Top July Gardening Tips: Preparing Your Garden for Summer’s Peak

Are you looking at plants in your garden and wondering why they aren’t flowering?

Everyone could use a little extra space for storage, but if you feel as though you've exhausted all of the possibilities in your home, you're going to want to read on, as there is definitely still hope.

FIRST, THE HAIRCUTS: Many perennials (euphorbia, some true geraniums, ribbon grass orPhalaris) do better the second half of the seasonif cut back hard. Others need just deadheading. Annuals that grow leggy can often benefit from a chop job, too. Do some experiments. Sometimes a plant can’t look worse, and you probably won’t kill it. :-)MAKE A PASS through each bed each week, since weeds are not just unsightly but steal moisture, nutrients and light from desired plants. Top up mulch in all garden beds if washed or worn away to help in the plight.IF YOU ARE IN JAPANESE BEETLE territory, handpick (as with other obvious pests like tomato hornworms) in early morning and drown in a can of water to reduce infe

Some “fixes” are obvious: I’ll raise the deck on the mower to a longer cut, assuming the weather heats up and rain tapers. I’ll soak beds deeply (unless ample rain does first!), then clean up their edges and top up mulch. In many spots I’m being downright brutal with more “edits” and cutbacks. (I know, I gave a lot of haircuts in June to things like perennial geraniums and euphorbias, but the barbershop is still open here apparently, with bleeding hearts, groundcover sedums that flowered recently, Phalaris or ribbon grass and more getting hacked to the ground. Celandine poppy, orStylophorum diphyllum, too.)July is also a big month for the vegetable garden, and not just of harvesting: I’m sowing fresh crops to enjoy this fall (like more peas); more on doing a tuneup in the edible garden below.Frankly, July always starts out as Throw In the Trowel Month here, and I often do feel overwhelmed. But then summer shapes up and t

Raise the mower deck; man the sprinklers; get out the vegetable seeds for succession sowings. Pull weeds, and handpick pests. Diligence on all fronts will be rewarded, but I know it’s daunting—and that the view out the window right now can be paralyzing–though I do love the avian ruckus in all my twig dogwoods right now, whose fruit is attracting birds galore.Often, as July begins, I want to throw in the trowel; mow the whole place down or turn it under (think: bulldozer).Years ago, I wrote an essay, confessing that July always starts out as Throw In the Trowel Month for me, as in: “I give up!” If you’re feeling stuck, like the garden just isn’t “working,” it might he

Often, as July begins–especially if it does so with a heatwave–I want to throw in the trowel; mow the whole place down or turn it under (think: bulldozer).Years ago, I wrote an essay, confessing that July always starts out as Throw In the Trowel Month for me, as in: “I give up!” If you’re feeling stuck, like the garden just isn’t “working,” it might help to read it.Thankfully, though, there is payoff—n

Dr. David Shetlar (below left) is a professor of urban landscape entomology at Ohio State. With Dr. Whitney Cranshaw of Colorado State (below right), author of the original 2004 edition of “Garden Insects,” he created the second volume, and joined me to explain who’s in the updated version and why, and how we can get to know them better.Plus: Enter to win a copy of the new “Garden Insects of North America” by commenting in the box at the very bottom of the page.garden insects, with dr. david shetlarQ. What an undertaking this must have been. How long was this collaboration?A. Well, it was kind of interesting, Whitney and

Even though my own garden is put to bed, the wheels in my gardener brain are still whirring. I’m looking for the seeds of ideas for the year to come, so to that end lately I’ve been rereading a book published just a few months ago, “Nature into Art: The Gardens of Wave Hill,” (Amazon affiliate link) and from it and its current Director of Horticulture, I got some practical inspiration. Louis Bauer is just the third director of horticulture in Wave Hill‘s history, though the garden in the Riverdale section of the Bronx was founded in 1965.He shared tips on upcycling prunings into plant supports; how easy hedges can create serious architecture; how to encourage desirable self-sowns like poppies, larkspur and others to flourish; how repeating shapes (not just colors) ca

You’re probably reading this article because you have a passion for gardening, but you do not have a regular garden, because you live in an apartment (most probably), or you own a house in a city or your plot is too small? Whatever the reason is– there is a section of gardening that does not require large space: Container gardening.

In order to ensure that your backyard gatherings feel a bit more intimate and special this summer, you may wish to to invest in a privacy screen or similar option. Fortunately, there are many products on the market that are both affordable and aesthetically pleasing. Below, we're sharing 13 privacy solutions for the backyard that are budget-friendly too.

Get ready to light up your front walkway with a unique and charming DIY lamp post! If you're looking for a creative project that will add a classic touch to your home, this is it.

Maybe you’ve heard of xeriscaping. It’s a type of desert-style landscaping, right?Actually, I’m here to tell you that it’s way more!