Beat the heat? What to do in the garden in July and August

There’s no doubt that we’re well into a hot, humid north Florida summer. As I write this, we have been short on rainfall, but hopefully that will be changing by the time you read this. That will certainly help our plants and should also help moderate temperatures a little.

Even so, remember the importance of watering any new plants frequently because their root system will be limited. Now that it’s so hot, the early morning and late afternoon to early evening hours will be the best times for gardening. Still, despite the heat, summer can be a beautiful time in the garden, provided we use the right plants.

The bounty of figs

Today let’s look at some that thrive in the summer. Let’s start off by mentioning the fig, as its fruit are typically coming into season now. If you like figs, or fig preserves, and don’t have a fig bush, consider planting one now. It needs a spot that’s preferably in full sun. It will get 10 feet or so across and almost as tall with time. Local nurseries carry the recommended varieties for our area, ‘Brown Turkey’, ‘Celeste’, and ‘Ischia’ being among the most common.

Figs are easy to grow and have few pests. Yes, squirrels, raccoons, and birds like them, too, but there are ways to discourage those pests and you can still get some fruit for yourself. My wife and I certainly enjoy our fig bushes and the fruit they provide. With figs, it’s best to pick early in the morning and again before dark. That will help you get the fruit before the animals and birds.

Crape myrtles

Crape myrtles are the colorful trees of the season, providing color all through the summer. As we move into fall, many of them even have colorful fall foliage too. The biggest mistake people make with crape myrtles is planting varieties that grow too large for the selected spot. Sure, if you have a large sunny area to cover and no utility lines overhead or house too close, go with one of the larger varieties.

But even with the larger varieties, form can vary. ‘Natchez’, for example grows wide with hanging branches, somewhat like the arching form of live oaks. ‘Sioux’, on the other hand, has a straight-up growth habit, making it a good choice for planting next to roadsides or driveways.

If you don’t have a large spot for a crape myrtle, though, there are numerous smaller growing varieties or cultivars from which to choose.

For example, Southern Living has the ‘Early Bird’ series which grow in the range of five to eight feet tall and three to four feet wide. They come in lavender, white, and purple. They also tend to start blooming earlier in the season than do many other varieties.

If you’re interested in planting crape myrtles for summer color, the best thing to do is select the sunny spot in which you wish to plant, and then decide on the size and form and color of crepe myrtle you want for that spot. Then go to the nursery, and with the help of knowledgeable staff, see what’s available to fit your criteria. Spend the time on proper selection and you will spend much less time in maintenance years down the road.

Annuals and perennials

There are many smaller flowering annuals and perennials that will thrive in your landscape through the summer, providing you with much pleasure through the hot weather and on into fall. I will share with you a few that I enjoy. As I’ve mentioned before, my favorite low-growing annual bedding plant for the summer is the trailing torenia. If it receives at least half a day of sun, preferably morning sun, it will spread to provide a colorful mat of flowers.

Pentas is one of the most reliable perennials in the summer garden. Very attractive to butterflies and hummingbirds, the taller red Pentas is always a good choice, but there are other colors, and some are lower growing than the tall red type. The red or bronze shrimp plant is another favorite of hummingbirds and is very easy to grow.

Tropical flair

If you want to try something different, with a very tropical look because of the bold foliage and unusual flowers, the small-flowered type of Heliconias are very tolerant of our heat and humidity and the hummingbirds love them. They flower best with a lot of sun but can be grown with just half a day of sun too. Yet another very vigorous summer perennial is Thunbergia battiscombei. It has a trailing or spreading growth habit that forms a mound of lush foliage as a setting for the bright purple flowers with yellow centers.

Bring on the butterflies

Among very reliable larger perennials for the summer landscape is firebush (Hamelia patens) with its orange-red flowers. Hummingbirds and butterflies love it. Another hummingbird favorite is Turk’s cap (Malvaviscus arboreus var. drummondii) with its unusual, extremely bright red hanging flowers.

