This week in your Massachusetts garden & landscape
Week of July 29, 2019
To make a delicious herb French bread, slice the bread nearly through and butter using ½ cup butter with one teaspoon of rosemary, one teaspoon of chives, one teaspoon of thyme, one teaspoon of marjoram and salt. Wrap the bread in foil and bake in a 350 degree oven for 20 minutes. Enjoy!
- If you would like an early-blooming clematis with large flowers, look for ‘Fujimusume’, ‘General Sikorski’, ‘Guernsey Cream’ or ‘ Niobe’ just to name a few.
- Chew on parsley. It is a great breath freshener!
- Continue to spread straw under developing fruit of melons, squash and pumpkins.
- Apply a high nitrogen fertilizer to garlic, onions and shallots.
- ‘Anna Van Vloten’ arborvitae (Thuja occidentalis) is a 10” – 15” tall evergreen shrub. Its small size makes it perfect for rock gardens, the mixed border or containers. It requires virtually no pruning and its bright yellow foliage holds its color year round. ‘Anna Van Vloten’ is hardy in zones 3-7.
- The use of a soaker hose for watering both vegetable and perennial gardens will help reduce the incidence of fungal diseases often caused by overhead watering.
- Be sure to check hanging baskets both morning and evening for watering. They can often require it both times during hot weather.
- To minimize black spot on roses, water early in the day and try not to wet their leaves.
- For smaller-sized blueberries, choose ‘Rubel’. A top-rated cultivar for the fruit’s health benefits, the berries tend to be a bit tart. ‘Rubel’ is an excellent producer and is hardy in zones 4-7.
- Install bird netting or scare devices on fruits trees just before fruits start to color.
- Wait until the tops of onions begin to yellow and fall to the ground before harvesting the onions. Knock down the rest of the plant and wait a couple of days before carefully pulling up the plants. If the weather is dry, let the pulled onions ripen outside for a day or two before moving them into a dry, unheated shed. Otherwise bring them promptly indoors and spread them on a screen to dry. Once they are thoroughly dry, place them in net bags for the winter. Do not store them in the refrigerator.
