The heat is on! Check your irrigation systems to make sure your San Diego garden is getting enough water and there are no leaks.
Start Veggies
Our wonderful Southern California climate allows us to grow vegetables year-round. This month you can start some cool season crops and do your last planting of warm season crops.
If you live in a coastal area, you still have time to transplant a few warm-weather crops. Cherry tomatoes and varieties like ‘Celebrity’ and ‘Champion’ are good options for fall harvesting. Inland gardeners may try one last crop of beans or corn. See last month’s post for information on how and when to feed your warm season vegetables.
It’s also time to begin sowing winter crops. Start seeds in flats mid-month so they will be ready to set out in six to eight weeks. This month you can start cole crops like broccoli, cabbage and cauliflower from seed. You can also start potatoes this month, but they aren’t quite as easy as planting seeds. For more information on growing your own potatoes, go to the Master Gardener Association’s page on potatoes.
Although you can start other varieties of cool season crops this month, it’s best to wait until September for many of them. Check out the Master Gardener Association’s Vegetable Planting Guide. You will find a long list of cool season vegetables along with detailed information on what varieties to grow in your San Diego garden and how to keep them happy.
Wash off Pests and Mildew
Keeps pests and mildew under control with a strong spray of water from the hose. This will help keep aphids, mites, thrips, whiteflies and other pest populations in check. Although, it doesn’t seem like spraying a plant with water will help with powdery mildew, the spores need dry surfaces to germinate. It’s best to spray plants in the morning, and if there isn’t too much mildew on the plant, remove and throw out infected leaves.
Plan for Winter and Spring Color in Your San Diego Garden
This is a good time to start sweet peas for winter color. Also look for South African bulbs, bearded iris rhizomes and paperwhites in nurseries. They naturalize easily and will bring winter and spring bloom to your yard. Other winter bloomers that do well in my yard are rosemary, grevillea, Mexican bush marigold and bird of paradise.
Feathery cassia, feathery senna, Baja fairy duster, aloe, manzanita and ceanothus are a few more plants that flower in winter and have the added bonus of being drought resistant.
San Diego Garden Tips Source
A lot of information for San Diego Garden Tips comes from the Master Gardener Association of San Diego County. They are a great resource for all of your gardening needs including planting, pests, vegetables, and water use. They even have a free hotline where you can get your home gardening and pest control problems answered.