In the 20+ years that I have been gardening professionally, I’ve neverknown such a dry summer with the unprecedented heat we encounteredin July! It’s challenged us all to keep our gardens looking beautiful with thelack of rain and water butts running dry. I’ve been using every resource Ihave to keep everything from dying! Bearing in mind we still have twomonths of summer to get through, I thought I’d post some tips. Thegeneral advice is to keep watering, keep deadheading to keep your borderplants flowering and keep feeding those baskets, pots and veg! I guess we’re all going to have toaccept that summers here in Kent are going to be a lot drier than this and it’s down to us to adaptand pre-empt the inevitable issues!
Watering
Switching to morning watering, before the sun gets too hot, helps! Everyone loves hanging basketsand pots and if you place display pots under hanging baskets, you can water both at the same time!Try and keep potted displays in shade, it’s surprising how quickly these things dry out. If you haveterracotta pots, they will absorb water as well, so give these a spray too - helping keep roots cooler.If you have plant saucers to put under pots, the roots will draw water from these and the pots willnot dry out as quickly.My Dad recently installed a 1,850L tank with a gravity-fed line for his veg patch from rain water. Inspite of the two days of rain in July, it’s 60% full! While we haven’t all got the space/time for this sizeof experiment, we can still collect plenty of rain off garden sheds or greenhouses by fitting effectiveguttering. Though many of us have dishwashers, I have to confess I’m a pre-rinser! However, I dosave most of the water (if it’s not too oily or full of stuff) and chuck it out onto the borders.
Borders
Deadheading is the most important job this month - not only to keep plants flowering, but also tostop things seeding off. I adore lychnus for example, but it can be difficult to control if it seedseverywhere! I’m still collecting/labelling seeds this month from the summer flowers I’ve kept going;poppies, aquilegia, Delphinium etc but also appreciating the amazing Canna this year! These SouthAfrican natives have thrived in our hot, dry summer and are worth the effort of lifting in autumn.My roses are still going strong! My grandpa grew the best roses I’ve ever seen. He taught me to cutdown to just above the five leaf formation on the stem which promotes a decent plant shape and agood flower. Unfortunately, in contrast, my sweet peas frazzled and I don’t think I was alone in this!A favourite job this month is cutting back lavender, it smells amazing! English lavender can be cutback at least to half if it has been pruned before. I cut to at least an inch above this year’s growthwhich will give a thicker growth for next year.
In the Veg Patch
Currants and berries will pretty much have finished so keep the base and stems clear of fallen leavesand put compost/leaf mulch down to feed them up before winter. Raspberries should be ready andthe last rhubarb can be picked. Strawberry runners should be potted, remembering the first runneroff the mother plant is the best and strongest!The last of the lettuce and salad seeds can be sown for a late harvest! Carrots and parsnips can beharvested, though if you leave parsnips in the ground ‘til the frosts they are sweeter - so save a few...
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