Garden Tasks For July

Mid winter is a great time to reflect, to think and to consider what you want in the garden, what works in the garden and what doesn’t work.  I like to look at the garden critically to see what sections don’t have enough green or those that have too many gaps.  I know I need more evergreens throughout the garden.  I think starting with some more evergreen trees would be good.  Reflecting now on why I chose so many deciduous trees in the first place I think I have made the realisation that when we started the garden more than ten years ago I wanted to embrace all of the deciduous trees or as many as possible.  This was because at the time I was living in Sydney and these deciduous trees would not grow well in that environment.  I couldn’t use them in my design projects in Sydney but I could plant them out down here in the gardens of “The Berkshires”.  They have all grown really well but we now need to add some more evergreen structure. The Olives have grown so well!  I’m now thinking some evergreen oaks like Quercus suber (Cork oak) and the Holm Oak (Quercus ilex) would be good.  

Some of the tasks I will be doing in the garden this month are;

Potting up some flowering annuals for a splash of colour in the garden – see article above

Mulching a few of the outer beds.

Bare rooted trees and roses are now available – I have mixed feeling on these but worth a try,

Order my summer flowering bulbs like Lilies, Gladioli and Hippeastrum.   Also ordering my Dahlia tubers.

Shaping some of my evergreen shrubs – most of these are in sheltered location so won’t be affected by frost.

Winter pruning on our deciduous trees will be in full swing this month – see my article about this topic on my blog here

Planting out some seedlings of beetroot, cauliflower, sprouting broccoli and kale. I’m also giving all of the plants a liquid feed with seasol.

Indoor plants – They are all getting some extra attention this month I will be feeding them with a weak liquid fertiliser, top dressing soil in pots and removing any old leaves.

Make sure your frost protection is ready to go on your frost sensitive plants – we have only had one or two  hard frost so far but they always happen when you least expect it.  For all the info on frosts and protection check out my blog post here

Spray lawns with a broadleaf herbicide to kill off clovers, cape weed etc.  You need to get to all of these before they go to flower If they go to flower and seed you are almost guaranteeing they will be back next year.

Pruning roses – I normally start mine here in the Hilltops region (Southern NSW) Late July /early August.  If you’re in a warmer climate you may have already started.  For all the info on rose care, pruning etc go to my blog post here.

Check the moisture level in garden beds and most importantly pots.

During winter we seem to get more regular rain fall, foggy mornings, heavy dews and lower temperatures. These conditions lull many gardeners into a false sense of security and they tend to forget to water their garden beds and potted plants..  However if we are having bright blue skies and sunny days through the cooler months with windy conditions, the beds and potted plants will begin to dry out. The wind really can be the main culprit for drying out beds and pots at this time. To read more about watering in your garden in winter go to my blog post here.