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In your ornamental garden in July 2010

The lushness of spring growth may be over, and many plants may have already passed their peak. Now is a good time to have  a  tidy up. Deadheading and cutting back spent flowering shoots may encourage a second flush of flowering; or leave seed heads to develop for the birds, and seed saving.Try to take time out  to  sit back and enjoy your garden and all that hard work you have put in.

Take a regular stroll around the garden and look out for signs of pest and disease. Where necessary, take action before these become a problem.

Relax in your deckchair, put your feet up and listen to the birds singing and the insects buzzing. Remember to put your sun-block on when you are working outdoors.

General tasks

Water and watering

If the weather stays dry, and hosepipes are banned, you may need to prioritise what you do, and don’t, water. Concentrate on containers, baskets, annuals and new plantings. Don’t waste water on shrubs and trees, or the lawn.

 

• 
  Hanging baskets need
  regular watering even
  on heavy rainy days
• Water baskets and small containers daily, even during rain! Water bounces off a leaf canopy, and, even in a downpour, little rain will reach the potting compost. Moist compost takes in water more readily than dry compost.
• Give the lawn mower a rest; the lawn will l take the hot dry weather much better if you leave it  a little longer
• Make sure plants don't go short of water or nutrients - a stressed plant is more likely to succumb to pest or disease attack. This could mean repotting into a larger pot.
• Make sure that you are saving as much water as you can in water butts, try to avoid having bare soil – make full use of mulches and ground cover plants.

Greenhouse

• • Leave doors and vents open 24 hours a day for good ventilation. This is the best way to discourage disease build up.
  • Provide shading if there are tender plants in the greenhouse that could be scorched by the heat of the sun.
  • Make sure plants don't go short of water or nutrients - a stressed plant is more likely to succumb to pest or disease attack. This could mean repotting into a larger pot.
  • 
    Worm compost - an ideal
    top dressing for pot plants
  • Pot plants will benefit from a top dressing. Worm compost or leafmould are ideal.
  • If a pot has dried out, plunge it into a bucket of water, with the compost below the water. Leave it until no more air bubbles appear from the compost.
  • Keep an eye out for pests. Biological control agents are much more effective if they are introduced as soon as a pest appears. You might, for example, use  the predatory mite Phytoselius for red spider mite, the tiny wasp, Aphidius for Aphids, the parasitic wasp Encarsia for white fly and Cryptolaemus beetles for mealybugs.
  • If an infestation of fungus gnats (sciarid flies) develops in your pots :
    + reduce watering immediately. These pests thrive on moist, organic material in potting compost.
    + top dress the compost in the pots with coarse grit or fine shingle to maintain a dry surface
    + Only water from below (eg stand pots in a tray of water)
    + Buy in the sciarid fly control agent,  Hypoaspis, to consume the larvae and break the lifecycle.
    

    Biological control agents are available from The Organic Gardening Catalogue.

    Garden Organic members have online access to our factsheet:

    • Red spider Mite
    • Sciarid fly
    • Aphids

    Access to these factsheets requires members' password. Find out more about Garden Organic membership.

Summer lawn care

• Set the mower cutting height to at least 3-4cm. This will help your lawn to keep looking good in hot dry weather. Cutting it shorter just weakens the plants.
• Try leaving the box off the mower, and let the clippings fly. They will rot speedily in warm weather, returning valuable nitrogen to the growing grass. You'll save time and effort if you don't have to go back and forth emptying the mower box.
• Don't bother to water your lawn in dry spells, even if it starts to  turn yellow and brown. It will recover very quickly when the rain does come.
• If you are thinking of buying a new mower, consider a 'mulching' or 'recycling' mower. These machines chop up the mowings very finely, then spread them evenly over the lawn. No more clumps of mowings walked into the house, and much time saved not having to empty the grass box.

Pond management

• It isn’t essential to keep a pond topped up if the water levels fall. If you are going to top it up, remember to use rainwater if at all possible. Tap water can be too high in nutrients, which encourage algal growth.
• Make sure you have oxygenating plants in your pond so creatures can breath.
• A small fountain or cascade can help keep your pond oxygenated. The sound of trickling water can be very relaxing too.
• Rake out any blanket weed that has formed. Leave it by the side of the pond for a couple of days, so any creatures caught in it can return to the water. Then add it to your compost heap.
• Keep your eyes peeled for water-lily aphids. The best way of dealing with them is to simply blast them off with a strong jet of water.

What to plant in July

• July is not an ideal time for planting. Why not just sit in the garden and make notes on changes you might like to make next winter. If you do  buy plants, get them in the ground as soon as possible.
• Add plenty of organic matter to the soil and water in well.
• Always use a mulch around newly planted plants to help retain moisture.

Making new plants

• Collect seed from annual flowers, such as phacelia, marigolds, poppies and so on as the seed head ripens. Store this for sowing in the autumn or spring.
• Cut seed heads off hardy Geraniums before they disperse their seed and put them in a paper bag on a sunny windowsill. Listen to the seeds fire and pop against the side of the bag for the next couple of weeks. When all goes quiet it is time to sow.
• Take cuttings from hardy fuchsias and penstemons, particularly if you have bought a beautiful specimen at one of the many shows now taking place round the country. These plant are very easy to propagate from cuttings. Choose a non-flowering stem and simply cut below a node (leaf joint), strip off all the lower leaves except the top tip and put in a 5 to 7cm pot with cutting compost, place in a shady spot and 4-6 weeks later, pot up.

For detailed information on taking cuttings, consult a good gardening book.

Pest watch

July can be  a busy month for pests, but fortunately the beneficial insects, such as hoverfly larvae, ladybirds and many others, should also be present in large numbers to deal with them.

• Check for sawfly damage  on Solomon's Seal. The larvae (which are grey with a black head) can soon strip a plant.  Remove and destroy the larvae on sight to break the cycle.
• Horse chestnut scale will often be found on ornamental acers this month. Rub the colonies off with your fingers (wear gloves if you're squeamish), and check for the next couple of weeks that none have survived.
• Scale on bay trees growing outside can be a real nuisance, especially if the tree is large. Honeydew dropped by the scale insects causes sooty mould to develop on the leaves. It's hard to get rid of the pest, so just try to keep the leaves clean with strong jets of water.
  
  See our factsheet on scale insects
  (Online access to factsheets requires members' password. Find out about becoming a Garden Organic member here.)

Disease watch

At this time of year, leaf blotches, caused by fungal diseases, may appear overnight on previously perfect plants.

Powdery mildew, rusts and blackspot are common examples. The temperature/moisture combination is just right for their spores to germinate. Alarmingly - leaf blotches appear overnight on previously perfect plants.

Don't panic. These are rarely killer diseases - they just disfigure. Some years are worse than others. Good horticulture is the key to control and management.

• Remove and dispose of blotched leaves, flowers and berries. Blackspot infected leaves on roses should be nipped off on sight.
• Don't over-feed plants. Lush growth is always more susceptible to disease attack.
• Mulch around the plant with a soil conditioner - leafmould is the favourite. It is low in nutrient, and high in micro-organisms.
• Keep plants watered in dry spells, but water at the base - avoid wetting leaves.

Powdery mildew is often a problem when plants are under stress, due to poor growth conditions. Plants growing by fences and walls invariably suffer dryness at the roots. Keep all wall/fence trained plants well watered - and mulch to retain moisture.

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