Gardening Tasks

Three gardening tasks to tackle this month to get ready for fall

Here are the major tasks to tackle in July.

Mow your strawberries

Strawberries season was short this year, but now that it’s over, you can put your bed to bed. With strawberries, you can run your lawnmower over them to give them the hacking they need. Then cover them with mulch. You are essentially cutting off the leaves and new plants from forming. This will force your plants to focus on building strong roots. Adjust your mower to its tallest height and mow right over them. You can leave the clippings in place to compost in place under the mulch.

To maintain your mower, flip it over and sweep off the undercarriage. Then pull off the blade for sharpening. You can also use your string trimmer for this task.

Cut back spent berry canes

Time to cut back the deadwood. Remember that berries fruit on second-year wood usually, so you only want to cut back the vines that are brown, not green. The brown vines can get cut back to the ground, but you can also cut back the rest of the canes, even the green ones, to the top of the trellis to keep things orderly. First, go across the bottom of the canes, at the ground level. Chop off the brown canes close to the ground. Yank the canes by the bottom and pull them loose.

Start mulching now

Once an area is prepared for the fall, it’s time to mulch it. Mulching for fall is one of the most onerous tasks each year, so the more you get done now, the better. Use a variety of tools to move mulch efficiently, from wheelbarrow to the shovels. A square scoop shovel is helpful for scooping from the bottom of the wheelbarrow and cleaning up the site where the mulch was dropped.

As you mulch the garden berries, you are visually crossing off areas of the garden, so you know they are done for the season. Getting ahead of fall cleanup is a good thing!