Let there be light
Gunnera towers majestically over the water’s edge with huge umbrellas casting localised shade for the benefit of many wildlife species.
The cottage garden is awash with rapidly opening blooms not seen so far this year. Lychnis and Verbascums will certainly light up the borders amongst the roses and delphiniums here.
In the veg garden, there are rich pickings to be had from salad crops and, not forgetting, (the sometimes spicy) salad leaves. The first tender broad beans will also be ready for adding to that Sunday roast.
On walls and fences, there’s nothing better than the beautifully scented Sweet Peas, Honeysuckle and mid-season flowering Clematis.
And patio containers are looking good with vibrant petunias and the hot colours of Gazanias.
Heat your heart out...
HOT COLOURS come into their own in July and bring a real sense of energy to the garden.
They can also help to bring a rather Mediterranean feel, particularly if the weather is game.
In the borders, Gauras bring warm lively pinks which clash beautifully with the blinding orange of Eschscholzias (Californian Poppies). Red or purple Penstemons will help to add a touch of depth.
In containers, petunias and their close hybrid relatives such as ‘Million Bells’ and Surfinias will produce a mass of colour for weeks on end, especially in hot weather.
Also, performing well in a heatwave are the exotic large daisies of Gazanias – native to South Africa.
THERE’S nothing better in July than going out and cutting freshly-picked sweet peas for the house.
Of course, you could always leave the blooms on, but be sure to remove them as soon as they fade.
The reason for this is that the minute they start running to seed, valuable energy is taken from the plant to do this at the expense of further flower bud production.
Sweet peas like a good drench several times-a-week and a twice-weekly diluted tomato feed to keep them healthy.
Don’t have to be a wizard to have a potter
Now is a good time to spend warm evenings pottering around, and really enjoying the summer blooms. Deadheading is a pleasureable task, and a very important one, if the flowers are to keep coming.
Roses seem the obvious plants to deadhead, but most plants will benefit - except for those which only flower once, you wish to save seeds from. In some cases, a few herbaceous plants, such as Geraniums, can be completely cut back and given a good feed to promote a second flush of flowers for later in the summer. On a wet evening, going around the garden with a liquid feed will do wonders to really make the garden sparkle too!
Tune in for top of the pots
THERE’S nothing better than the taste of new potatoes, freshly harvested and now is the time to gently dig them up and brush off any excess soil.
Baby carrots can also be harvested, but do this as gently as possible as any rough handling will release the scent that encourages carrot fly to feed on those that remain in the ground. This insect can smell carrots from up to a-mile-and-a-half away.
Tomatoes and courgettes will now be setting their fruit, along with pumpkins and gourds. In hot weather, they all need copious watering and plenty of high pot ash liquid feed, such as tomato food. This will help the plants as the fruits place huge demands on their energy.
Continue to hoe between the rows of growing vegetables, such as onions and lettuce and, in wet weather, hand-weeding can be done.
They think it’s all clover
OXALIS Iron Cross are superb plants to mingle in with cottage-style planting.
Their unusual clover-like leaves are borne on fresh pale green 15-20cm high stems.
The trio of leaves have a distinctive deep maroon circular centre to them and these contrast well with the dainty rounded pink flowers which rise to just above the leaves. This plant is a wonderful contrast to hazy blue dwarf Lavenders and are equally easy to grow in a deep free-draining soil in full sun.
Bulbs can be planted close together in clumps in spring and will flower in the first season.
The plants die back in Autumn and leave no trace of stems during winter so they can be planted in Spring, alongside snowdrops and crocus ‘in the green’, both of which provide winter and early-spring interest in the absence of their hosts.
It’s Gunner be good
GUNNERAS are the real majesties of the pondside. Their gigantic leaves are an impressive sight from any distance, sitting on their prickly stems like giant umbrellas up to 6ft across.
On a rainy day, they can certainly serve that purpose well! They will also grow well in a large border where wet, heavy soil exists.
Some winter protection is needed, but folding the dying leaves over the crowns usually suffices.
When rain becomes liquid gold...
July will begin rather cool and unsettled, before a long hot and sunny spell becomes established. The third week may turn fresher and windy at times, but with little rain. Later in the month, the heat returns, but with the risk of some thundery downpours.
All’s wool that ends wool
August brings the best out in Penstemons, and Fuchsias come into all their fresh summer glory too. Prarie-style borders become a mass of mellow woolly heads of Verbena Bonariensis and Achilleas mixed with ornamental grasses. Look out for advice on planting autumn crocus, in anticipation of their glowing October goblets.
See you next month!
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