This Month in Your Garden - July

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

It is easy to get caught out when there has been a fair bit of rain and not water containers and new plants. The question is: did they get enough water from summer showers? Often the answer is no, and you need to give hanging baskets, tubs and the border a good soaking to be safe. 

As you do, keep an eye out for pests and disease, such as lily beetle whose larvae strip the plant, and black spot on roses. The latter is encouraged by potash shortage and warm, wet weather in summer. Remove fallen leaves and spray the plant with Multirose or other suitable fungicide. On the brighter side, if you started plenty of annuals from seed earlier in the year you will be enjoying cut flowers for indoor display.

In the borders deadhead bedding plants for a continuous display. Cut back lupins, geraniums, delphiniums and violas once flowered and thin and disbud dahlias for better displays. You can take stem cuttings of carnations and if you are pruning clematis, one stem will give you several cuttings. Lift tulip and hyacinth bulbs to store once flowering is over. Give late flowering perennials a good feed and mulch borders to help them retain moisture. 

• Plant tender perennials and hardy annuals in empty spaces
• Trim hedges and topiary
• Prick out perennials and biennials grown in June
• Harvest flowers for drying and indoor display
• Shade the greenhouse if need be 
• Use bark for a good mulch in borders