JULY

If the first of July be rainy weather,
It will rain, more or less,
for four weeks together.
~English Proverb~

Hot July brings cooling showers,
Apricots and gillyflowers.
~Sara Coleridge~

"A summer breeze feels like a sigh
And summer's days are long and warm
Almost every garden in July
Is rich with color, scent and form."
~David Squire~

The summer looks out from her brazen tower,
Through the flashing bars of July. ~Francis Thompson~

The jasmine is so sweet
that I am obliged to quit my chamber.
~Gilbert White, 1783~

Drowsy, blowsy full-blown summer and picnics on the lawn. Walls and trellis are decked with clematis. Herbaceous borders are a spectacle of towering delphiniums with bee-centered blooms, achillea's golden mushroom heads, rich blue campanulas, border phlox in rainbow hues and the scarlet-flowered crocosmias. Earlier care has proved its worth.

July is usually one of the best months weather-wise and is a time when you can sit back for a moment and enjoy the fruits of your labor in the garden.

While there are still other ongoing tasks to perform in the garden, your primary concern will be assuring an ample supply of water for your plants.

And, if you're looking for things to do, you can spend some time adding summer plants to the garden, lawn care and planting autumn and winter vegetables.

This is the month that you begin enjoying the harvest of your homegrown fruits, vegetables and herbs.

Enjoy this month, and your summer.

BULBS, SHRUBS and TREES

Summer blooming shrubs should be pruned for shape after they have finished flowering. Remove any dead or diseased branches. Fertilize flowering shrubs like Rhododendrons, Camellias and Azaleas immediately after they have finished flowering with a 'Rhododendron' or 'Evergreen' type fertilizer. Dead head the developing seed pods from your Rhododendrons and Azaleas to improve next years bloom. Be careful not to damage next years buds which may be hidden just below the pod.



Self-clinging climbers such as ivy and Hydrangea petiolaris should have cut away any young shoots which have become unattached, so strong winds do not peel off any further or older growth from the wall. This is especially helpful in the early years, while the plant is still trying to reach the top of its support.



Bay bushes and topiaries need pruning now, a job that is best done with secateurs rather than shears, to avoid leaving chopped leaves on the bush. As well as tidying up the plants, pruning is a good way of removing bay suckers, which cause curled, distorted and yellowed shoot tips.



Cut the dead heads off buddleias to improve the look and size of the next flowers being produced further back on the stems.



Plant autumn flowering bulbs like colchicums.



Prune hedges and early summer flowering shrubs (weigela, philadelphus), lilac, rhododendrons).



FLOWER and ROSES

Cut the spent heads off large hybrid peonies and delphiniums.



Watch for mildew on delphiniums, acanthus and lupins, and, if you wish to spray, do so in good time.



Flowers, and even the foliage, of oriental poppies can be cut away now, and the space filled with annuals. Or allow nearby perennials to flop forward to fill the space.



Look out for seedheads ripening on early-flowering peonies like red P. veitchii var. woodwardii and collect the dramatically colourful seeds before they fall. Sow in a pot now, outdoors in a cool place, and expect germination next spring.



Remove the spent flowers and seedheads on petunias, argyranthemums and nasturtiums in pots and containers for longer flowering. Break off at a low joint with finger and thumb the flowered stems of pinks, it gives a tidier job than cutting with secateurs.



Begin dead-heading plants you do not wish to self sow too generously. These might include all the double and single opium poppies, and most of the alliums, including chives.



Protect dahlia flowers from earwig damage by filling upturned pots with straw and positioning them on top of canes between the plants. The earwigs will crawl inside and be trapped.



After flowering, dead-head and prune old-fashioned and shrub roses, shortening back flowered shoots.



Watch for the gingery spotting of rust on roses, mahonias and hypericums, and begin a programme of regular spraying with fungicide. Plants which suffer premature defoliation from rust will be weakened.



To prolong their season, keep thirsty perennials such as phlox, bergamot and delphiniums well watered when the weather is dry.



Using string, give some light support to the long extension growths or basal shoots of vigorous climbing roses while they are still developing. Strong winds can rip them off at the base when growth is fast and soft.



Leave a few spent flower stems on herbaceous perennials, the seed can be collected later and sown to make new plants.



Lift and divide hellebores, replant them in a semi-shaded position with a moisture retentive soil.



