July

Top Jobs for July

1. Clean paving or slabs with an algicide.

2. Put pots of plants into gaps in the borders.

3. Feed the garden using granular fertilisers like Growmore or Rose Plus.

Flowers

• Remove faded flowers on Delphiniums and Lupins. This may encourage a second flowering.

• Trim spring flowering heathers to remove flower heads and to keep in shape.

Fruit

 • Check nets on fruit cages to make sure that they have not moved or been damaged.

• Strawberry runners can be pegged down into soil or pots.

• Train new growth on trained fruit trees removing side shoots.

• Mulch Rhubarb plants and remove flower spikes.

• Remove straw from under Strawberries that have finished fruiting.

Vegetables

• Harvest early potatoes.

• Harvest globe artichokes.

• Earth up main crop potatoes to give an increased yield.

• Keep onions well watered to maximise yield.

• Sow salad crops directly into the ground to continue getting fresh plants.

• Feed all vegetable plants.  

Lawns

• Continue to mow grass raising the height of cut in dry weather.

• Water in dry spells provided there is no hosepipe ban.  

Greenhouses, Sheds and Houseplants

• Spray Peaches and Nectarines every day with tepid water.

• Use biological control where pests are a problem.

• Ensure that all vents are working and close them on cool evenings.

• Soak the floor morning and evening to keep up humidity.

• Remove faded flowers and dropped foliage to prevent the build up of fungal diseases.  

Trees, Shrubs, Climbers and Hedges

• Trim hedges such as privet, hawthorn, beech, yew, thuja, leylandii and lonicera - don’t bother with secateurs unless you have time on your hands - a broad chop with sharp shears is fine.

• Prune early summer flowering shrubs such as weigela, philadelphus and deutzia after they have flowered to avoid the leggy look. Cut out some of the oldest wood (up to a third of the bush) right down to the base - don’t leave it too late or the new growth will not have enough time to produce a decent show for next year’s flowering.....procrastinate at your peril!

• Keep spraying roses with fungicide to ward against black spot and mildew. Do this in the evening to avoid harming bees. Repeat every fortnight until the autumn. Remember stricken leaves must be burnt - do not leave them on the compost heap as this will become the perfect incubation site. Feed with a foliar feed and beware greenfly - treat immediately if an infestation occurs - ask in the garden centre for advice as to what to use if you are unsure.

• Keep deadheading roses regularly, cutting back to the nearest five leaf spray with sharp secateurs - just breaking the stem leaves the rose more vulnerable to infection.

• Keep an eye open for rose suckers (which appear from low down and have different leaves) and remove by pulling downwards and tearing - cutting them will merely encourage them to reappear!

• Keep tying in climbing and rambling roses horizontally - this encourages more flower production as fewer side-shoots are produced due to restricted sap flow.

• Cut long lavender stalks, tie into bunches and hang upside down for wonderful dried lavender. Try tucking a sprig or two under your pillow to help you sleep peacefully.  

Ponds

• Continue to feed pond fish.

• Keep pond topped up with water.

• Remove any blanket weed by twirling it around on a stick.

• Check filters on pumps to ensure that they are not blocked.

• Remove any plant material that has fallen into the pond to prevent the build up of disease.

Plants which are at their best in July

Achillea (Yarrow)

English Roses

Clematis e.g. Marie Boisselot

Erodium (Heron's Bill)

Deschampsia (Hair Grass)

Digitalis (Foxglove)

Hemerocallis (Day Lily)

Tropaeolum speciosum (Flame Creeper)

Penstemons

TOP TIP: Watering is essential, assuming the weather stays hot and dry. Water thoroughly once or twice a week rather than little and often - this encourages plants to put down roots in search of water rather than coming up to the surface. Remember, though, that containers and hanging baskets need watering every day and sometimes even twice a day if it is hot and windy. TOP TIP: For recently planted large shrubs or trees, leave a hose trickling around the base for an hour. The same goes for established plants in very dry periods - pay particular attention to camellias, rhododendrons, azaleas and hydrangeas which will abort next season’s flowers if they get too dry. Mulch around the roots when moist to help avoid this. Recently planted hedges are best watered with a trickle hose (a length of old hose punctured with little holes) left running for an hour or so.