JULY GARDEN CHECKLIST

• STAKE -- Don't let brisk coastal afternoon winds topple your beautiful flowers! Stake tall dahlias, delphiniums, lilies, gladiolus and tuberous begonias.

   

   

• SPRAY -- Caterpillars, cabbage loopers and and budworms can damage many flower and vegetable plants during the summer. If you see signs of chewing, spray with Bacillus thuringiensis. The "organic" insecticide kills worms and caterpillars, but does not harm people, bees or anything else.

   

   

• IRRIGATE -- Keep newly planted fruit trees, berries and landscape ornamentals watered deeply once a week. Use soaker hoses, or drip irrigation if you don't have time to haul the hose about.

   

   

• TEND ROSES -- Fertilizer, water, weed and mulch roses. Remove faded blooms.

   

   

• PRUNE -- June-bearing blackberries, boysenberries and raspberries need summer pruning after producing. Cut spent canes back to the ground. Tie up t his year's new canes.

   

   

• PLANT -- Keep on planting! Sow seeds of beans, peas, lettuce, broccoli, cabbage, carrots, beets and mesclun greens. Plant dahlias, marigolds, begonias, coleus, impatiens and lobelia for late summer and fall color.

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