Summer Color

Plant heat-loving celosias, marigold, portulaca, vinca and zinnias early in the month. You will have a short season of color, but thanks to the warm weather, the seeds will sprout fast. 

Impatiens are easy to grow and nearly always in bloom. Put them into the ground using loose acid soil, hang them in baskets or keep them in the containers you bought them in. They do well in shady or semi-shady spots. Wait until fall to plant them in direct sun. With new varieties constantly emerging, there is a wide assortment to choose from to suit most any area of your garden. Water impatiens often, daily if grown in containers. They are one of the few plants that you almost can't over water. 

Mix potting soil and milled peat moss with well-dug soil. Sprinkle the tiny seeds on the surface, pressing them into the soil, but don’t cover them (they need light to germinate). Mist with water, cover with plastic to keep them moist, and place in a warm shady spot. When they have sprouted, remove the cover. Feed with a well-diluted solution of Liquinox Fish Emulsion when there are two real leaves. Transplant into the garden in late August or September.

Keep gardenias where cool night air can help them develop and away from patios, porches or near house walls where the night temperatures will be too warm. They prefer acid soil with good drainage and adequate moisture. Keep them mulched. They can take full sun on the coast or part shade inland. They also require regular fertilizing.

When adding any new plants to your pond, notice the depth of water they came from and place them at about that same depth. Use common bricks (on sale now) or plastic plant baskets to raise or lower them not concrete or cinder blocks. Concrete contains calcium carbonate that raises the pH very fast. In general, the pH is high here in San Diego, so putting cinder blocks or concrete of any kind is not recommended in a pond. Fish and plants have a hard time surviving. 

Chrysanthemums, Euryops, Gamolepis and  Marguerites

Put in a bougainvillea, cassias, coral tree, crape myrtle, tree ferns, floss silk tree, gardenia, ginger, hibiscus or a palm for that Southern California feeling. If you live in a hot interior valley it may be too hot to plant them now. Keep them fed and watered throughout the summer.

Tropical fruit trees can benefit by the warm weather when planted now, but don't plant them if it's too hot. Try avocado, banana, cherimoya, citrus trees, guava, pineapple or a sapote. 

White Sapote bears a wonderful fruit with a custard-like texture. Though it is not well known, this native Mexican tree offers a dense cover for shade and can be grown wherever citrus trees grow.

Warm- and Cool-Season Grasses

Determine what type of lawn will be best suited for your needs. Warm-season grasses go dormant in the winter and are invasive. Cool-season lawns stay green but require much more water. Also consider, traffic, maintenance and water requirements before deciding. See How-to-Projects for the garden above for detailed planting information.

Zoysia planted from plugs or stolens now will take off faster and beat the weeds. Plant stolens at 12 bushels per 1,000 square feet and plugs at 9" apart on center. It will fill in if watered and weeded regularly (though it is practically immune to weeds).  Feed it when the color fades and cut at 5/8" with a reel mower.

Cacti are one family within the succulent group. Cacti all have spine cushions and "aeroles" or spines. Many can be planted as ground cover or in rock gardens. Succulents can be planted year-round. When planted in the ground, many can take full sun and others need some shade, especially those grown in containers. Check with your nursery for guidelines on how much sun the plant you choose can take. Water when the soil is dry one inch below the surface, or about every 1–5 weeks starting now.

Don’t let these trees dry out or you may not be able to keep fruit on them. Deep watering is key in July and August. Let the hose run slowly on the ground at about a third of the way from the trunk to that far past the drip line. Make sure not to water the trunk of citrus trees, as they are prone to gummosis, a fungus disease. Use a soil auger or tensiometer to determine when to water.

Remember to rotate vegetables to cut down on pests and to prevent soil depletion. Try planting something totally different when you have cleared a row. Planting herbs and marigolds in with the vegetables will confuse insects and help control them as well.

Keep the area harvested to make room for planting more veggies and to help prevent pests and disease. Remember not to plant too much of one crop at a time and rotate vegetables you plant so you don’t become overwhelmed. For example, two or three plants of zucchini are enough for a family of four. Plant seeds in intervals of 2–3 weeks using a partial package of seeds and you’ll have veggies all summer long. Try planting different varieties of the same crop, your family will enjoy testing the differences in variety, size and sweetness.

Vegetable gardens need full sun, so arrange your garden from north to south to make the best use of light. Plant tall crops to the north and short crops to the south. If you have clay or sandy soil add plenty of organic soil amendment. Plant raised beds if the soil is hard or has poor drainage. Most vegetables need an inch or more water a week. Installing a drip system is the best way to ensure proper watering in our area. By putting the water where the roots are you will use about 50 percent less water.