Illustration by Denise Wantz

GARDEN MAINTENANCE
(Mid-Elevations)
Harvest—Pick grapes, peaches, melons, cucumbers, squash and tomatoes. Snip fresh basil and other herbs. Regular harvesting encourages continued production on many plants.
Maintain roses—Fertilize, spray off dust and spider mites with a blast of water from a hose, replenish mulch, and water to a depth of 2 feet as needed. Roses will continue to bloom into fall.

(High Elevations)
Protect—Cover warm-weather annual flowers and vegetables if an early frost is predicted.
Harden off roses—Reduce water and halt fertilizer to roses and other frost-tender plants to “harden off” (gradually expose to weather conditions) in case of an early freeze.

(Mid- and High Elevations)
Weed—Summer rains promote fast weed germination and growth. Remove weeds as soon as they appear or they will out-compete your garden for nutrients, moisture and sunlight. Young weeds are easy to pull before roots develop.
Fertilize—Apply a fertilizer high in phosphorus to annual flowers and vegetables following package instructions. Fertilize Bermuda grass lawns with nitrogen.

WHAT TO PLANT
(Mid-Elevations)
Vegetables—Sow seeds for cool-season crops that will produce through winter, such as beets, Brussels sprouts, carrots, chard, kale, lettuce (leaf or head), radishes, spinach and turnips. Sow seeds or set out transplants for cabbage and cauliflower.

(High Elevations)
Vegetables—Sow seeds for baby carrots, leaf lettuce, radishes and spinach, and create a fast-maturing “salad bowl.”
 
(Mid- and High Elevations)
Wildflowers—Sow seeds or transplant flowers that attract butterflies and other pollinators. The following water-thrifty sun lovers thrive across a varied elevation range and will self-sow: butterfly milkweed, fleabane, four o’clock, gaillardia, goldeneye, hummingbird mints (Agastache), Rocky Mountain bee plant (Cleome serrulata), penstemons, prairie zinnia, sundrops (Calylophus hartwegii), sunflowers and yellow coneflower.
Trees, shrubs, vines, ground covers, grasses, cacti, succulents and perennials—
Continue transplanting during the monsoon season. Preparing good planting holes for trees will help them establish strong root systems. Dig holes only as deep as the root ball and three to five times as wide. Rough up the sides of the hole to encourage root penetration through the soil. Set the plant in the hole and backfill with native, non-amended soil. Create a berm or water well at the outer canopy edge, then spread 3 to 4 inches of organic mulch over the planting area. (Neither water nor mulch should settle against the stem or trunk.) Water deeply to moisten entire root area.
Fall color—Add autumn color while providing berries or seeds for birds with such diverse choices as golden and wax currant (Ribes aureum and R. cereum), Maximilian sunflower, pyracantha, redtwig dogwood (Cornus stolinifera), serviceberry (Amelanchier alnifolia) and Woods rose (Rosa woodsii).