Here is a collection of various tomatoes; Johnson's German, Cherokee Purple, Georgia Peach, Juliet, Giant Tree and Celebrity
Monthly Garden Gossip
July, 2008
This garden gossip is intended to let you know what is going on in our garden
Central Alabama
| Keep your herb garden looking good by cutting back all your leggy plants such as oregano which will be starting to bloom. Lightly prune your rosemary and thyme. Picking your basil often keeps your plants producing nice tender new growth. Before it gets to old and tough, consider adding a couple of new plants so that you will have a good supply of young fragrant leaves to use on all those wonderful tomato sandwiches you are going to make with tomatoes right from your garden. Since the subject of tomatoes has come up, consider joining us for our Second Annual Tomato Contest on August 2 . Chip East will be discussing how you can grow great tomatoes in your own backyard. Several prizes will be awarded including a $50.00 gift certificate, Felco pruners, soil amendments and many more. We plan to have some tomato related treats for you to try out too. For a copy of our entry form click here or you may get one the next time you visit our shop. |
Here is a collection of various tomatoes; Johnson's German, Cherokee Purple, Georgia Peach, Juliet, Giant Tree and Celebrity |
Stimulate additional blooms on perennials such as salvias and veronicas by cutting back spent blooms. Cut back leggy petunias so that they can re-flower. Fertilize your perennial and herb garden with 12-6-6 slow release fertilizer. Fill in holes where some of your perennials have died. There is still time to plant zinnia seed and sunflower seed. It will give great color to your late summer and fall garden.
| If you are seeing some fire blight on your apples and pears cut out the affected branches. Remember to dip your pruners in 10% Clorox solution before each cut. This reduces your chances of spreading the disease. |
|
The blueberries are in full production right now and should be available until the end of July. Toward the end of the month call the shop at 205-646-0069 to make sure that we still have blueberries. Once they have finished fruiting, prune to shape and remove any low branches the allowed the fruit to lay on the ground. Fertilize early varieties in late July and the late bearing varieties in early August. Use Nursery Special 12-6-6. Never use calcium nitrate on blueberries; they love an acid environment. |
|
Excess black and blueberries may be frozen for later use. Place the fruit on a cookie sheet and freeze. When the berries are frozen, place in freezer bags for later use. This prevents them from sticking together and you can grab a handful if you wish. Wash them when you are ready to use.
While we have had more rain than last year we are still not quite up to normal rainfall. Practice good watering habits. Water infrequently but deeply to produce good deep root growth.
 |
Oakleaf, mophead and lacecap hydrangeas should be pruned back before August 1 or you will remove next year's blooms. If you would like to dry some of the flowers that you cut off in pruning, place and inch or two of water in a vase, place the hydrangeas and leave until the water evaporates. The flowers will feel stiff and papery when dry. This should take about 10 days. |
If you are like me and still haven't gotten around to pruning your spring flowering roses there is still time. It should be done no later than this month or they won't have a good chance to put on some new growth. Prune back your repeat flowering roses and fertilize them in preparation for fall bloom. Roses, hydrangeas and woody trees and shrubs may also be rooted this month. Plants with hollow and pithy stems are easily rooted.
| The muscadines are now being 'combed'. This term means separating the shoots for ease of harvest, otherwise the tendrils wrap around the vines and make it difficult to pick the fruit. Cut off excess growth. Leave about 30" to 36" in length. Cutting off the excess vines puts all the energy of the plant into increasing the size of the fruit. |
 |
|
The blackberries are just about finished producing berries. We are getting ready for next year's crop. Remove all Flora canes, the canes that produced fruit this year. If you are using the trellis system, as we do here at Petals, let several new shoots grow about 2 feet high. Then select the best 2 and remove the rest. Try to pick two canes that are not too close together. Side dress your blackberries with calcium nitrate about 4-5 ounces per plant. If you are using ammonium nitrate use 1/2 the amount. Water if there is no rain. The blackberry canes in the front of the picture are the new growth and all the canes that are on the trellis are removed. |
|
Keep your hummingbird feeders clean by flushing them out twice a week with hot tap water. Scrub with a brush or add 2 tablespoons of uncooked rice to the feeder and shake vigorously. Rinse well. Do not use soap in the feeders. Once a month soak feeders in a solution of 1/4 cup bleach per gallon of water for an hour. Rinse well before refilling.
The normal time for harvesting figs is July 15. Remember to keep figs watered during our hot dry summer days. Figs will drop their leaves and fruit to protect itself during a drought. This month we are trimming out the low growth away from the base of the fig trees to allow for better air circulation.
| Finish thinning apples and pears. Too much heavy fruit can break branches and thinning also increases the size of the fruit. We are removing some fire blight branches from a couple of apple trees. Remember to dip your clippers in a 10% clorox solution. | Squash, beans , eggplant, peppers and tomatoes are being harvested from the vegetable garden. Keep an eye out for tomato horn worm on your tomatoes. If you find any, dust with Dipel or Sevin. Replace any plants that have died. Seeds for fall tomatoes can be sown now or you can take cuttings from your tomato plant to make new plant. Tomatoes root very easily. Plant your Halloween pumpkins now to make sure that they are ready in time. |
