100° in the shade, no rain, and everything is drying up.

Are your tomatoes still “making”? If they are, keep them watered and mulched, and feed them occasionally.

The fruit doesn’t set in the warm night temperatures over 70 degrees. Even Blossom Set doesn’t help until cooler weather.

If they aren’t ripening, the plant doesn’t have enough strength to ripen the fruit. I pick mine at the first touch of color, or the varmints will eat them.

I let them ripen inside, in a bright window.

If your plants look bad, cut them off at the ground and replace them with new plants. Keep the new transplants protected with shingles or row cover until they become established.

If you have a problem with nematodes, dry till your garden area before planting. It will help to eliminate them.

To help your lawn during this heat, raise your mower blade 2-3 inches for St. Augustine and 1-2 inches for Bermuda and Zoysia.

Watch for Grub worms in the lawn and use an approved insecticide. An application of an approved insecticide and fungicide or pecan trees will prevent foliage damage.

When planting new fall plants, use row cover to keep them insects off plants and it will help to shade them. Start seed flats of broccoli, cauliflower and other cool season plants.

Tip: Keep dead-heading the annuals and perennials. Spray with a foliar feed in the cool of the evening.

We are in the hottest part of the Summer.

July and August are the months to keep things alive. Hold off on your planting, or you can wait until September when it begins to cool down.

It’s important to continue watering your lawn and plants 1 inch a week; pots need water every day.

This extremely hot weather has damaged many of the older trees and shrubs; many of the limbs and branches are withering and dying, usually the roots have been damaged.

If you place a soaker hose around the trunk of the tree or shrub and let it run slowly overnight, it may be saved.

Place a 1/4″ layer of COMPOST around the drip line and water it in. Add 2 – 3 inches of mulch around the tree roots.

Continue to water deep every 10 days.

Most of the CRAPE MYRTLE trees have bloomed one time.

To help them bloom again, remove as many of the dried buds as possible. Fertilize and water deeply.

They usually bloom until frost.

Im grateful to the KBB group for keeping the plants watered and weeded while I have been recuperating from Knee Replacement Surgery.

Thanks to Suzette Connell, Glenn Johnson, Susan Moore, Retta Martin, Glenn Page, tom Philips, and Cordelia Willgren for being faithful.

At this time I do a lot of sitting and pointing. I’m very glad to be back on the job.