July in the Edible Garden
It's time to start summer fruit tree pruning, succession plantings, fertilization and more
It is officially summer and before the onslaught of summer harvests begins, there are some important garden tasks to tackle in the edible garden. It is in the summer months that we do most of our fruit tree pruning. A good rule of thumb to remember is that in winter we prune fruit trees to promote growth and in summer to prevent it. In a garden setting, we like to keep our fruit trees between 7 and 10 feet, so it is in the summer that we do our pruning work once a tree has been harvested.
July Garden tasks
In the kitchen garden
Top dress tomatoes with organic compost
Stake and trellis tomatoes, bush beans, dahlias and heirloom mums
Apply liquid fertilizer, ie. fish emulsion or Maxsea to roses, salad greens, braising greens & cut flowers
Succession plantings of radish, onions, bush or pole beans, cilantro, basil, summer heat tolerant lettuces and arugula
Last chance to plant squash, cucumbers (or do a second succession planting of these)
Start planning your fall/winter garden
Summer Fruit Tree Care
Thin large clusters of fruit to prevent breaking branches (from weight of fruit).
Watch for pests (thrips and scale especially) and apply a few handfuls of worm castings and a nice amount of organic compost near the base of the fruit tree’s trunk in the early summer months for fertilization and pest control. Note: do not put the soil supplements directly on the tree’s trunk, rather about two feet in circumference from the trunk itself. If you have a pest issue, please do not spray your entire garden with an insecticide. Rather, spray with organic neem oil or spinosad to the tree’s affected areas.
Prune vigorous growth, and hard prune fruit trees (as needed to keep the tree at a desired height) after the tree is harvested.
Apples/Pears: Prune vertical or lateral growth by cutting the branch right above budding. Consider where that bud is facing to encourage outward growth.
Apricots: Hard prune right after harvest. Remove any competing limbs with the main 3-4 limbs and remove any diseased limbs. It’s important this only happens in summer as apricots are the first to fruit in spring and they have their fruiting spurs in winter - so if you winter prune this fruit tree, you will remove the potential for fruit as well.
Plums/Peaches: Identify cross-branching or diseased/dying wood and prune out cutting just above the bud where it will grow outward. Hard prune in general to manage height.
Olives: Check olive fruit fly traps and apply prophylactic application of neem oil to fruit to ward off the fruit fly.
Citrus: Fertilize citrus with organic citrus fertilizer (when temperatures are 80 degrees and lower).
Figs: This fruit tree is generally low-key but a light summer pruning can be done for cross-branching to maintain an open, airy structure. Prune for height when appropriate.
July events
July 13 Morningsun Herb Farm - Vacaville, Ca. Garden Ice cream from The Fragrant Flower Garden
July 20 Flowerland Nursery - Albany, Ca. The Fragrant Flower Garden Talk & Book Signing
July 27 Morningsun Herb Farm - Vacaville, Ca. A Celebration of the Summer Garden: How to Design, Grow, Arrange & Enjoy the Fruits and Flowers of the Summer Garden.
Thank you all as always for your continued attention towards these newsletters. Feel free to invite a friend or two to the events listed above, I’d love to see you all and discuss what is happening in your summer garden! See you in the next post.
-Stefani