It’s a very vigorous growing shrub, even after being cut back almost to the ground each spring. Thryallis is a dependable shrubby perennial with yellow flowers all summer.

And don’t forget oleander, a super-tough, drought-tolerant flowering shrub for sunny locations. Yes, all parts of the plant are poisonous, but if that’s not a concern, it gives a lot of color and is tough as nails. It can get oleander caterpillars during late summer, but they can be controlled with sprays.

These are just a few of the flowering plants you will find at the nursery this time of year. Add a few of the right ones to your garden and it will make summer a much more enjoyable time of year for you yet require little extra work.

Keep up with the lawn

Lawns struggled this year as spring progressed into summer and it became increasingly hot yet without adequate rainfall. As the summer rains start, lawns will be growing much better and will require mowing every seven to 10 days if possible. When rainfall is scarce, mow the grass a little higher to reduce stress and water needs. Don’t fertilize the lawn again until late August, if it even needs it then. Centipede grass probably won’t need any more fertilizer this year, but types such as St. Augustine, zoysia, or bermuda will usually benefit from a late summer application.

As the summer advances, be vigilant for damage from tropical sod webworms. They can quickly eat large areas of any type of lawn in late summer. You usually just see the damage and not the night-feeding caterpillars unless you check the lawn with a flashlight at night. Control of these and other pests is much easier if you spot and control them early.

Last summer I was on the road when webworms struck my St. Augustine lawn, and I lost a lot of grass while I was away. I was thankful that I have a flowering lawn with a mixture of dwarf chenille plant (Acalypha reptans) in with the grass and it isn’t affected at all by the webworms. In the centipede part of the lawn, I have a mixture of ornamental perennial peanut with the grass. Such mixtures aren’t for everyone, but I have really come to like them, not only for the colorful flowers they provide, but also for the fact that they’re more drought tolerant and pest resistant.

Heat-tolerant vegetables

If you have a vegetable garden, you have probably found that the pests are destroying tomato plants and perhaps others such as squash. That’s normal for this late in the season and is all but impossible to stop now. But you may still have some heat-tolerant vegetables such as okra, eggplant, peppers, Lima beans, southern peas, and sweet potatoes faring well in the garden now.

Keep the garden area clean, removing dead and dying plants from your spring planting so as to not build up greater pest populations. Also, keep weeds that can harbor pests away from the edge of the garden area as well as away from the plants. In August you can begin to add more plantings of Lima beans, snap beans, cucumbers, peppers, pumpkins, summer squash, and tomatoes. Just be sure to use the varieties of tomatoes that are very heat tolerant.

Fruit trees and mulch

Take advantage of the summer growing season to plant new fruit trees, especially citrus which will benefit from the extra growth and hardiness before going into the winter. Fertilize young citrus trees every other month with a special citrus fertilizer that contains secondary and micronutrients.

Because of the summer rains and heat, mulches around your plants may be decomposing rapidly and need renewing. Simply add new mulch on top of the old mulch to maintain a two-inch thick layer all year. There’s no need to remove the old mulch.

Groundcovers and ornamental grasses

This is an excellent time of year to add groundcovers and ornamental grasses to the landscape. Over the last few years, I have become increasingly fond of different types of the grass-like Lomandra used as foundation plants. ‘Breeze’ is the most common cultivar, but last year I planted some of the variegated ‘Platinum Beauty’ Lomandra. It seems to be a strong grower and adds a bright accent to the landscape.

Another Lomandra that I really like is the ‘Tropic Belle’, which has wider, more erect leaves and is a rapid grower to three to four feet tall. Even having the name ‘Tropic Belle’, it, as other lomandras, is very winter hardy here, staying completely evergreen.

David W. Marshall is a landscape consultant with Tallahassee Nurseries and an Extension Agent Emeritus with UF/IFAS Extension Leon County, an Equal Opportunity Institution. For gardening questions, email the extension office at [email protected].

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Summer bloomers: What to do in the garden in July and August