July is normally the month when I try to relax and enjoy the fruits of my labours! But there are still some essential tasks that need doing in the garden:
- Continue hoeing weeds when it is warm so they will simply shrivel on the surface and you can gather them up.
- Cut back hardy geraniums after flowering – some varieties will then flower again.
- Continue deadheading perennial such as Geums and Penstemons to encourage continual flowering.
- Prune early-summer flowering shrubs such as Philadelphus and Weigela. I normally cut back the flowered growth to a strong lower shoot and with larger specimens thin out up to a fifth of the old, woody stems.
- Water your clematises and honeysuckle in long, dry spells to discourage powdery mildew.
- Continue deadheading roses to encourage flowering.
- Keep an eye on shrubs with variegated foliage and cut out any that has reverted making sure you go right back to the source.
- Start summer pruning wisteria by cutting back any long, whippy shoots to five or six buds from a main stem.
- Stake dahlias if required before they grow too tall and start bending over!
- Prune cherry and plum trees after fruiting by removing weak, damaged and crossing branches and thin slightly if required.