Give some light support with string to long extension growths or basal shoots of climbing roses while they are still developing. Strong winds can rip them off at the base when growth is fast and soft.



Lavatera bushes may need pruning to prevent them splitting in gusts of wind, or overcrowding neighbouring plants. Thin and trim stems as required, but take care not to lose the informal shape of the bush, or too many flowers.



Check the growing tips of herbaceous plants for signs of aphids, which multiply rapidly in the warm weather. Brush them off carefully or zap them in the evening with a jet of water.



Pick sweet peas regularly, to keep them flowering.



Continue to check lilies for the scarlet lily beetle, which should be picked off and destroyed.



Feed agapanthus and dahlias. Start with a general purpose fertiliser, and follow it in a week's time with something high in potash, such as tomato feed, watered in, to promote good flower development.



For brilliant flowers, busy lizzies (Impatiens), fuchsias and tobacco plants (Nicotiana varieties) will flower all summer if fed and watered. Add water gel crystals to ordinary potting compost when planting.



Prune wisteria, cutting the whippy shoots back to leave about 6in or five leaf stems.



There are now plenty of seeds to collect and dry, including poppies, aquilegia, lychnis, alchemilla, alliums and some salvias. Lay them on newspaper by a sunny window, where they can be left to open and dry (and label them). In early August, clean the seeds by separating them from all debris and dust attached to them, and store in envelopes or film canisters in the fridge.



If you've got straggly old plants of rosemary, sage or Convolvulus cneorum that ought to be replaced with new, now is a good time to take cuttings from them. Cut off non-flowering stems, about 4in long with some woody hardness at the base, trim off lower leaves, dip into hormone rooting powder and pot up into fresh seed/cuttings compost. Put in a shaded cold frame.



Use shears to trim santolinas (cotton lavender) after flowering. Aim for a dome shape, cutting off the old flower stalks and the top inch or two of leafy growth.



Prune rambler roses that flowered in early summer, cutting down the old flowering shoots close to the ground and tying the new branches in their place.



Continue to dead head (remove dead flowers) your annuals to encourage continued blooming. If your annuals have died off, pull them out and add them to the compost pile. Replant that spot with hardy annuals or perennials, such as Pansies or Calendulas. Get a second bloom from faded annuals by cutting them back by one half their height, then fertilize them



Chrysanthemums should be lightly fertilized every two weeks. Discontinue pinching your mums in mid month so they will be able to develop flower buds for the fall. To promote 'trophy size' flowers, allow only one or two main shoots to develop. Remove all side buds as they begin to develop.



To produce the largest Dahlia flowers (especially 'Dinner plate' Dahlias), the main stems should be kept free of side shoots, allowing only the main terminal bud to develop. Be sure to provide adequate support to prevent wind damage.



Bearded Iris may be divided and replanted when they have finished blooming. Discard all shriveled and diseased parts.



Sweet peas may tend to fizzle out with the hot summer weather, but with heavy mulching to keep the roots cool and moist you can prolong the flowering season by a few more weeks. A little mid-day shade will also help to maintain the quality of the flowers and prolong the blooming season.



Verbenas, Euonymus, Pachysandra, Ivy, and climbing roses are some of plants that will root fairly quickly by layering them into the warm soil. Fasten a section of the stem containing one or more "eyes" down onto cultivated soil with a horseshoe shaped piece of wire and cover it with additional soil. By summers end, the stem should be rooted sufficiently to sever it from the parent plant and replant into another area of the garden.



Sow seeds of Hollyhocks, English daisies, Foxgloves, Violas, Canterbury bells, and Sweet William into the garden now for next year's bloom.



Geranium/Pelargoniums cuttings may be made in late July to start plants for indoor bloom during the winter months, and for setting into the garden next spring.



Cut back and fertilize delphinium and phlox to encourage a second show of bloom.



Snapdragons should be pinched back after blooming to promote a second flush of bloom.



Propagate bleeding heart and Oriental poppy when growth has stopped and foliage has disappeared, indicating a dormant condition. Dig up a root and cut it into 1- to 2-inch pieces. Plant root pieces in a mixture of sand and rich loam. Keep the soil fairly moist, and soon tiny leaves will shoot up. The new plants will be ready for permanent quarters in the spring.



VEGETABLE, FRUIT and HERBS

Plant out successions of salad crops for continued harvesting throughout the summer.



Sow seeds for cool season crops directly into the garden by mid-July.



Continue to protect your fruit from the birds with netting.



