July - Edible

Use mulches in the vegetable garden. Helps to control blossom end rot on tomatoes. Factsheet available on mulches & blossom end rot.

Growing pumpkins for Jack-o-Lanterns. Keep the pumpkins per plant to five. More pumpkins than five will result in smaller pumpkins.

Use Bacillus thuringiensis (BT: Dipel) for caterpillars on cabbage such as the cabbage worm and cabbage looper. Insect factsheets available.

Plant Chinese cabbage in mid-July so the heads will form during the cool days of fall.

Plant a cucumber tree next year. Next Christmas instead of taking your tree to the curb save it and prune it down to main branches in spring; prop it in vegetable garden and plant cucumbers at base.

"Pick Your Own" fresh vegetables at area Pick Your Own Farms. For a listing of farms call 773-233-0476.

Locate a City of Chicago's Farmers Market in your neighborhood by calling 312-744-9187. They will mail you a printed schedule.

Take the family to one of our local county fairs:

• DuPage County: July 22 - July 25
  For more information call 630-668-6636
• Kane County: July 13 - July 18
  For more information call 630-584-6926
• Kankakee County: July 28 - August 1
  For more information call 815-932-6714
• Lake County:July 27 - August 1
  For more information call 847-223-2204

July - Ornamental

Did you know that one inch of water over 1,000 square feet is about 600 gallons?

Water your lawn, flowers and shrubs one time deeply per week with the equivalent of one inch of water.

Water in the morning. Watering during the warmest part of the day will result in a major loss of water applied due to evaporation.

Seeing small bumps on your maple tree leaves? These are maple bladder galls. They will not harm the trees.

Either water your lawn throughout the growing season or don't water it at all. Lawns brought in and out of dormancy by not watering and watering will be damaged.

Watch for Japanese beetles. They feed on over 100 plants including smartweed, willow, rose, birch, crabapple, apple, linden and raspberry. Factsheet available.

Watch for slugs, earwigs, sowbugs, pillbugs, grasshoppers, weevils and leaf beetles feeding on annual and perennial flowers. Factsheet on flower eaters available.

Keep your annual flowers blooming by pinching off dead blossoms.

July - Interior

Check houseplants set outdoors for the summer. They can dry out quickly in hot, dry weather.

Going on vacation? Water plants just before you leave and group outside in a shady spot or make a large greenhouse by putting watered houseplants in the bathtub and taping plastic sheeting to walls and sides of tub.

August - Edible

Allow some of your onions to flower. Dried onion flower heads look great in winter flower arrangements.

To reduce splitting in cabbage, turn the cabbage a quarter to a half turn if they start to crack.

Start seeds of broccoli, cabbage & Brussels sprouts to transplant later for a fall harvest.

Pick cucumbers early and often. They have a very short vine storage time.

Cure onions in a warm, dry place for two weeks before storing in a cool, dry area.

Keep track of this season's harvesting dates to help in planning next year's vegetable garden.

Harvest herbs and hang them in a dark, well-ventilated location. Store dried herbs in an air tight container. Harvest and preserving herbs factsheet available.

Check lawn for white grub damage; browned areas that can be pulled up like a rug. Factsheet available.

Got extra green tomatoes? Slice the tomatoes, dip in flour or corn meal, sprinkle with salt and fry in a little butter until tender.

Sow a crop of rye, oats or rye grass in unused garden areas for a green manure crop. Factsheet available.

Plan a family outing to one of the following county fairs:

• McHenry County: August 4 - August 8
  For more information call 815-338-5315
• Will County: August 25 - August 29
  F or more information call 708-258-6592
• Kendall County: August 6 - August 8
  For more information call 630-553-2860
• Lake County, Indiana: August 6 - August 15
  For more information call 219-663-3617
• Illinois State Fair: August 13 - August 22
  For more information call 217-782-6661

Compost vegetable plants as they start to die out. Composting factsheet available.

August - Ornamental

Picking flowers to bring indoors? Stick them in lukewarm water first for about an hour.

Provide fresh water for birds.

Order spring flowering bulbs for fall planting.

Watch for powdery mildew appearing on plants this month. Damage is only aesthetic. Controls are not necessary.

Seed lawn in late August. Check out University of Illinois Extension's 26 Lawn Care Factsheets online at http://www.urbanext.edu/lawntalk.

Factsheets also available by mail by calling 773-233-0476 for more information. There is a cost of $3 for the complete set.

Have a pesticide related question? Call the National Pesticide Telecommunications Network at 1-800-858-7378, Monday - Friday, 8:30 am - 6:30 pm.

Save the "to go" drink holders from fast food restaurants. They're great for holding 4 inches and smaller pots on a trip back from the garden center.

Order Colchicum and autumn crocus for fall blooms.

Purchase garden supplies before they are removed from the shelves in the fall.

Yellowjackets spoiling your picnic or making your walk to the garbage can a battleground? Factsheet available.

August - Interior

Check houseplants for insects.

Take cuttings of coleus, geraniums and impatiens for winter flowering indoors.

 

July 1999
Gardening in July | 50 Plants & Flowers You May Not Want to Eat | Butterflies & Caterpillars in Your Garden | Patch Disease in Lawns | Ode to Violet | Lawn Care Calendar | Bug Bites | Cybergarden Sites | Hort Shorts | Hort Tips | Summer Time is Tea Time | Locally Grown: The Farmers' Market | Summertime Food: Eating in the Street | It's a Wash: Gardener's Hands | Health & Household Tips | Did You Know

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