Whether it’s pruning, planting or tidying, there’s always something to be done in the garden so we’ve put together a list of top gardening tasks for July:
- Cut back faded perennial plants to keep borders tidy.
- Cut back growth in hanging baskets to encourage new flowers and foliage and revive the display. Make sure you feed your baskets well after doing this.
- Cut back hardy geraniums and delphiniums after the first flush of flowers to encourage new growth and further blooms.
- Prune wisteria now. Just remove the whippy side-shoots from the main branch framework to about 20cm from their base (about five leaves from the main stem).
- Take cuttings from your favourite tender plants for over-wintering indoors. Cuttings can also still be taken from shrubs and herbaceous perennials.
- Dead-head bedding plants and perennial plants to stop them self-seeding and to encourage further flowering.
- Dead-head your roses to keep them looking tidy.
- Dead-head sweet peas regularly to keep them blooming. Water daily in dry weather.
- Capture seed heads from dandelions and other weeds. Collect them before they get a chance to release their seeds and spread throughout your garden.
- Look out for clematis wilt. Symptoms include wilting leaves and black discolouration on the leaves and stems. Cut out all affected material and dispose of it.
