The month of June has gone by and we can look forward to the hot humid days of July. July is considered to be the perfect time to start preparing to plant your Fall Gardens. Remember it is July, so when you begin to prepare your beds, work early in the mornings before the sun gets to hot.

Begin by weeding your garden beds removing all weeds and debris, then watering the soil thoroughly. Cover the area with clear heavy plastic sealing the edges with some soil. This is one method of solarization and it traps in the heat of the sun and will help to prevent the re-growth of unwanted new weeds, harmful nematodes and other unwanted garden pests.

Allow the area to rest like this for a minimum of six weeks during the hottest months of July and August. You will be able to plant vegetables such as tomatoes or peppers afterwards, if you do decide to opt for tomatoes or peppers be sure and plant maturating varieties such as Whirlaway, Carnival or Bingo these have a shorter maturity time, usually 75 days, giving you a crop before the first freeze. You will however still be ready to plant cool weather vegetables such as broccoli, turnips, carrots and some varieties of Southern Peas.

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Onion cooked in salt water was the chief food of the poorest peoples of central Asia, Asia Minor and the Mediterranean region in days of old. It was also the mainstay of the diet of Egyptian labourers, who built the ancient pyramids in the third millennium B.C.

The outermost skin gives the bulb its colour, which varies, depending on the variety, from silvery white, white to dark brown, red and violet. It also protects the bulb from drying out and therefore should not be removed during storage.

The Welsh onion has a milder flavour than the common onion. Unlike the latter, which is grown as a biennial, it is hardy and perennial. Another advantage is that the small elongated bulbs grow in clusters as part of one single bulb which breaks up into several smaller onions as it grows.

The onion’s metamorphosis from a vegetable into a seasoning is also apparent in recent years by its being available at shops in dried, finely-sliced form. This is used in the same way as fresh onion and is suitable for frying.

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Activity has definitely slowed down during mid-day. Scarcely a leaf stirs. One of the pleasures of the July garden is the tree-shaded patio or terrace where the outdoor garden enthusiast may relax and survey the results of their labors. During this period of reflection it is good to take a second look at the results of the planning done in January and make further plans for the fall garden. In this day of air conditioning, big screen TV and Wii many people are prone to stay inside all day and not relax in the out-of-doors.

Patios and Terraces

Lucky indeed is the family which has a part of the garden developed as a retreat from the excessive heat or cramped interiors. These areas are easily designed and constructed and make a wonderful project for the entire family. They provide an ideal place for outdoor picnics and BBQ or regular eating and in the late evening they are delightful. Have you ever thought of providing a cable connection for the TV on these out-door terraces? There are many possibilities that when properly planned will give a wonderful use of the garden and relieve the house from much heavy traffic.

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Snowberry is a densely branched shrub 1-2 in in height. The twigs are slender, yellow-brown, with small, ovate, opposite buds. The small flowers appear in succession from June to August followed by white berries, which likewise ripen successively from August to October. This shrub is an important source of food for bees, providing them with nourishment in the summer months when most woody plants have already ceased flowering.

Among the latter also belong various aromatic, flavouring or colouring substances which make the spices what they are. These secondary metabolites are very diverse, and often distinguished by a pronounced aroma and flavour as well as important pharmacological properties. That is why many herbs used in cooking are also used in medicine. Typical substances found in herbs are first and foremost essential oils, bitter principles and tannins.

It is planted to form hedges, prevent erosion on steep banks and for its foliage and in non-fertile areas is valued because of its moderate requirements on soil fertility and moisture. It sprouts prolifically from stumps and also produces root suckers freely so that in parks it sometimes spreads to such an extent that it becomes a weed difficult to eradicate. It is readily propagated by means of cuttings and root suckers.

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Brussels sprouts attacked by aphids and showing yellowing and distorted leaves, should be sprayed immediately. Daily picking of the runner beans will encourage the plant to crop on until September, and this is important to remember.

It is time to sow spinach for winter use. Water the drills several hours before sowing and then cover with cloches, if you do this then there is spinach to be had right through the winter. When four trusses have formed on the outside tomatoes, the leader or main shoot should be pinched out so that the plant can put its entire energy into ripening the fruit. A few large leaves may be removed from the plant, but it must not be stripped

Cow, poultry and horse manure (and soot) can all be treated as a liquid feed for tomatoes and others. The humus or soot should be placed in a bag or old sock and soaked in a tub of water for three or four days until the liquid becomes tea-coloured. A stake long enough to span the bucket or tub should be placed across the container, from which the bag can be hung and left to soak.

