HORT Shorts
- Although not recommended, some gardeners use “tree paint” to cover pruning wounds. Instead of paint, leave these wounds open to air dry. Applying tree paint keeps the wood beneath the wound from drying, promoting decay in the tree.
- Aid acid-soil-loving pot plants by inserting wooden kitchen matches head first into soil. Sulphur in the match heads stimulates acid soil.
- High winds can break limbs from pine trees. To protect trees from attack by beetles, remove broken branches from trees. Trim away stubs close to trunks. It’s seldom necessary to use a tree paint on pines after pruning. Leave no limbs or brush in contact with tree trunks.
- Masses of zinnias are easily grown, add color to vegetable plantings and bloom over a long period of time.
- Mulch tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, and other long-season crops to help keep down weeds and hold moisture during hot summer days. Other materials useful for this include: old sawdust, pine straw, newspapers and fertilizer bags.
- Replenish mulch around trees and shrubs.
- There’s still time to plant sweet corn, lima beans, bush snapbeans, Southern peas, summer/ winter squash, and okra.
- Remove fireblight-killed twigs on apples, pears and quince before cankers form. Make cuts below dead areas and burn all prunings. Sterilize pruning shears with bleach.