July Gardening Tips 2024
At last, summer has arrived and we have been able to enjoy some sunshine over the past week or so. With it a host of sporting events taking place, from the Euros and Wimbledon to the Olympics, the garden can be the perfect place to celebrate with family and friends or somewhere to get away from the buzz and hype. It seems to me that both are valid reasons to enjoy your outside space, and not necessarily mutually exclusive!
To keep your garden as full of blooms and colourful as possible keep deadheading, particularly, herbaceous plants, dahlias, sweet peas, bedding plants and roses. It really is the best way to encourage repeat flowering. And it is one of my favourite tasks in the garden after a day’s work. I find it really relaxing and it’s productive.
My father has the most wonderful wisteria which finished flowering a while back. A summer prune will encourage the establishment of buds for next year. Shorten side growths that protrude from the main stems to about 6 leaves. Hedges can be trimmed now too once the birds have finished nesting, which may be later than usual this year given the late, cool and wet spring. It is remarkable how much better, and denser, they look after a haircut.
Once roses have finished their first flush it is a good idea to give them a good feed. This will promote further flowering and, as good plant husbandry, it helps plants withstand pests and diseases. Pots and hanging baskets also benefit from regular feeding, especially if you are having to water frequently in dry weather. The formulations of peat free composts are improving year on year but I think it is true to say they require more feeding than traditional mixes. Watering is hugely important, but it can wash nutrients out of the soil, and these will need replacing. Peat free composts can also look very dry on top but may still be moist underneath so do test with a finger to check if watering is required.
Fresh home grown tomatoes are one of the joys of summer. The scent of a freshly picked tomato alone makes them worth growing, let along the incomparable flavour. Remove side shoots so that the main stems and trusses keep their vigour and thrive and water and feed well. You can still grow salad crops, from seed or young plants, to enjoy over the rest of the summer. They grow so fast and taste divine. Almost as good as the potatoes freshly dug and boiled and served with a generous knob of butter. Prune summer fruiting raspberries once they have finished fruiting, cutting the canes that have fruited to about 5cm but leaving some of the fresh new canes for next year because the fruit develops on the previous year’s wood. Don’t’ touch the autumn fruiting canes though which fruit on current year’s growth.
If we have a dry spell raise the blades on your mower. Longer grass copes better with dry conditions and recovers quicker than shorter grass.
We have only just got our garden furniture out this year at home, but armed with some citronella candles to keep the biting insects at bay, we are really hoping to make up for lost time and enjoy summer in the garden.
Have a wonderful month.
Sarah
