One fact everyone can agree on is it is hot, and humid, in panhandle Florida.
The heat and humidity have been a daily experience for weeks, starting well before sunrise and continuing past sunset. In all likelihood this sticky trend will continue for at least several months.
Still, there are many home landscaping chores which can have positive results in the days and months to come.
Anyone stout enough to venture out should start with the first light and drink plenty of water. Most should retreat to air-conditioned climes no later than 10 a.m.
For those who want or need to plant annual bedding plants, only the most heat tolerant species will handle July and the coming dog days of August. Vinca, gaillardia and coleus transplants can thrive under the intense heat of the height of summer.
Okra takes the heat and humidity of July (and August and possibly September) in stride and keeps on yielding the tasty pods. As with the other heat tolerant vegetables and ornamentals, regular water is critical. If it does not rain, then irrigate.
Success will depend on proper preparation and maintenance of these colorful additions to the home landscape. A layer of mulch at least four inches deep is necessary as well as irrigating during periods when the rains lag.
Many locally popular bulbs can be planted in July and, in fact, much of the year. As with the heat tolerant annuals, thorough plant bed preparation and mulching is critically important.
Supplemental organic matter is vital to incorporate into the planting zone.
Composted oak leaves are excellent and so is peat moss. Both add plant available nutrients and improve the water holding capacity of the ground.
Those who are growing vegetable plants have choices in the current environment also. The selection can be to cultivate or to leave areas fallow for future use, or both.
Both July and August are great months to solarize garden spots. This soil sanitizing technique can be accomplished with a heat trapping cover which will kill some, if not most, of the weed seeds and insect eggs lodging in the home garden patch.
For containers or small plots, a large trash bag held down with bricks, boards or rocks will do. For larger areas a roll of plastic sheeting will be necessary.
The intense summer heat trapped under the plastic will slowly bake the potentially harmful organisms and render them inert. Luckily, earthworms are smart enough to leave the area when it heats up, but they always return when it cools.
Much like colorful annuals, herb transplants can be installed during the summer heat. Rosemary, ginger, Mexican tarragon and others will flourish in a properly prepared site or large container.
As counterintuitive as it sounds, July is an excellent time to start fall tomato plants. Use growing media in a transplant container to start recommended cultivars.
The growing media or soil should be moderately fine with ample organic matter and effective drainage. Maintain the moisture in the soil, but do not saturate the containers as fungal disease will result.
Many cool season crops can be started the same way if shaded during the intense sunlight of afternoons. Installing healthy transplants can give the home gardener a head-start on the autumn growing season.
Still, if 2024’s warm season is of average length, there is still time to refresh the garden with a new planting of peppers, eggplants, cucumbers, lima beans and others. Most of these have an average of 90 days from planting to the first harvest.
After a morning of gardening, the air conditioner feels great. A few months from now the heat and humidity will be a faint memory as fall sets in. There may even be days where some wish for its return.
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