July 2007 - A True English Summer

July 2007 - A True English Summer

July - It should be Summer by now but with June being so wet it doesn’t seem like it! Hopefully July will have better weather.

Lawns With all June’s rain and the warmer temperatures your lawn should be growing like mad so you should be cutting your lawn at least once a week and if it’s anything like mine maybe even twice a week! If the weather does improve hopefully it will start to slow down and not look untidy so fast.

Greenhouse Tomatoes should now be producing fruit on the first few trusses, so the first few may be ready to pick. You should feed your tomatoes every 7 to 10 days and keep them well watered. Don’t let them dry out, otherwise when you do water them and give them lots of water, the skins will split because they have swelled too fast. Hopefully you’ve all got gutter fed water butts too which should now be brimming with all this rain, so you can use this recycled water on your garden. Keep your tomatoes tied to their supports and remove any side shoots. I usually only let them have 5 trusses per plant.If you have grown peppers you may need to stake them as they grow, especially as the peppers form.Keep an eye on pests in the greenhouse. I plant marigolds with the tomatoes, which seems to work keeping white flies off, alternatively you can use hanging white fly traps.Also keep any dead or dying plants or leaves cleared up as they can cause disease if left to rot.

Vegetable Garden Slugs are still a real problem this summer and they really love the wet weather we’ve just had, so still keep an eye on them as they will soon eat any young plants.Keep sowing lettuce about every 10 days, in short rows, as this will ensure a continuous supply through summer, with hopefully no waste. Keep sowing rocket or a similar rotation.Pick the broad beans and French beans when ready, if planted.Keep an eye out for caterpillars on any cabbages or other greens planted, as they will soon destroy your crop. You can spray the plants to prevent this or alternatively do it more environmentally friendly by picking them off by hand.If we do get hot dry weather this month your vegetable garden will need regular watering - preferably in the evening or early in the morning.

Borders This month is just about keeping your borders tidy. Dead head delphiniums as they finish. This also may encourage them to produce a few later spikes. Cut off any other flowers that have finished. If you have perennial geraniums and they are starting to look messy you’ll need to cut them right down after flowering and then they should reshoot. Remove old Euphorbia and helleborus flower stems to produce stronger plants for next season.

Pruning Keep climbing roses dead headed and tie in new growth. Any new shoots on honeysuckle should also be tied in.

Birds Remember to maintain any feeders you have put out. Keep them topped up and also keep them clean, as the recent rain can make the seed within all soggy and also help germinate it into shoots. Discourage any local cats from loitering in your garden, as the young birds are especially vulnerable as they take their first few days of flight.