A few tips for Your Gardens for the Month of July
Various Flowers in Dave & Marion’s Garden
Deadhead your plants
‘Deadheading’ is the removal of dead and/or fading flowers from plants, in beds, borders, containers and hanging baskets. Deadheading not only neatens your plants and stops the scattering of petals, it also encourages more blooms and you will be rewarded with flowers throughout the season. However, if you want to collect seeds from particular plants, then don’t deadhead these.
Not all flowers need deadheading though. Peony and most bulbs will only produce flowers once during a season. Other plants that don’t require deadheading, include periwinkle and most flowering vines.
To deadhead, simply remove the faded flowers by pinching them between your finger and thumb and removing them with their stalk. For plants with thicker stems, use secateurs or scissors and cut back to just above the next bud or leaf on the stem. Plants with multiple blooms on a stem, for example, salvia, delphiniums and begonia, should be deadheaded once 70 percent of the blooms have faded. Make sure you collect all the deadheads and dispose of them, so they don’t make your flower beds or borders look untidy.
Make a plan to ensure your plants will receive water when you are on holiday
If you are going away it’s really important that your precious plants will still receive water in your absence. If you will only be away for a few days, then ensuring your plants have had a good watering before going away might be enough to see them through, and if they usually sit on a bright windowsill then maybe move them to a cooler room to prevent them drying out from the sun. Cacti and succulents are able to tolerate not having water for longer periods of time. If you are going to be away from home for more than a week, then ask a family member or a neighbour if they can pop in regularly to water your plants until you return. That way you won’t arrive home to dead or wilting plants.
Lawns - adapt to the dry periods
During hot and dry periods the growth rate of grass slows down. You may not need to mow your lawn as often, and when you do, mow lightly to nip the very tops off the blades of grass; this encourages growth. Raise your mower’s cutting height slightly; don’t be tempted to cut the grass very short as this will result in an unattractive ‘scalped’, dry lawn as the grass dies back, although it will recover once rain returns. Remove any unwanted weeds, such as dandelions, using a small trowel. If you have laid new turf in the spring, ensure you water the new grass well every couple of days (unless it rains) to keep the grass growing through its first summer. If you can, collect rainwater to do this. Try to use your new lawn as little as possible, at least until the autumn when the turfs will be well established.
Courgettes
If you are growing courgettes, they’re best picked when they are small and tender, this is when they have the nicest flavour. Once they have reached 10-15cm in length (approximately eight weeks’ growth), remove them from the plant by cutting them with a sharp knife. If they are left they will continue growing and will turn into marrows, which don’t have such a lovely flavour as courgettes. Courgettes make a lovely side dish, simply sautéed in butter with peppers and chestnut mushrooms, seasoned well with salt and freshly cracked black pepper!
Enjoy the sunshine and your gardens, and look out for our next blog!