Here are some tips for managing your garden as the July heat ramps up.
Save for next year: Mark the plants that you will be collecting seed from with ribbon or string. Choose the strongest, healthiest plants. For plants with delicate seeds, wrap cheesecloth around the seed pods to collect seeds before they disperse naturally.
Keep mulching! Continue to add wood chips or other mulch to retain moisture and regulate temperatures.
Get a Jump on Fall: Start or set out your starts for fall crops like cauliflower and broccoli, kale and bok choi.
Sow beans and late-season squash.
Start your beets, carrots, and chard.
Be patient: As hard as it is when the garden looks a little sparse, try to hold off installing new perennials, especially natives, until the fall.
Water first-season natives: Make sure newly-planted natives, even drought-tolerant ones, receive some supplemental water in this heat. Once established, these plants may need little to no supplemental water, but while they’re developing their root systems, they will need some help. Your efforts will be rewarded with tough, drought-tolerant plantings in the following years.