Use row cover or Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis) for controlling caterpillar on cole crops. These crops include cauliflower, cabbage, kale, garden cress, bok choy, broccoli, Brussels sprouts and similar green leaf vegetables.
Apply water directly to the root area of trees and shrubs, not the leaves.
Chinch bug infested lawns can look drought stressed but don’t respond to watering.
Now is the time to plant crops like onions, beets and carrots for the fall harvest.
Dig, divide and move daylilies after the’ve finished blooming.
The secret to growing any of the bramble fruits (raspberries or blackberries) is faithfully removing the canes once they’ve finished bearing fruit. Neglected brambles quickly become an impenetrable thicket of dead branches.
Buttonbush (Cephalanthus occidentais) is one of the few native shrubs that provide midsummer blooms for pollinators and also, one of the few that grows in wet soils and shade. With flowers in shades of pink and white, buttonbush is visited by hummingbirds, butterflies and several bee species. It grows up to 12’ tall and is hardy in zones 4-8.
Plant Something Massachusetts is a project of Massachusetts Nursery and Landscape Association, and was originally established in partnership with Massachusetts Flower Growers’ Association.