Gardening Tips for July
Gardens are at their most colourful in mid-summer. After a busy time of growth, July will see plants show off their glorious foliage textures and flower displays, filling borders and patio containers with colour and fragrance.
Terrace Garden
- Warm summer evenings are the perfect opportunity for entertaining in the garden. Fill your garden with instant summer colour with a selection of vibrant bedding or perennial cottage garden plants. We have pots and hanging baskets to suit all locations from country cottage to a contemporary town garden.
- Make sure you keep your show-stopping display of summer colour by regularly watering container plants and add a balanced liquid fertiliser every other week to encourage strong healthy growth and continual flowering. Remove spent flowers to encourage more to follow.
Beds & Borders
- Prune spring and early summer flowering shrubs, such as Deutzia, Weigela and Philadelphus soon after flowering to prevent them becoming overgrown. Remove older branches with secateurs or loppers to allow new growth to mature that will carry next year’s display. Extend the season of colour in borders with high summer flowering shrubs such as Lavender, Hardy Fuchsias and Hydrangeas.
- Water newly planted shrubs and perennials in dry conditions until well established. Apply a thick layer of Bloomin Amazing mulch over the soil surface to help retain moisture.
- Dead-head flower borders on a regular basis to help prolong the season of flowering.
Cottage Garden
- Encourage fresh growth by cutting back herbaceous plants such as Delphinium, Lupin and hardy Geranium after their first flush of flower. Put supports in place around tall herbaceous perennials such as Delphiniums and Gladioli to prevent damage from wind and rain.
- Roses are perfect for flower beds or pots on the balcony or patio. We stock a wide range of top-quality roses, including our own Dobbies collection which feature over 100 varieties that have been selected for their fantastic flowers, scent and disease resistance. Also, we have a great range of classis David Austin Roses that are a must for any summer garden. Now is a great time to give your roses an extra boost with rose fertiliser and mulch afterwards with Bloomin Amazing to retain moisture and cut down on weeding.
- Summer prune Wisteria, cutting whippy side shoots back to around five leaves from the main stem. This will make sure loads of flower buds will be produced form next year.
- Protect Hostas, from slug damage with barrier granules.
Kitchen Garden
- Tomato, pepper and cucumber crops require regular feeding with a high potash tomato fertiliser. Traditional cordon/tall tomato plants require their side-shoots to be pinched out regularly to concentrate growing energy into trusses of fruit. Bush and trailing varieties don’t require any pinchingWater regularly and consistently.
- Plant out leeks and brassicas for a winter supply.
- Late sowings of beetroot, radishes, lettuce and salad crops grow quickly in the warm soils for an extended season of fresh vegetables. Alternatively, chose from Dobbies wide selection of young vegetable plants grown to the perfect stage for planting out.
- Continue to earth up main-crop potatoes, to avoid tubers being exposed to the light and turning green. Early potatoes will be ready for harvesting, maturing around 10 weeks from planting.
- Prune stone fruit trees such as cherry and plum this month, removing any crossing branches to maintain an open framework. These fruit types are susceptible to certain fungal diseases through open wounds if pruned in the winter, whilst pruning at this time helps to avoid risk of infection.
Lawn
- Regular mowing is best for a manicured lawn, reducing the cutting height in hot weather to help prevent drying out. Keeping the blades slightly higher helps the grass resist the extra summer wear.
- To encourage more garden wildlife, allow your grass to grow and the wildflowers will bloom to support pollinating insects or leave some areas of grass to grow. Once the main flush of flowers has finished then you can cut your meadow down and allow the seeds to distribute.
Greenhouse & Indoors
- Plant up any pots with tender vegetables or Mediterranean herbs like Basil, Coriander and Tarragon that will appreciate the warmer and sheltered growing position.
- Watch indoor plants carefully this month as they will be growing quickly and require plenty of water and feed to keep them healthy.
- Repot any indoor plants that you haven’t done already to ensure they can grow well during the summer.