Tasks for July

For long-lasting and cheery colour for minimal effort, it’s hard to better a Hypericum, also known as St John’s Wort and one of the oldest and best-loved shrubs in the garden. Hypericum is an ancient and revered medicinal herb - it’s used to treat depression and as an anti-inflammatory – but it’s earned a place in ornamental gardens, too. It's [...]

Plant autumn-flowering crocuses for an extraordinary display later this year as the delicately beautiful flowers rise as if by magic from the ground just as the rest of the garden is slowing down. Autumn-flowering Crocus Most people associate crocuses with springtime, but in fact the range of autumn-flowering crocuses is huge – here in the garden centre we believe they ought [...]

Lift and dry onions, shallots and garliconce the foliage starts to die down, so that you can store them for eating through winter. Most types of maincrop onion keep really well if they’re dried properly, so it’s worth taking your time over the job. Choose a dry spell of weather and gently lift the bulbs with a hand fork, then [...]

City gardeners will find inspiration and to spare at this year’s RHS Flower Show Tatton Park as the emphasis is firmly on gardening in an urban setting. City Garden Inspiration The show is highlighting ways to green up grey spaces and help create healthier, more sustainable cities while combatting some of the big environmental issues we face. The all-new ‘Future Spaces’ category [...]

It’s not too late to be sowing more veg for your plot – in fact, late sowings made in July can be really helpful for keeping your patch productive right through autumn and into winter. Sow more veg for your plot Aim to replace your first harvest of new potatoes, broad beans and lettuces as soon as you clear the crop [...]

Keep your roses blooming at their peak into autumnwith a little extra attention now to keep them flowering and looking at their best through summer and beyond. Rose bloom Dead-heading is the single most important thing you can do to keep those flowers coming: removing spent flowers encourages more buds to form. Snip the flowered stem right back to the [...]