Empty areas of the garden, where the crops have finished, should be replanted with either a fall vegetable crop, or a cover crop of clover or vetch to help control weeds. Cover crops can be tilled into the soil later, to add humus and nitrates to the soil.



Summer prune apples and pears, taking back new 9in sideshoots to 3-4 leaves, and sideshoots on fruiting spurs to one leaf, allowing the sun into the tree to ripen the fruit.



Sow spring cabbage and winter spinach in trays or nursery rows. Line out young plants of winter and savoy cabbages.



Make sure runner beans have plenty of water at all times to keep them large, tender and plentiful. Give them liquid feed in the form of a high-potash tomato fertiliser.



Courgettes also need to be kept picked and watered to keep them coming. Stop picking them and they will stop flowering.



Sow some quick-maturing ("early") peas to ensure rapid crop development in the late season. Sow spring cabbages, too, for harvesting early next year.



If your gooseberry bushes are losing leaves at an alarming rate, they are almost certainly being munched by sawfly caterpillars. The problem is compounded by netting, as the birds will not be able to get to the caterpillars either.



Wasps play a useful role in eating aphids, but are not so welcome when they eat your fruit. Protect ripening plums from wasps by placing saucers daubed with a little jam nearby to distract them from the fruit. Protect substantial bunches of fruit from birds by covering them with fine muslin.



Sow more salads, radicchio and other chicories, Chinese cabbage and rocket.



Give wall-trained, fan, cordon and espalier apple trees their vital summer pruning, to contain growth. Cut whippy stems to leave four or five buds, which will encourage the formation of fruiting spurs. Also thin out dense clusters of apples while they are still small, to get larger individual fruits.



Rossa di Treviso is an attractive, dark crimson radicchio, good for winter salads. Sow thinly in rows 10in apart and thin out seedlings to 9in spacings. Protect the maturing crop with fleece when frosts return.



Put ripening marrows and squashes on to a bed of straw or wood to lift them away from wet ground and slugs.



Edible flowers taste best when picked and eaten the same day. Harvest flowers in the morning, after the dew has dried or right before sundown. Excess moisture can cause discoloration and loss of flavour. Leave stems intact when picking and storing, remove them just before serving. Loosely pack flowers in an airtight container with a moist, paper towel folded in the bottom. Add them to the dish as the last step in preparation.



Water tomatoes daily and feed, tie in and remove side shoots.



Currants: Prune immediately they have fruited. Cut out old canes to ground level and tie in new ones.



Prune weakest stems from blackcurrants planted out last winter.



Gooseberries: Prune immediately they have fruited. Cut out old canes to ground level and tie in new ones.



Dig up strawberries, and remove plants that have cropped for 3 years. If keeping younger plants, cut back leaves, runners and old stalks to 1" of the crown. Clear any straw or mulch and feed after cropping. Plant out rooted strawberry runners.



Thin apples after June drop and prop up heavily laden branches.



Pick healthy sprigs and shoots of herbs to dry, sow parsley for autumn crop. Lightly clip sage and thyme after flowering.



LAWN and GREENHOUSE

Contrary to popular belief, a brown lawn isn't necessarily a dead lawn. Grasses go dormant in times of drought, but will quickly return to life with the fall rains. If a lush green lawn is important to you, and you don't mind mowing, water it regularly, and deeply. If a water shortage is expected, or you hate tending to grass, you may choose to just let your lawn go dormant, and water it as seldom as once a month.



Raise the cutting height of the mower. Taller grass cools the roots and helps to keep the moisture in the soil longer.



Spring-sown new lawns will now be strong enough to begin to use selective weedkillers if required. Withold fertilisers and selective weedkillers from lawns when they are dry...during drought conditions.



In hot weather, mow the lawn without a collection box. This will create a protective mulch that can be raked away at a later date.



Check that lawns re-turfed in the spring have sufficient water. Watering at night is more efficient and economical than by day, when moisture rapidly evaporates.



Watering the lawn, to check how much the lawn gets when you water (using sprinklers)... by simply placing coffee cans or similar containers under the sprinklers, when you water.



Watch out for red spider damage in hot dry glasshouses. Treat by introducing biological controls and by increasing the humidity generally to make conditions less favourable for the mites. Regular damping down of the floor with a hose pipe makes a big difference. In conservatories where this is not possible, biological controls are the only solution.



