Sowing seeds, harvesting veggies

The best time of the whole year for planting grass seed starts in 30 days.

Weeds and soil are two things to consider as you prepare to plant.

Your efforts to grow grass from seed will work best if you get rid of the weeds first. Timely action is needed because the weed killers used on dandelions and similar broadleaf weeds are harmful to grass seeds and seedlings if applied less than 30 days before you plant the seeds.

Digging up lawn weeds by the root, an alternative to using weed killers, takes care of some weeds but not others. It has little or no effect on white clover, yellow nutsedge and wiregrass. They have seeds, bulbs and rhizomes, which remain even after you sift through the soil to remove their roots.

There is one way to control wiregrass in your lawn: eliminate all vegetation and then plant new grass. At least two treatments with glyphosate are needed to kill all the wiregrass. Summer is the only time it works.

Collecting a soil sample and mailing it off to Virginia Tech for testing is another priority as you prepare for seeding season. This critical step in the planting process could save you some serious money now that the price of a 40-pound bag of 10-10-10 fertilizer has gone from $6 to $20. Soil testing takes the guess work out of buying lime and fertilizer. You receive a lab report telling you exactly how much to use.

Other timely tasks
Harvesting and replanting are keeping gardeners busy in their vegetable plots this month. July is the time to think about fresh produce for fall and winter.

Cabbage, cauliflower and broccoli grow easily from seeds planted directly in garden soil during the latter half of July. The other option is to buy plants and set them out in your garden in August. These cole crops are particularly sweet and crunchy when grown for fall harvest.

Brussels sprouts takes longer to grow than the other three. Extra early planting is necessary to give the stalk time to elongate and develop rows of miniature cabbage heads along its length. July is almost too late for planting it.

Carrots and beets planted this month will mature under cool autumn conditions. Sugar accumulates in these root crops in fall, and their flavor is superior. Harvest begins in October and often continues into the winter.

There is still time to squeeze in two or three more plantings of bush beans. For a constant supply of beans, you can sow seeds every two weeks until the middle of August. Most any bean variety produces well around here, and some of the best are Jade, Roma and Blue Lake.

You can also grow more cucumbers and summer squash, but only if you get the seeds planted by the end of July.