Maintenance tips for July

Maintenance

- Mow regularly, except when the weather is very dry. Raise the cutting height to help the grass retain moisture. Brown patches will fade after rain.

- Dig out isolated weeds on lawns or spot-treat them with a paint-on weed killer.

- Remember to help climbers and ramblers wrap around their supports as they grow.
- Like Clematis? Make more by taking intermodal cuttings – taking a section of stem sections above and below a leaf, rather than cutting the stem immediately below a leaf joint.

- Prune off any suckers as these can divert energy away from the main plant.

- Prune deciduous magnolias if necessary. These can be susceptible to silver leaf disease if pruned between September and April. The same can be true with Prunus, Walnuts and some laburnum.

- Prune June-flowering shrubs such as Philadelphus and Weigela after flowering.

- Prop-up tall perennial plants to stop them breaking in the wind and losing what is often a short bloom anyway.

- Cut back delphiniums and geraniums after the first flush of flowers to encourage a second flowering period then feed them to support the new growth.

- Damp down greenhouses on hot days to increase humidity and stop it getting too hot.

- Any cuttings taken so far can be grown on in the greenhouse. Fuschias for example.

- Prune fruit trees that produce fruit with a stone (eg Cherry). This will also help avoid silver leaf disease.

- Feed plants

- Continue to deadhead flowers.

Planting

- Autumn-flowering bulbs, such as autumn crocuses, Colchicum, Sternbergia, Amaryllis and Nerine, can be planted now.

Propagation

- Take cuttings from shrubs such as Choisya, Hydrangea and Philadelphus. The cuttings should be semi-ripe (meaning that the cutting should not be woody but still green and fleshy).

- Like Clematis? Make more by taking internodal cuttings - taking a section of stem sections above and below a leaf, rather than cutting the stem immediately below a leaf joint.

- Poppy's and love-in-a-mist (among others – typically wild varieties) will produce seeds that you can collect for planting later in the year.

- Divide clumps of iris.

Treatments

- Yellow patches on a lawn that contain small pink/red strands could indicate a problem with red-thread in the lawn. Red-thread is a fungal disease and results when nitrogen is washed out of the soil. Grass feeds on Nitrogen so apply a nitrogen-rich fertiliser and the damage should soon disappear.

Landscaping

- Mulching borders can help retain moisture and keep down the weeds

Pond care

- Watch the water level of ponds and water features topping up as necessary.

- Aquatic plants can also benefit from feeding, dead heading and removing fading foliage to prolong their display and keep them healthy and looking tidy. Cut back any pond plants that are getting out of hand.

- Think about pond hygiene. Pull out blanket weed (leaving it at the side of the pond to allow beneficial insects to crawl back in). Does the bottom of the pond need some attention to remove a build-up of debris?