Gardening in July
Bedding plants
Everybody likes a good splash of colour in the garden, and it’s one of the easiest times of year to achieve that with bedding plants. Apply a bit of compost, dig it in well, and plant some bedding plants! Plant them about 15cm apart – it looks a bit sparse at the beginning, but soon covers up. It’s a good time to plant begonias, dianthus, geraniums, new guinea impatiens (Bizzy Lizzy), nasturtiums and petunias. These will do just as well in pots as in the ground.
Pot of the month
Why not try something different, and plant a rose in a pot this summer? Roses are just coming into bloom at the moment, they flower profusely all summer, and many have a beautiful scent. You need a decent sized pot – put a few stones over the drainage hole so it doesn’t block up, then fill with compost, with a few handfuls of topsoil mixed in. Ground cover roses do well in a pot as they don’t grow too tall.
Perennials
Summer time is when perennials really thrive. Choose from a variety of clematis, agapanthus, hebes, and hermocallis. This is a good time to plant lavender, and the bees in your garden will really thank you for that. The featured perennial this month is Rudbeckia Goldsturm. This is a very reliable perennial that is easy to grow, comes back year after year, and it spreads too. It will be covered with bright yellow flowers in July and August.
Shrubs
A buddleia is a good addition to any garden. Different varieties carry a profusion of colourful flowers, in tones of white, pink, purple and blue, so pick something that fits in with your colour scheme. Buddleias are particularly attractive to butterflies, you will always find a few on the plant when it’s in flower. Cut it back hard at the start of winter to stop it getting straggly.