Third edition - July 2001.
This month in the separate Spotlight section I have looked in depth
at greenhouses, summerhouses, ponds and decking
July - and it is
high summer, which brings so many rewards to the gardener, but can also be a busy time.
Jobs abound. There are the hedges to trim and lawns to be cut once or twice weekly,
vegetables to be kept weed-free, and the baskets and tubs to be watered daily. This is the
gardening season in top gear, but don`t forget to take some time out for relaxing and
visiting gardening events.
Why not join the National Trust, visit some of their stately
homes and gardens and see how the other half used to live. *Did you know that the National
Trust rents lots of lovely houses out as holiday cottages, many of them in the centre of
walled gardens, all great starting points for a UK holiday. Of course you could just stay
put and revel in the peace and quiet of the garden. For details Tel: 0870 458 4411
*From the National Trust magazine "Complimentary Gardens
Supplement 2001"
Jobs for the month - July
A busy
month July, for banishing weeds, keeping your hungry plants fed, watered and dead-headed,
and for gathering some early crops from the vegetable garden. Any
house plants can stay outside for a few weeks for a breath of fresh air and a misting with
tepid water...
Houseplants
Look for aphid damage, red spider mite, mealy bug and any other unwanted
visitors, and spray immediately. Don`t forget to make provision for your houseplants if
you are going away. There are several types of capillary matting in the garden centres
that you can stand the plants on, or even soaked newspaper in a bucket.
Bulbs.
Lift
and dry off any tulip bulbs still in the borders or tubs, and you can order now for Autumn
planting from your early bulb catalogues.
Lawns
New
lawns turfed or sown in the spring may now have a dose of weak weedkiller. Take great care
with lawn spot weedkillers. I remember once my husband did the job for me and several days
later our lawn was a mass of little brown circles. A grass weedkiller for patios had been
used instead of a weedkiller for lawns....
 Greenhouse
Make
sure that any plants in the greenhouse have adequate ventilation and are shaded from too
much sun. Maintain humidity to avoid red spider mite by damping down with the hosepipe.
Shade cucumbers from hot sun
Hedges
Continue
spraying rose hedges this month against black spot, mildew and aphids. You can still trim
other types of hedge. There is a spray on the market that supposedly retards the growth of
privet hedges. I haven`t tried it myself...
 Fruit
You
will still need to watch out for nasty little bugs in fruit bushes and trees and eliminate
them with an appropriate spray. This is a time of year to begin pruning and training some
young fruit trees. You should consult a gardening book for this procedure
Flowers
for cutting
As
for the month of June, continue training sweet peas up their supports. Keep cutting
flowers for the house and at the same time dead-head any faded blooms to encourage new
flowers. Spray against aphids
Herbaceous
plants
Feed
plants fortnightly now. I use Miracle-Gro with the dispenser that attaches to the hose
pipe so everything in the garden gets fed...and watch out for aphids on your plants. Keep
the borders weed free and mulched
 Ponds
and water features
This
is fish-spawning time so take care that your pond is not starved of oxygen. If you have
tadpoles which by now have developed their legs, try to keep them apart from your fish,
for they will eat them. Provide a ramp for the tadpoles to leave the pond when the
time comes. If you want to really help the tiny frogs then spray the flower beds or grass
where they will be living with water for a few days if the weather is hot...
Wildlife
Our
hedgehogs are back from their winter hibernation and doing a good job of eating insects.
The Pipistrelle bats that fly around at dusk are busy as usual, and young fledgling
birds are running the gauntlet with my puppy, but I just put them gently in the safety of
a bush and hope for the best.
Next month I will be looking at lawnmowers, shredders and of course
jobs for the month...
Some seasonal web sites of interest to gardeners:
 www.edenproject.com
The
living theatre of plants and people
The Eden Project is a gateway into the world of plants and people. A meeting place for
all to discover how we depend on plants and how we can help to manage and conserve them
for our mutual survival
www.carryongardening.co.uk
Gardening
is an important part of many people's lives. You don't have to give up gardening because
of accident or illness, the onset of disability or the problems associated with growing
older. The information on their website is designed to provide you with the information to
Carry on Gardening.
Carry
on Gardening was initiated by the horticultural charity Thrive
and is funded by the National Lottery Charities
Board. It brings together information on easy ways of gardening gathered over 23
years by Thrive and research carried out since the early 1970s by Mary Marlborough Centre,
Oxford, on tools and equipment for disabled and older people.
And finally if you are visiting a National Trust garden or any other
garden or event, do check that they are not closed due to Foot and Mouth disease. For
general advice and up-to-date details of restrictions look up the website for the
appropriate local authority who will have information about closures. Alternatively look
at the following websites: www.nationaltrust.org.uk
and www.maff.gov.uk who will have
Foot and Mouth up-dates.
Have
a look at previous editions of
Gardener`s Diary
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