To keep greenhouse plants cool and to maintain some humidity, put a rose on the watering can and water the floor two or three times a day during hot weather. Ensure there is adequate shading; cool glass shade paint contains titanium dioxide, an ingredient also used in chemical-free suntan lotions. It provides a similar service to plants. In sunlight, it turns the glass opaque so creating cool shade.



LITTLE EXTRA'S

The primary rule of summer watering is to water thoroughly and deeply each time and to allow the soil to dry out between waterings. Deep watering will allow the plant's roots to grow deeper, where they are less likely to dry out, as well as the added benefit of anchoring the plant into the ground better. Light, surface watering actually wastes water, because the water never actually reaches the root area of the plant, and the moisture rapidly evaporates from the top inch of soil. The best way to tell if your plants are receiving enough water is to take a trowel or shovel and dig down a few inches. The soil should be moist at least 3 or 4 inches deep to insure that the water is reaching the root zone of the plants. Of course, if you planted drought resistant plants in your garden, you won't have to water as often, but the principal of deep watering still applies.



As the weather dries out, your container plants may need daily watering, especially if the pots are exposed to the drying sunlight. Push your finger into the soil in your container plantings at least once a day (more often on hot, dry days) to feel for moisture and be certain that plants are getting enough water. Apply water until it runs out the drainage holes.



Try to do your watering during the morning hours so that the leaves can dry off a bit before the hot sun hits them. Evening watering is sometimes acceptable if the temperatures are warm enough to insure that foliage dries before the temperature drops at night. (Wet foliage makes plants more susceptible to fungus and disease.)



Keep the weeds pulled, before they have a chance to flower and go to seed again. Otherwise, you will be fighting newly germinated weed seed for the next several years. So check the vegetable garden, flower beds and the lawn for weeds.



Change the water in your bird bath regularly, and keep it filled. Standing water may become a breeding ground for mosquito larvae.



Continue to watch for insect or disease damage throughout the garden, and take the necessary steps to control the problem.



Keep the lids on water butts to prevent algae infestation and mosquitoes breeding inside.



Routinely dead-head spent flowers. It is a job that is often overlooked, but pays dividends since it spruces up the garden's appearance instantly, and many plants will flower much longer as they will not have spent their energy making seeds.



Hanging baskets and container plantings may need special watering consideration should the temperatures get much above seventy degrees. In fact, they may need daily or twice daily watering if it should get hot, into the eighties or nineties.



Two of the most over-looked areas are under the eaves of the house and under tall evergreens. So be certain to take time to check the need for watering in these two locations.



July and August are two of the best summer months for taking cuttings of evergreens. Among the most popular plants to take cuttings of are Rhododendrons, Azaleas, Camellias and Heather, just to name a few. Take the cuttings from mature tip growth. The cuttings should only be three to six inches in length, remove the lower foliage and dip the cut-end into a rooting hormone solution. Start the cuttings in Vermiculite or Perlite, a combination of 50% sand and 50% potting soil for most cuttings. Keep the cuttings in a warm, sunny spot until they have rooted.



House plants can be moved outside to a shady, protected spot. Continue to watch for insect or disease damage and take the necessary steps to control the problem. Warmer and drier weather means it will be necessary to water and mist your house plants more often. Feed your house plants with 1/2 the recommended strength of a good soluble house plant fertilizer while they are actively growing.



Large container-grown plants will be at risk from drying out while you are on holiday. Soak them with a hose, and give a mulch of bark, old compost, or even newspaper to reduce moisture loss from the soil.



Bare patches of kitchen garden soil are ideal for planting green manures crops that are dug back into the soil to replace nutrients. Quick-maturing manures include mustard, fenugreek and buckwheat or try phacelia, a pretty crop with ferny foliage and bright blue flowers that are loved by bees.



It is best to carry a bucket of water to the garden for collecting blooms, rather than the familiar cutting basket.



Gerbera flowers (African daisy) can last up to two weeks in a vase if the water is kept clean. Since gerbera stems are hairy and easily dirty the water, do not immerse them more than a few inches. Change the water every two days.



Clay pots permit additional evaporation from the sides, and watering must be done more often than when plastic pots are used. Small pots dry out faster than large planters. Feel the soil in containers at least once a day and twice on hot, dry days to be certain that plants are getting enough water.









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but do write to me via e-mail if you wish,
would love to hear from you.

Enjoy your gardening this month both indoors and outdoors.




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