Plants in Flower:

Sourwood, Mimosa, Crape Myrtle, Rose-of-Sharon, Stewartia, St. John's Wort, Abelia, Peegee Hydrangea, Chaste-Tree, Canna, Dahlia, Phlox, Daylily, Gladiola, Red Hot Poker, Trumpet Creeper, Butterfly Weed, Coreopsis, Shasta Daisy and Summer Annuals.

What to Fertilize:

July is the month we recommend giving landscape plants a second feeding of fertilizer.
Continue sidedressing your garden vegetables.
Take soil samples from your lawn areas for testing. Soil boxes are available at the Guilford County Extension Center, 3309 Burlington Road, Greensboro, NC 27405.

What to Plant:

--Plants of Brussel sprouts and collards can be set out in mid-July.
--You can begin your fall vegetable garden this month. Plant beans, carrots and tomatoes in July.
-- Start broccoli, cabbage and cauliflower plants in peat pots to transplant into the vegetable garden in mid-August.
--Begin repotting overgrown houseplants.

What to Prune:

--Light pruning of "bleeder" trees like maple, dogwood, birch, styrax and elm this month.
--Prune the fruiting canes of raspberry and blackberry plants after harvest is over. Cut canes at ground level.
-- Prune off dieback limbs on hybrid rhododendron.
-- Trim hedges as needed.
--Continue pruning white pines and narrowleaf evergreens like juniper early in the month.
-- Remove faded flowers on crape myrtle and flowering perennials to encourage a second flowering.
--Remove the fruiting canes of raspberry and blackberry after the harvest is over.
--Pinch your chrysanthemums the first week only!
--Trim hemlock hedges as desired. Be sure not to cut into the older brown colored wood.
--Do NOT prune spring flowering shrubs after the 15th!

Pest Outlook:

--Check the following landscape shrubs for the following insect pests:arborvitae-bagworms, azalea and pyracantha-lace bug, dogwood-borer and crape myrtle-aphid.
--Spray for Japanese beetles as needed.
--Continue with weekly rose spray program.
--Spray your tree fruits and bunch grapes on a regular basis.
--Spray the following vegetables if insects are observed: cucumber -cucumber beetle, squash-aphids, tomato and eggplant-flea beetle.
--Spray red-tip photinia weekly for leaf spot if observed.
--Spray woody weeds like poison ivy, honeysuckle and kudzu with a recommended herbicide. Consult your local county Extension Agent for additional information.

Lawn Care:

--Remember to change direction when mowing your lawn. Travel north to south on one mowing and go east to west on the next cutting.
--Continue feeding your Bermudagrass lawn with fertilizer. Do NOT give tall fescue lawns any fertilizer this month.

Propagation:

--July is an ideal time to divide and transplant your iris.
--This month is still a great time to take semi- hardwood cuttings of azalea, camellia, holly, rhododendron and many other shrubs. Cuttings taken in late June and July will root better than those taken later in the year.

Specific Chores:

--July is a good month to see if and where your home can use some additional shade trees.
--Blossom-end rot may be seen on tomatoes this month. Two factors - too little water and too little lime in the soil may be the reason.
-- In the absence of rain, both your vegetable garden and landscape plants will benefit from a good soaking. Early morning watering is better for the plants.