July

July can be a scorching hot month but in many parts of the country the first week or two of this summer month are the gardener's last chance to plant colourful blooms for this year and get a start on colour for next year.

Provided you are willing to water your work daily, there's no reason to stop planting.  A time to really enjoy your garden!

Handy Gardening Tips:

• Deadhead flowers as they fade to ensure more flowers
• Put saucers under planted containers to conserve water
• Fill any gaps in your pots and borders with new patio plants for instant colour
• Water and feed container plants as required
• Use water wisely and check local drought status
• Keep greenhouses ventilated and ensure plants don’t dry out
• Check for red spider mite in greenhouses in summer heat.
• Lift new potatoes and onions
• Water and feed vegetables regularly

Handy Tips for the lawn in July:

• Apply a fungicide to the lawn to control turf diseases such as brown patch, dollar spot and others.
• Fertilize zoysia lawns now with a 26-4-12 weighted lawn fertilizer.
• If needed, apply a weed control to the lawn to kill actively growing weeds. Use Dragon Lawn Weed Killer or Ortho Weed B Gone.
• Water regularly at dusk
• Cut once a week as the sun starts to set or later if possible
• Remove grass collection box from mower – offcuts will help provide moisture