Hi everyone thank you all very much for coming to our NGS open day on the 30 June, we had a record breaking day and raised a lot of money for charity.
We had over 400 visitors!!!
It’s that time of year when the dead heading and watering seems to take over the garden. With dead heading doing it a little and often can go a long way. Dead heading will keep your flowers going for longer. When dead heading also consider what you would like to collect seed from or would like to let spread naturally by self seeding where it is. Some plants have attractive seed pods that you can leave as a display in the winter, for example rose hips and echinops.
Keep on top of the faded perennials by cutting them down when ready to allow more space for other plants to grow. It’s a good time to cut lavender back once it’s finished flowering, this will keep it compact.
If you have a Wisteria in your garden that has now finished flowering you can cut off the long straggly growth back to five leaves. This is generally needed when a wisteria is near paths windows or doors. The main prune will not be done until later in the year.
If you have tender plants in your garden don't forget to collect the seed or take cuttings to start growing from . So if the winter is harsh you have a backup waiting to go.
August is the time to cut down your long grass / perennial meadows. Cutting now will help disperse all of the seed that is currently in the flower pods. This is done by strimming it all down at the base then using a pitch fork to move it around. I have used this method and has work well over a number of years especially helps getting yellow rattle to spread quicker.
If your meadow is lacking in fauna once it is cut you can open the soil up with a scarification, or you could turn over the turf in the worst areas and sow the seed directly over the area. Sowing yellow rattle will reduce the vigour of the grass over time which will in turn help the other flowers establish. I have found over the 2 years I have been at Smiths Hall it has established well and has now weakened the grass a sufficient amount to allow other wild flowers to appear this year.
Keep on top of harvesting all of your fruit and vegetables as a lot will be ready by this point. You can cut down overgrown herbs to get a fresh crop before winter. The tomatoes will still need feeding and also removing the lower leaves to aid air circulation and help prevent diseases.
July/ early August I find is the best time to make future garden plans. So take a walk around your garden stop and just take in each area. If you see issues or have any ideas take a note or a photo, then start to find a solution to the issues or find the plants that will bring your ideas to life.
The lawns are looking a bit sorry for themselves at the moment but do not fear they will return with the rain. I would suggest you don't feed them in the drought. Raise the cutting height of your lawn mower to avoid over stressing the grass even more.
Most importantly enjoy your garden how ever big or small, maintained or jungle.
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