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Lilac is a large shrub or small tree growing to 6 m. The bark is grey-brown, a height of 2 breaking up into longitudinal strips that peel with age. The shoots are slender, upright and olive green; the ovate birds are covered by several scales. The highly fragrant flowers appear at the beginning of May.

The fruits ripen in September and remain on the bush until the spring of the following year. The capsules contain 2 winged seeds. This is a quick-growing shrub and produces stump and root suckers freely.

It is an important pioneer in the colonizing of logged areas or ones damaged by natural catastrophes. Its seeds are dispersed in such places mostly by birds of the thrush tribe, which are fond of the fruits. It is planted as an ornamental shrub in parks for its attractive flowers and red fruits; however, it requires greater soil moisture in such locations. Propagation is by hardwood cuttings and seeds.

The wayfaring tree is a shrub of upright habit, 1 to 4 m high. One-year shoots are straight, grey-felted, older twigs are yellow-brown. The buds are opposite, naked, white-felted. Leaf buds are the folded felted incipient leaves; flower buds, 2 cm across, are semi-spherical, borne at the tips of the shoots.

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When feeding dahlias keep the fertilizer away from the top roots and stems. The fact is some gardeners like to top-dress the plants lightly with lawn mowings to keep the moisture in the soil, and this is no bad thing providing the lawn hasn’t been treated recently with weedkiller etc.

Layer border carnations as soon as suitable growths appear.

Bedding plants are growing fast and will require feeding.

Canterbury bells must be deadheaded or they stop flowering.

Geraniums and fuchsias should be well fed, remembering that standards have far to travel and therefore need a rich diet.

The last of the bearded iris must now be planted.

In the house, Many people have learnt how to master and grow the Saintpaulias or African violets with considerable success. They are comparatively easy from March to November, but tricky through the winter unless an even heat of between 15°C. (54°F.) and 18°C. (64°F.) can be provided together with a humid atmosphere.

Humidity is increased by plunging and retaining the pot in a larger pot or container of peat, which is kept moist, or by pack­ing the pot round with moss and keeping the moss damp.

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The elderberry is a shrub up to 7 m (23 ft high distributed throughout Europe, western Asia and North America. The white flowers, appearing in late spring – early summer, are followed by black fruits (nigra in Latin means black) – three-seeded berries, or rather drupes.

The Romans made a savory sauce rather like we now make mint sauce. Savory is native to the Mediterranean region; in the 9th century A.D. it was introduced to central Europe, where it rapidly became established. It was widely used for seasoning in the days when costly spices imported from the tropics were rare.

In the Middle Ages it was called `Oculus Christi’, meaning the eye of Christ, and was added to vegetables and to meat dishes to give them a subtler taste. The famous French book Le menagier de Paris includes it among the herbs for flavouring vegetable omelettes and in a recipe for a green marinade for preserving fish. The seeds of clary were believed to counter ‘eye weakness’.

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The flowers in your garden never leave you alone for a minute, and it’s now the time to sow annual carnations in the border or over-winter and flower there next year. At the height of summer the white, grey, grey-green and pale shades of colour come into their own, and gardeners who appreciate the cool look should make a note of the santolina, cineraria maritima, the white-green zinnia, and the light-as-air gypso-phila, that are more restful to the eye than the hot sunset shades.

Moving onto your garden shrubs, heather can be trimmed back and mulched with peat. Cuttings inserted in sandy soil, placed in a cold frame facing north will root well in July and August.

Roses should be fed to encourage the last flush of bloom.

Cuttings of many shrubs can be taken at this time of year, and side shoots that include a small heel of hard-wood from the branch, should be inserted in a pot of good soil with a high sand content, and then found a shady place.

Evergreens do not respond well to the knife, and should only be cut back if trespassing on others or straggling, and in truth the majority are best trimmed in the spring.

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If you are starting from scratch you should plan the location of items such as the greenhouse, tool shed, oil tank, coal or log storage, compost and rubbish bins, so that some sort of amalgamation is achieved, rather than an ever increasing number of small structures dotted around the site.

A greenhouse naturally needs full sun, good access to it and preferably a hard surface area around it, as it soon becomes another centre of activity within the garden. if you can combine it with or site it next to the tool shed, or any other necessary small structure, so much the better. When wrongly sited, greenhouses can dominate the whole garden and, despite recent attempts to improve their appearance, they are seldom handsome structures. If the greenhouse cannot be a lean-to or an extension of the house, try to site the freestanding building, running east to west, to one side of the main view.

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