The Lawn in July
Most mowers blades should be set at their normal level in July, but remember to raise your cutting height if it turns dry.
Cut lawns regularly. In dry weather you can leave the small cuttings where they lie as they will act as a mulch to retain moisture at the roots.
Maybe your lawn is looking a little pale? July is the last time to apply a summer lawn fertilizer. Apply in wet weather or water in with a hose following application.
Recently sown a new lawn or laid one from turves? Again it is important that moisture is maintained.
The Flower Garden
It’s a busy time working in the flower borders and containers.
Regular watering and feeding if required are essential for the best flowering performance.
Maybe you have used ‘slow-release’ fertilizers in your containers, but if not, than liquid feed regularly. Remember that hanging baskets may need watering twice a day in hot weather.
Should you have spare organic material like milled bark or garden compost, you can use this as a mulch to reduce the need for watering.
Delphiniums, like other perennials have performed well this year but its important to cut back fading flower spikes to encourage plants to flower again later in the summer.
Remember to remove faded flowers of annuals and perennials by ‘dead-heading’. This encourages further flowering through the summer.
Don’t neglect your climbing plants. Tie in rampant shoots to keep everything tidy.
Plant autumn flowering bulbs such as nerine and amaryllis.
The Vegetable Plot
Early sown crops will be ready for harvest. They offer that ‘harvest-fresh’ taste that makes growing your own worthwhile.
Make continual sowings of salad crops to ensure regular crops.
In the greenhouse or sheltered place outside, there are tasks to do!
Continue to remove side shoots of upright growing tomatoes to ensure energy is there for fruit growth.
Feed tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers regularly with a high potash liquid fertilizer.
Remove the main growing point of aubergines when the plant has formed 4-5 fruits to speed maturity.
Train the stems of cucumbers using string wound round vertical wires or long canes. This provides more growing space for plants and increases yields.
Growing garlic? You will know when they are ripe to harvest when the stems begin to yellow and bend over.
Courgettes are most tasty when picked young, continuous picking will maximise yields.
It’s important to control slugs and snails to protect your produce. Try one of the recent biological controls which you just mix and water on to the soil.
Your herbs should be growing well. Whilst they are looking good, it’s a great time to pick some and freeze them for later use.
Pick runner beans regularly. Leaving older pod on the plants will deter further flowering and reduce yields.
You will need to water daily in warm weather to ensure large, tasty crops.
Keep an eye on brassica crops and apply a fertilizer if the leaves are beginning to look a little pale.
Make it a habit to check for pests and diseases daily. Early discovery makes choice of control easier.
The Fruit Garden
Regular watering is important at this time, as the fruit begins to swell.
It’s a good idea to protect developing fruit with plastic mesh, if you don’t want to lose it all to our feather friends!
As your blackcurrants cease to fruit, it’s a good idea to prune the fruiting stems.
‘Straw’ down under fruiting strawberries to protect the ripening fruit.
Remove runners from fruiting strawberry plants, unless you require more plants, in which case peg the end of the shoots down in the soil. These will then root and can be cut off as a new plant.
Maybe your fruit trees are covered in small fruit? If reach allows, remove some of these to leave other to grow to normal size.
Roses & Shrubs
It’s a good time to take softwood cuttings of shrubs e.g. hydrangea.
‘Dead-head’ fading rose flowers regularly to promote further flowering.
Early flowering shrubs like lilac and wisteria will have finished flowering and may now be pruned.
