Garden works with Jo Whittingham

Published on 09/07/2012 00:00

SOME may call it stinginess, but like many gardeners I tend to improvise rather than buy expensive new equipment.

Although this thrifty approach generally serves me well, last summer I despaired watching my kale and broccoli being eaten by caterpillars and pigeons, and splashed out on two metal-framed cages and some sturdy butterfly netting to protect them. It’s an investment I would recommend, because this year my brassicas have never looked better. Construct your own frame if you can, before this month’s influx of egg-laying butterflies, making sure that it’s tall enough to cover mature plants and that the netting has holes small enough to keep them out.

July is the month when spaces start to appear in the vegetable patch as spring crops such as peas and broad beans finish. To make the most of your plot try to anticipate when crops will be cleared and sow what is to follow in modules or pots two or three weeks in advance, to fill gaps instantly. Swiss chard, beetroot, red chicory and pak choi are all ideal for sowing in this way, and late leeks, kale, sprouting broccoli and cabbage grown outdoors in seedbeds should all be ready to transplant into bare soil too.

Weeding should be less arduous now that the beds and borders are full, but dandelions and other stubborn perennial weeds among the roots of shrubs and herbaceous perennials can be almost impossible to remove by hand. The best way to deal with them is to paint a weedkiller containing glyphosate onto the leaves of the weed (special gel formulations are available), carefully avoiding other foliage. It will work its way throughout the plant and kill the roots, with results taking about two weeks to become visible.

Keep deadheading flowering plants to prolong the display and feed those in pots to keep them vigorous. Regular watering is also essential for pots, along with newly planted trees and shrubs, in dry weather. Also check wall-grown climbers and shrubs, which are often sheltered from rainfall, and water them if necessary. The white, talc-like fungal growth of powdery mildew on leaves is a sign that plants are stressed and conditions are too dry. If just one or two clematis shoots are limp, this is likely to be the disease clematis wilt rather than drought; cut back all affected growth to a pair of healthy leaves. Lawns will stay greener and healthier in dry weather if not cut too short, but if the summer rain keeps falling mowing and trimming lawn edges weekly makes it a quick job and keeps 
things neat.