What Albuquerque Gardeners Should Do in July:  

• Be prepared for the hot weather by adjusting your watering schedule in keeping with city ordinances; gardening in the morning or evening, mulch around plants and properly maintaining your irrigation system.
• Harvest rain water with rain barrels.
• Install ollas in containers or other areas that may dry out too quickly.
• Move container plantings to a more shaded area if plants look stressed by too much heat.
• Apply BT to bud worn or caterpillar damaged plants, i.e. tomatoes, petunias or geraniums.
• Deep water established trees, shrubs, roses and flowering plants at least twice a week.
• Continue to mulch with cypress, cedar, or pecan mulch. It conserves water as well as suppresses weeds.
• Continue deadheading and cut flowers for bouquets for continuous flowering.
• Pinch chrysanthemums buds back by the 4th of July for a blaze of spectacular color in fall.
• Check for grubs in lawn areas and treat with Bonide Grub Beater as needed.
• Mow cool season lawn grasses 2 to 3 inches high during hot weather.
• Do not fertilize cool season grasses with high nitrogen fertilizers. If lawn is yellowing, apply an iron supplement.
• Best to plant squash plants now (as opposed to earlier) to avoid squash bugs.
• Plant green beans before mid-month.
• Check for pests and diseases on trees and shrubs.
• Treat for borers on trees and fruit trees with Captain Jack’s Dead Bug (spinosad). Saturate trunk and base of tree.
• Spray fruit trees with Bonide Fruit Tree Spray to protect developing fruit.
• Thin fruit or stake heavy fruit tree branches or fast growing plants before any breakage occurs