‘Deep summer is when laziness finds respectability.’ Sam Keen
All your hard but hopefully pleasurable work in the garden earlier in the year pays off with leisure time to enjoy your chosen displays. The choice is yours. There are always plenty of jobs to be done, even in the heat of July, or you can be just plain lazy. Supposing though you’re a gardener who can’t sit still when you look around and see plenty of cuttings to be taken.
Stem cutting from leggy pinks dipped in hormone rooting powder and popped into pots of compost will grow you new plants. Lavender and other shrubs can be propagated in the same way, and several cuttings from a pruned stem of clematis will all contribute to a new collection. Lupins, delphiniums, geraniums and violas benefit from being cut back after flowering and thinned and disbudded dahlias will bring on better displays.
After you cut back plants that have flowered, you can plant hardy annuals and tender perennials in empty spaces. Prick out perennials and biennials grown in June. Cut flowers for indoors and cut and dry suitable plants such as alliums and Honesty (Lunaria) with its translucent pods for indoor displays. In late spring and autumn vine weevils damage container plants, so if your Busy Lizzies or many other plants look droopy even though you have watered them, dig around in the compost and you may find the grubs that eat the roots.
Adult vine weevil eat the leaves. You can buy vine weevil nematodes to stop the roots from being destroyed. Water everything that needs it, especially containers and hanging baskets which easily and quickly dry out in summer months. Now you can afford to be lazy.
- Stake tall plants such as delphiniums, lupins and gladioli
- Watch out for lily beetle
- Cover stem cuttings in pots with clear food bags and put them in a shady place outdoors
- Spray roses every couple of weeks and look out for black spot
- If clematis show signs of wilt cut back to healthy wood
- Shade plants in the greenhouse if needed
- Trim hedges and topiary
- Lift hyacinths and tulips to store
No comments:
Post a Comment