Gardening jobs for July are all about giving your garden the helping hand it needs to stay looking spectacular all summer long.
Read on to find out about the top three jobs to get your teeth into this month, to keep flowers fresh and gardens glorious.
Keep planting
Get planting autumn-flowering bulbs like Colchicum autumnale. Although it may feel a bit odd planting bulbs now, some winter flowering cultivars are best planed in summer as their off season.
Bees
This autumn flowering perennial is beloved by bees and dresses lawns in crocus-like lavender-pink flowers that are ethereal and unusual to behold.
Another crocus-like clump forming bloom is Sternbergia. Its deep yellow globe flowers will burst into life in Autumn and grace cottage borders and beds with beautiful bold hues. Similar to the aesthetic of daffodils in the spring, and is so named the winter daffodil.
Alternatives
Or, look to summer-dormant perennial Nerine bowdenii (Bowden lily) which has funnel-shaped pink flowers. It is not unusual for newly planted bulbs to take a year to flower. And although these like growing in clumps, if the flowers decline, it’s best to divide them up to avoid congestion.
Deadheading duties
Bedding plants and border perennials need deadheading to keep displays looking bright and bold.
Take you finger and thumb or a pair of secateurs and remove dying flower heads. By pinching off the wilting growth, new growth will be able to prosper.
For roses, leave the flowers in place if your rose produces attractive hips (seed pods) and you can dry them for culinary use.
Avoid
Some plants, such as Fuschias, Lobelia and Salvias, don’t need deadheading as they do not set much seed. Also avoid deadheading plants that have ornamental seeds or berries, such as Nigella (Love-in-a-mist) and Alliums.
Need to feed
Now’s the time to boost crops and late blooms so they can be at their best.
Crops
Tomato crops should be fed with a diluted tomato fertiliser once a week. Or, if the leaves are yellow or looking pale, increase how often you feed them.
Other crops, like cucumbers, need a good feed once a week with a high-potash fertiliser once fruits start to form. In fact, any plant that’s producing flowers or fruits need a little bit more attention.
Watering
Increase watering so that they don’t dry out in the heat. And give regular feeds so that the fruits of your labour have enough energy to be well-formed and flavoured. This kind of feed is fantastic on emerging sunflowers too, but this true of any containerised flower about to come into bloom.
Whilst, some late-flowering border perennials may benefit from a quick-acting feed before they flower, especially if the soil is not very fertile.
David Domoney is a Chartered Horticulturalist, Broadcaster, and Author. David has worked with a number of the UK’s leading garden retailers as a plant buyer and strategic consultant. With more than 30 years experience, in horticulture, David is as passionate about plants now as he was when he bought his first plant at a village fete.
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