JULY
Watering and dead-heading are two of the most important jobs around the garden this month, to keep plants healthy and vibrant.
On hot days damping down the greenhouse floor helps reduce the temperature and increases humidity, encouraging plant growth and mitigating against red spider mite that prefers it hot & dry and is otherwise very difficult to control.

Click for more
comprehensive advice
for this month from the RHS
Divide clumps of bearded iris,
if you did
not do it immediately after flowering last month; done every 3 - 5 years, it really does improve flowering.

For varieties that flower only once, the spent blooms can be left to develop into hips.
Thickened and curled margins on bay trees (Laurus nobilis) are a sign of bay sucker damage.
Scale insects can also affect bays at this time of year.

Pruning of plum, cherry, apricot & peach
trees should be carried out as soon as the fruit has been harvested, if at all possible in dry weather, to minimise the risk of silver leaf infection.


Make sure indoor plants have enough shade and ventilation to prevent scorch damage and water them adequately. Many benefit from being placed outside for the summer – this also lessens some pest and disease problems, such as red spider mite and scale insects.
By mid-summer some lawns may be heavily infested by ants. Brushing out the nests on a dry day is a good method of control, and should be done prior to mowing.
Plants with a carpet-like growth habit, e.g. some alpines, can become patchy, with central areas dying off.
These patches can be in-filled with gritty compost, to encourage re-growth.
Wildlife in the garden

Moths
Also play an important role in
the garden. Click for more

Today's Species
Discover the wildlife for today as
chosen by Sussex Wildlife Trust

Give the mower a rest
and see the benefits for
wildlife (and yourself) [RSPB]

Asian Hornet
Keep an eye out for this intruder with a deadly threat to our bees
Click any day below for a more detailed weather forecast, also looking further ahead