Home

• Repair or replace damaged window screens.
• Check all weatherstripping around doors and windows for wear, damage, or loss of flexibility. Replace material that is no longer blocking air infiltration.
• Caulk open joints, particularly around windows and doors.
• Clean and inspect rain gutters for rusted or damaged areas.
• Clean lint from clothes dryer vent, from the dryer drum to where the air is vented outdoors.
• Repair or replace gates, fence posts, landscape borders, etc.
• Clean decks, gazebos, fences and patio furniture. Refinish, if needed.

Garden

• Fertilize rhododendrons, azaleas, camellias and hydrangeas. Use Superfine Azalea, Camellia and Rhododendron Food, especially formulated for them.
• Fertilize roses, fuchsias, begonias and fast-growing annuals this month. Use Superfine All-Purpose Plant Food.
• Shear spent annuals (Lobelia and Alyssum) and perennials (Dianthus, Delphiniums, Penstemon). You may get second flowering later this summer/fall.
• Cut off spent iris blooms.
• Fertilize lawns this month. Use Superfine Lawn Fertilizer. It contains all the major and minor nutrients your lawn needs for optimum growth..
• Sow seeds of these fast-growing annuals: Cosmos, marigolds, Portulaca, Sweet Alyssum, zinnias, hollyhock, and annual Coreopsis. They'll flower six weeks after sowing
• Keep compost pile moist, turn occasionally, sprinkle sulfate of ammonia over the top and water it in to feed natures microorganisms and reduce any odors arising.
• Fertilize vegetables after thinning.
• Last call to plant corn, cukes, eggplant, melons, peppers, pumpkin, squash, tomatoes, beans, beets, carrots and chard in mild winter areas before hot weather makes it impossible to grow easily without daily attention.
• Powdery mildew: This fungal disease can strike quickly on warm, breezy days. Some plants are particularly sensitive to attacks. Watch for powdery mildew on crape myrtle, fibrous begonias, roses, zinnias, calendulas, dahlias, delphinium, Euonymus, Kalanchoe, lilacs, phlox, photinia, and snaps. Use Orthenex, a powerful combination insecticide, fungicide and miticide.