July in your garden…

From Glasshouse manager Chris Francis – here’s what you can be doing in July!

“Here we are again, the months are flying by and the longest day has been and gone. The weather for June was a bit unsettled for the time of year.

We’ve been very busy here at Thorngrove planting up basket plants and hanging baskets for our customers. We also delivered 150 troughs to Shaftesbury which go all around the town ready for judging of the in bloom on July 12^th

So here I am again doing my tips for July to help keep your garden and plants looking good!

Flowers

• Keep dead heading perennial and Annual flowers to help prolong their flowering period.
• Cut back delphiniums and geraniums after first flush of flowers to encourage a second flowering period. Feed after cutting back.
• Plants with a carpet-like growth habit e.g.some alpines can become patchy, with central area dying off. These can be in-filled with gritty compost to encourage new re-growth.

• Take cuttings of patio and container plants ready for next year.
• Repot Snowdrops if growing in containers.
• Water your pots and containers daily and feed regularly.

General Maintenance

• Prop up tall perennials such as lupins, delphiniums and gladioli if staking was neglected earlier in the season.
• Mulching borders can help retain moisture and keep down weeds-this will save a lot of work a really thick layer of mulch (5-7cm/2-3inches all over) works best.
• Most perennial weeds are best dealt with in the summer when they are in active growth. Digging out often works, but applying a weed killer can be more practical, particularly for large areas.

Pest and Disease watch

• Inspect lilies for scarlet lily beetle whose larvae can strip plants in days, if you see them remove and crush under foot.

• Vine weevil can also be a problem at this time of the year.
• Watch out for Aphids (greenfly and blackfly) on stems and leaves of young shoots.
• In dry weather powdery mildew can play havoc with plants such as Clematis  Roses and Lonicera, spray with a fungicide at the first signs this will help keep it under control and stop it spreading.
• Look out for and treat black spot on Roses and scab on Pyracanthus.

Trees and Shrubs

• Prune June flowering shrubs such as Philadelphus  and Weigela, after flowering, prune deciduous Magnolias if necessary.
• Fast-growing hedges such as Leylandii should be clipped as necessary throughout the growing season.
• Tie in Rose climbers and ramblers as they grow.

General Maintenance

• Look out for tall flowering stalks of established Bamboos and remove them promptly as flowering can weaken the plants as well as being unsightly.
• Ensure newly planted trees and Shrubs are not allowed to dry out as they often need more water than people imagine.
• Remove any rose or tree suckers.
• Take softwood cuttings from shrubs such as Pyracanthus, Cotinus, Hydrangeas and Spireas

Ponds

• Keep your ponds and water features topped up a spray attachment on the hose will help aerate the water, and help the fish
• Any pumps on water features should be left on during Sultry nights. As oxygen levels are lower in these conditions.
• Remove dead foliage and blooms from waterlilies and other Aquatic plants.
• Cut back any marginal plants that are getting out of hand.
• Continue to skim of blanket and floating weeds.

Lawns

• Keep mowing regularly, except in drought, in hot weather set your mower at a slightly higher level than normal for early Summer. This can prevent the lawn dying in hot weather.
• This is the last chance to apply a liquid Summer lawn fertiliser especially if a Spring feed was not given
• If you have weeds a soluble feed and weed products maybe useful.
• If you have laid new turves or sown grass seed these may need extra watering to get them through there first Summer.

I only have one more thing to say and that is if you haven’t planted your pots and baskets yet Thorngrove is having a big sale on basket and bedding plants so come on down to Thorngrove and grab yourself some  bargains! We can assure you they will be some brilliant additions to your summer garden.

Also, it’s wedding season, and if you’re getting married and would like to hire some trees, come along and see what we have to offer. You can also book trees for next year in advance if need be.

You can also click here to visit our online shop where you’ll find many of the plants mentioned today, along with helpful products to help with pest control and your garden maintenance.

That’s all for now – we will catch up next month, if you’re having a holiday have a good one! We look forward to seeing you at Thorngrove soon!”