July 2022 – jobs to do in the garden

June was a very dry month so watering probably dominated most of your evenings and the hot weather has continued into July.

Weeding, feeding and dead-heading

Control the weeds on paths and pull out weeds in your flowerbeds.   Increase the feeding of seasonal patio pots and baskets – they will benefit from a weekly feed of liquid tomato fertiliser or liquid feed.

If you dead-head bedding plants, annuals and roses, as this will encourage more flowers to form. If delphiniums and geraniums are cut back after the first flowers they should flower a second time and they will also benefit from an application of Blood, Fish and Bone or a slow-release fertiliser.

Watering

Continuing with your watering routine as required this month. Bedding plants, leafy vegetables, seedlings, new plantings and plants in pots are most prone to drying out. If possible, water your plants early in the morning or in the evening and avoid watering during the hottest part of the day.

Protecting from disease or pests

Some diseases and pests thrive in hot summer conditions, so check susceptible plants – such as roses – for issues such as blackspot, mildew and rust. Treat and spray as required.

Water features

If you have a pond, rake out any overgrown oxygenating plants and algae, topping-up the water levels using rainwater collected in your water-butts if you can.

Mowing

If the weather is hot and dry, try not to mow too often and raise the height of the cutting deck on your mower. Brown patches on lawns in hot spells are inevitable but the lawn will recover quickly, so there’s no need to water. It’s better to use the water for your pots, baskets and flowering borders.

Painting and refreshing

Warm, dry summer weather is perfect for painting wooden sheds, fences, arches and arbours. There are lots of traditional and other vibrant colours on the market to brighten or refresh any wooden structure in your garden. 

Relaxing

Even though there are always lots of things to do in our gardens, hopefully you will be able to relax for some of the time and enjoy your Summer garden with your family and friends.