• Keep blueberry bushes well-watered to get the berries plump and juicy. If possible, keep moldy and bird damaged berries picked off. Blue berries freeze best if laid out on cookie sheets and frozen individually. After frozen, place in plastic bags or containers until used.

• Remove the anthers from Asiatic lily flowers as soon as the flower opens. Doing so will keep the flowers in bloom longer. Be very careful not to get the brown pollen on you or your clothes, it will stain.

• Prune Wisteria this month. Prune long whip like growth back to 3 or 4 leaves on each stem where the stem joins a main trunk or limb. This same pruning should also be done again in late September or early October.

• Divide and replant Dutch or bearded iris in July or August. Left undivided, iris will become reluctant to bloom. Fertilize divided rhizomes with bulb food and plant only deep enough to barely cover the top of the rhizome.

• Watch for root weevil damage on newly emerging leaves on Rhododendrons, Azaleas, laurel, photinia and Weigela. Treat with nematodes, Tanglefoot or a registered chemical insecticide.

• Prune and add lime to lilac bushes. Prune out older/taller stems and apply lime at the rate of one to two pounds per bush. Dig the lime into the soil and water in well.

• Watch for pear slug on pear and cherry tree leaves. They are small pear shaped black or brown shinning larvae of a fruit fly. You can fold the leaf over and pinch them or you can remove the leaf with the slug on it. Use an insect spray as a last resort.

• Keeping cucumbers well-watered will help prevent bitterness.

• Raise lawn mower height to mow grass at 3” tall to help keep the ground from drying out during peak high temperature months of July and August.

Remove the anthers from Asiatic lily flowers as soon as the flower opens. Doing so will keep the flowers in bloom longer. Be very careful not to get the brown pollen on you or your clothes, it will stain.

• Prune Wisteria this month. Prune long whip like growth back to 3 or 4 leaves on each stem where the stem joins a main trunk or limb. This same pruning should also be done again in late September or early October.

• Divide and replant Dutch or bearded iris in July or August. Left undivided, iris will become reluctant to bloom. Fertilize divided rhizomes with bulb food and plant only deep enough to barely cover the top of the rhizome.

• Watch for root weevil damage on newly emerging leaves on Rhododendrons, Azaleas, laurel, photinia and Weigela. Treat with nematodes, Tanglefoot or a registered chemical insecticide.

• Prune and add lime to lilac bushes. Prune out older/taller stems and apply lime at the rate of one to two pounds per bush. Dig the lime into the soil and water in well.

• Watch for pear slug on pear and cherry tree leaves. They are small pear shaped black or brown shinning larvae of a fruit fly. You can fold the leaf over and pinch them or you can remove the leaf with the slug on it. Use an insect spray as a last resort.

• Keeping cucumbers well-watered will help prevent bitterness.

• Raise lawn mower height to mow grass at 3” tall to help keep the ground from drying out during peak high temperature months of July and August.