HERE ARE SOME GARDENING TASKS TO DO THIS MONTH July turned out to be just that “JULY” — hot, humid, and a little on the dry side. But, hey, it is summer in Virginia. On the bright side of things, we are now one month closer to being September and the great Fall planting season….
I’ve had so many customers come in recently with tomatoes in their hands or pictures of tomatoes on their phones because they have a problem with the fruit. With so many customers having tomato-growing challenges, I’m reposting this updated blog from last summer. If you’re growing tomatoes, here is a list of what you may…
SUCCESSION VEGETABLE GARDENING IS PLANTING A SECOND CROP OF VEGETABLES I love to write about trends in gardening that more and more people are attempting. This is a good one. Succession Vegetable Gardening is something that more people are learning to do here in Central Virginia in order to grow more produce for a longer…
One of the things I enjoy most in my wildlife-friendly yard is watching the fireflies. What kid hasn’t run around their back yard at dusk chasing fireflies? When I was a kid, I remember summer evenings at my grandparents’ house. My grandparents, my parents, sometimes my favorite aunt and uncle, all sat on the front…
HOSTAS AND SLUGS / A GARDENERS’ NIGHTMARE Gardeners love their hosta plants but hate all the predators that love to feast on these beauties. With this specific blog, I am referring to slugs and not deer. Slugs love to live under hosta plants mainly because hostas grow in our shady gardens, which tend to stay…
It is midsummer and insects are out, setting their sights for your garden. Here’s what you need to know. As much as I love my vegetable garden, there are nasty little pests who like it just as much. Here is a list of some of the more common vegetable pests and some suggestions as to…
SUMMER IS THE MOST STRESSFUL SEASON OF THE YEAR FOR LAWNS Are you happy with the way your lawn looks right now? I am concentrating this blog on lawn care to our cool-season fescue lawns, which most of us have rather than the warm season grasses such as Bermuda and Zoysia. The month of July…
Zucchini—is anything more quintessentially summer? But here are some tidbits you might not know: Zucchini Tidbits The ancestors of zucchini, like all squash, are native to the Americas. They were brought to Europe in the 1600s, but the Italians are credited with actually breeding them. The word comes from the Italian word for squash—“zucca”. They…
HERE IS A SHORTLIST OF GARDENING CHORES THAT NEED TO BE DONE IN JULY Before I get started I like to do a re-cap for June. Early in June, we remained warm and dry. Then in mid-June, some of us got A LOT of rain that we needed badly. This heavy rainfall put us over…
In July of 2003, the U.S. Department of Agriculture proclaimed July National Blueberry Month. So here are a few interesting tidbits about these delicious berries. Blueberries belong to the family Ericales. This makes them related to cranberries, Brazil nuts, persimmons, camellias, azaleas, and rhododendron! The silvery/whitish film found on blueberries is called a “bloom.” This is…
