(Compiled by Lyn McCallum)
Find out if there are water restrictions adhere to them. Water is a precious commodity, don’t waste it! This also applies to those of us who are lucky enough to have a well point or borehole.
Keep the basic garden maintenance jobs up to date. This month there are so many: weeding, deadheading, feeding and pest control to name a few. Don’t forget to keep everything well mulched during the hot, windy summer months.
Stake tall flowering annuals – delphiniums, foxgloves and larkspurs.
Feed summer flowering annuals and perennials every 3 weeks with a liquid fertilizer, Nitrosol, Organiksol or Seagro etc., especially those in baskets and containers. This will prolong their flowering period.
Keep your rose bushes well mulched and well watered and feed with Sudden Impact or well rotted manure.
Prune spring flowering shrubs e.g. Philadelphus (Mock Orange) and Cape May, once they have finished flowering, mulch and feed with Bounce Back.
As the weather warms up and plants start to grow and spread, check your irrigation system to ensure water is reaching the whole garden. Also check that all the sprinkler heads are working efficiently. Favourite plants have been known to die due to lack of water from blocked sprinklers!
Vegetables can also be fed every three weeks with a liquid fertilizer – use Organiksol, Nitrosol, or sprinkle Bounce Back or Rapid Raiser around the plants and keep well mulched, which will also help suppress weeds. Check for slugs, snails, caterpillars and other nasties.
Keep your citrus trees watered. Deep watering every 10 days to 2 weeks encourages deep root growth. Feed with Bounce Back, Rapid Raiser or 3.1.5 Organic fertilizer, well watered in.
Deadhead spring flowering bulbs and continue to feed those in active growth to help ensure that the plants make good bulbs for next year’s growth and flowers. Don’t lift the bulbs until the leaves have turned yellow. If you need the space, dig up the clumps of bulbs carefully and replant in prepared holes in a lesser-used part of the garden. Bulbs left in their place in the garden for next season should be marked to avoid digging them up or damaging them by mistake.
Don’t cut your lawn too short in the hot summer weather. If it is left slightly longer than during the winter months, it helps to conserve water and the longer grass blades will help to make the extra food needed to keep your lawn green and healthy. Fertilize with Blade Runner and make sure that the fertilizer is well watered in to avoid burning.
The compost heap should be kept moist and turned regularly. It should not be necessary to turn autumn leaves kept to make leaf mould, but remember that leaf mould takes much longer to make than compost – at least 12 months. It should also be kept moist.
Once azaleas have finished flowering, cut off any tall branches that are growing well above the rest of the bush to encourage the dormant buds at the base of the plant to grow. Mulch with an acid compost (available from nurseries) or leaf mould made from oak leaves or pine needles. Azaleas like to be kept cool by sprinkling them with water on hot, dry, windy days.
