What to do in your garden in July

1. PRUNE YOUR ROSES and then spray the bare stems with copper oxychloride to clean off any over wintering fungous diseases on the stems.  This will help your roses to stay clean and healthier for longer in the spring.

2. SPRAY ANY WEEDS that are hanging around so that you go into spring with a clean soil area and then put a layer of good garden mulch or compost on the soil.

3. PUT DOWN SLUG BAIT now around hostas and any other perennials so that you eradicate these nasties before they get stuck into new emerging spring growth in early spring

4. WATCH YOUR LIRIOPES-these can be a great home for slugs and snails-I recommend cutting all the foliage off your liriopes in July to within a few centimetres of the ground - they will quickly start to come away with a fully fresh cloak of new foliage.

5. WATCH YOUR CITRUS - watch your plants for scale insects latching onto the stems.  Spray these with confidor (insecticide) and then follow up a few weeks later with conqueror spraying oil at winter strength rate to get on top of these pests. 

6. PLANT TREES – July is a great month to get any trees planted - whether on the farm, lifestyle block, or even on the tiny urban section.  At this time of year the roots will get growing well before the top comes into new growth and this larger root system will help the tree to cope with a potential drier summer.

Spring is not very far away now - the days are slowly getting a little longer - so if you have any opportunity of doing a little maintenance in the garden over July, between the rain and frosts, then this will definitely cut down your general garden workload later on when everything comes alive.

Happy Gardening

with

Graeme

Rukuhia Homestead Landscaping