How is it July already?

Wow, is it really July already. As we hit the middle of the year and with so much more time on our hands, we hope your gardens are looking as lovely as ever and that the extra time we have been spending at home has been well worth it. We are continuing to bring you tips and hints to keep you busy and hopefully offer a little bit of knowledge to keep you busy even if it is a little hot at times.

Many of us think of Spring and Autumn as the prime time to sow our seeds but there are actually a huge variety of plants that are perfect to get started. Long, warm days with high light levels speed up the germination process, the long days coming in handy still, giving us so much more time to get out in the garden.

You should always be thinking about feeding, watering and deadheading summer bedding regularly at this time, in pots, borders, and hanging baskets. We hope you are cutting back early summer perennials about now, these include  your hardy geraniums and delphiniums, after flowering for a second flush. We are also recommending watering and feeding  your sweet peas regularly, pick the flowers every few days, and remove seed pods to prolong flowering. You will thank us later!

 

 

Allotment Jobs to Keep you busy

July in many gardeners' eyes is the time that you reap your rewards. You hopefully took our advice and planted lots of fruit and veg early this year. Many of our favourites such as climbing beans, runner beans and potatoes should by now ready to harvest. Strawberries and raspberries can be enjoyed this month, too – if those pesky birds are a problem, cover them with netting.

It is also time to start planning for the winter months and the winter crops. Most importantly those potatoes. You can also get some fantastic Sunday Roast veg in the ground such as Cabbage, spinach and kale. You can also get those carrots started.

Help that Natural Wildlife

While it's important to keep your bushes and hedges tidy this time of year we tend to see many garden birds such as Goldfinches, Sparrows and Blackbirds nestled in the hedges so always check before tackling them. If possible encourage them to leave their homes.

You can also keep an eye out for hedgehogs that will be visiting your garden throughout the summer. Many will be having their babies at this time of year so leaving out a meat-based dog/cat food which they love. Foxes or cats may try and steal that food so you can always make a hedgehog feeding station.

If you are lucky enough to have a pond then try and grow low growing plants at the edge of your pond so that baby frogs have a little habitat and safe hiding place to shelter. Areas of long grass will also work. You may need to avoid mowing for a couple of weeks, to enable them to disperse evenly. 

Show Stopper Plants for July...

It's lovely weather and we're not complaining. Get planting one of our favourites and share your results...

Delphiniums

Foxgloves

Pansies

Zinnia