As the summer heat blankets our beautiful city, it’s time to get some work done in the garden so that you can enjoy your space and spend more time on your patio. Here are some of the most common questions I get at Royal City Nursery for the month of July, plus some extra tasks to check off your list.
Yes, you can absolutely still plant! Please, keep planting your garden. I like to think of early spring planting as doing your groundwork, but you might find some holes in the garden as things grow in. Picking up a few annuals to fill those gaps is a great way to prepare for your summer parties and show off your gorgeous garden. If you have big plans for your backyard in August, start planting now so that your fillers have some time to get established and fill in the space nicely!
The one thing you don’t want to do is transplant in the heat. If you have a plant or perennial that’s been in the same spot for two years, you need to wait until the fall to move it to a new location. We like to wait until the fall, so the plant can rest through winter and start establishing again in the springtime, or transplant in early spring so it has all summer to root and stabilize.
Yes! If you haven’t fertilized your shrubs and hardy trees yet, give them one last feed for the summer. After the first, maybe second, week of July, you want to leave them alone so they can get a head start-into dormancy to get ready for winter.
If you haven’t done your second lawn fertilizing yet, now is the time! We usually want to fertilize about six to eight weeks after your first spring fertilizing, so early July is the best time to check that off your list.
If you haven’t done so already, definitely give your spring-flowering shrubs a trim. However, if you have lilacs and rhododendrons, leave those until next spring—July is a little late in the season to prune them, and you don’t want to snip off next year’s blooms! Once lilacs and rhododendrons bloom, you only have two to three weeks to prune from the time they flowered last—it’s better to leave it until next year and get the timing right.
If you haven’t done so already, mulching still makes a big difference, and it’s a good water conservation effort. Mulching also helps reduce weeds, which keeps your chore list light through the rest of July and into August. Remember, I want you to spend time in your gardens and on your patios, not doing a ton of maintenance.
Water restrictions for July and August are coming up soon, but the awesome part is that most of the watering restrictions don’t affect our gardens or our vegetable gardens. We want to make sure we take care of our gardens, but also want to water smartly, too.
When watering, a deeper watering means that the water soaks in and gets all the way past the root ball. The roots will drive deep down, resulting in a stable plant that is more drought-resistant, which means less work in the long run! So—when you water, water deeply, and both you and your plants will benefit.
For those of us with ponds, you may need to look at some algae controls. You can use a natural product that feeds on algae, or you can redo the area around your pond to increase the amount of shade over it, which will reduce algae breakouts.
As you’re walking through the garden with a cup of coffee, check out what’s going on in your garden and take a look for pests. A lot of times, it takes some heat in order for the insects or diseases to show up. In June, Guelph saw a lot of blackspot and rust because it was so wet this year, so keep an eye on that.
From an Integrated Pest Management (IPM) perspective, you can do a tiny bit of pruning to thin out the heads and crowns of your plants, which allows for more airflow moving through. The pests and diseases will blow right through instead of landing and making your garden their home. If you notice something in your garden and need help identifying it or tackling it, bring a sample into the garden centre in a sealed bag or container, and we can take a look at it and help you figure out the proper treatment.
Visit Royal City Nursery in Guelph, ON, for your July gardening needs! Our expert team is ready to assist you in selecting the perfect plants, providing valuable advice, and ensuring you can enjoy your garden and patio for the rest of summer with as little hassle as possible.
