June is the time to enjoy all your Garden Phlox. They should bloom in early summer.

It is also time to feed your roses, vegetables and flowers. They all need a little nitrogen to

grow and bloom. We need to build up our soil so it can feed our plants.

Apply a layer of compost and then three inches of mulch. Mulch will help your plants survive during our hot summers and help reduce the amount of water they require during our drought.

We can promote deeper roots by cutting our lawns higher. Remember to only cut off one third

of the height of your grass at each cutting. Cut your Bermuda grass at about an inch and a half, buffalo grass and St Augustine at two and a half inches, and zoysia at one inch. Healthy deep roots can also be encouraged by watering deeper and less often.

July thru January is the best time to prune live oak and red oak trees and avoid oak wilt. Be sure to disinfect your tools before you start and each time you prune a different tree. This will make sure you do not spread oak wilt from an infected tree to a healthy one.   A nine parts water to one part bleach solution works well.

Do not plant any new trees or shrubs until the temperature cools down in the fall.  All newly planted trees should be watered once a week for a minimum of one year after planting. Trees take several years to become established and are more vulnerable to drought during that time.

Keep you and your plants watered during the hot Texas summer. Even hardy plants and annuals such as Cosmos (pictured above with a Dogfaced Sulphur butterfly) need some water during the hot dry summer weather. 

Do not use insecticides on passion vines or you will kill the orange and black butterfly caterpillars on them. Passion Vines are the host plant for Gulf Fritillary and Variegated Fritillary Butterflies.

 August is the time to keep cool, drink lots of liquids, and water your lawn and plants when necessary.  We are in a drought and if you already have plants with low water needs you will be able to conserve water this summer.  

It’s a good time to look through your plant and seed catalogs and order your fall bulbs.

Wait until it cools off to plant any shrubs, trees or flowers.

It is also a good time to plan and plant some of your fall garden and enjoy the Pride of Barbados (pictured above with a  Gulf Fritillary butterfly). 

Look at the plants that bloom this summer and plant some of your favorite heat loving drought tolerant perennials this fall when it cools off. These plants will bring color to next year’s summer garden.

Go to Sheryl's Garden Page for many additional Garden Topics and Pictures