Timely Tips

What to Do in July 2026
Weekly Gardening Timely Tips from
Cornell Cooperative Extension of Westchester County

July 12 – July 18

Perennials: If weeds have been a problem in the garden, you can apply an inch or so of mulch to help suppress them. Plants that are close enough together that their leaves are barely touching may provide a living mulch that keeps weed seed germination to a minimum. You can also leave some bare soil between plants for native ground nesting bee habitat. How about installing a birdbath in the garden? DIY versions are cheap and easy with a clay pot and saucer; go online for more inspiration. Especially at the height of summer, birds need a ready source of fresh water.

Flowers: By mid-July, the flowers in containers may be tired looking. Deadhead spent blossoms and neaten up planters and window boxes as needed. Cut back shabby trailing vines. Apply fertilizer if needed, according to label directions.

Fruits and Vegetables:Continue weeding and other maintenance tasks in the vegetable garden. Continue to pick strawberries as they ripen. Maximum sweetness and best flavor develop a day or two after the berries are entirely red. After the harvest is done, renew the bed by mowing or clipping the plants to a height of approximately 3 inches. Removing the clippings will help to prevent disease. Strawberries may be fertilized according to label directions to promote new growth. For other fruit crops such as cherries and raspberriesprotect the ripening fruit until harvest if you don’t have enough to share with the birds. You can cover small plants with netting. Larger plants may need to be caged.

Trees and Shrubs: Prune climbing roses and rambling roses after they bloom. Climbing roses are simply roses with such long canes that they mimic or are employed as true vining plants. All rose varieties benefit from regular deadheading: cut the stem below the spent flower just above a set of leaves with the largest number of leaflets, commonly five, seven or nine. This is where new growth with flowers will emerge. Ramblers usually produce new canes from the base of the plant around or after bloom time. The habit of arching the canes of climbing roses on a trellis or horizontally along a fence has a purpose. This enhances the likelihood that latent buds on the arched canes will spring into action to produce growth and flowers. New canes may be trained into the framework of the existing plant after you have pruned out the oldest, thickest canes in the framework from the base.Spotted lanternfly nymphs may be found on roses, vines and other thin-barked woody plants. SeeSpotted Lanternfly | CALS (cornell.edu) for more information.

Lawns: If you need to water the lawn, do so in the morning to prevent disease and reduce evaporation. To conserve water (and reduce the risk of leaf diseases on ornamentals too) make sure sprinkler heads are adjusted to cover only the lawn and not the leaves of ornamentals, driveway, sidewalk or other impervious surface.

Houseplants: Indoors or out, houseplants need more water this time of year than at any other time. That might mean watering once (or even twice a day outdoors) if the soil feels dry. The exception could be houseplants kept in darkened rooms that are continuously air conditioned or are naturally darker and cooler. Check all houseplants regularly.

Last updated July 11, 2026