecticidal soap. Spider mites can be identified by shaking leaves over a white piece of paper. If the small specs move, you have mites.
• Control codling moth in apples and pears to reduce wormy fruit. For specific timing, see our Utah Pests Advisories.
• Historically, control of the greater peach tree borer in peaches, nectarines and apricots occurs the first of July. However, for specific timing, see our Utah Pests Advisories.
• Click here for instructions on how to submit a sample to the Utah Plant Pest Diagnostic Lab.
• Watch for symptoms of turfgrass diseases.
• Monitor for damaging turfgrass insects.

To see a video on the July Gardener’s Almanac tips, click here.