July is typical a hard time for plants, especially in the colder areas. And even in the warmer parts, plants can find the winter months hard going. Growth comes to a complete stand still, and problems become more evident when a plant is in a cold-weakened state. This does not mean that it necessarily slows down for us, There is alot of things that can keep you wonderfully busy during winter.
Here are some tips and tricks you can do in the garden for the month of July.
- Looking at planting or transplanting deciduous trees now is the best time to do so whilst they’re at their most dormant.
- Keep your cymbidium orchids tidy by cutting back the dead flowering stems.
- Keep an eye out for snails and slugs that are encouraged by moist weather. You can control them by sprinkling Efekto Snailban, or sluggem pellets among clumps of foliage.
- Look at giving your garden a good dose of Wonder Organic Vita-Boost, or Protek flower power. These products contain a unique blend of ingredients that feed soil microbes and other small micro-organisms, it also helps improve soil drainage, and gently fertilises your plants. Your garden will love you for this!
- One of the best ways to protect your plants from frost is by wrapping them in frost guard, and laying down a thick layer of mulch.
- Ate you still seeing weeds pop up in your paved areas and driveways? Treat them with clear pave or Efekto No Weed Paving RTU.
IN THE VEGETABLE GARDEN
- Carry on planting, Broad beans, beetroot, broccoli, peas, cabbages, cauliflowers, celery, garlic, lettuces, radishes, rocket, onions, spinach, coriander, and parsley.
- Blend your soil with an All Purpose fertiliser into garden beds prior to planting garlic, onions and seed potatoes.
- When you see that your vegetable seedlings are established, start feeding them every second week with Wondersol All Purpose or flower power to encourage a great harvest. These products are boosted with extra potassium that promotes flowering and pod development.
- Once seedlings start to form, you can encourage lots of healthy and strong growth by feeding them each week with a Kelp liquid feed.
- Keep watch for caterpillars, which can rapidly devour winter vegetable leaves. Spray spinach plants every seven to ten days with Margaret Roberts Organic Insecticide or neem oil.
- Are your seedlings being cut overnight? There is only one to blame. Control cutworms with Cutworm bait.
- Peas and beans are often susceptible to attack by aphids, which feed on the sugary plant sap. Control aphids by spraying with Margaret Roberts Organic Insecticide.
- Winter vegetables are also prone to diseases like powdery mildew. You can control it by watering you veg garden in mid morning to allow the leaves to drive, and if your plants are infected, simply spray neem oil.
FOR THE FRUIT TREES
- Continue picking your Lemons, limes, mandarins, grapefruit, oranges, and kumquats that have all ripened and ready for harvest. Avocados will also begin to ripen in some areas.
- Looking at adding some fruit trees to the garden? All deciduous fruit trees can be planted in July, August and September while the plants are still dormant. The widest selection is available at Tuingenoot. When planting, remember to add some Bone Meal and Organic fertiliser, Fruit trees require a position in full sun, and shelter from strong prevailing winds is preferable.
- Raspberries, currants, gooseberries, blueberries, boysenberries, and blackberries can all be planted in the month of July.
- It is also strawberry planting time! To ensure a good produce, the plants need to have a period of winter chilling. The colder temperatures help to stimulate flower buds, which ultimately produce the fruit.
- Prepare your veggie beds by working the soil with a garden fork and blending in compost, well rotted kraal manure and an Organic fertiliser before planting this will ensure a healthy production.
- Look at feeding all your citrus towards the end of the month with an All Purpose fertiliser to help them recover from spent energy that went towards fruit bearing.
- To promote healthy growth and a lot of tasty fruit, feed your winter fruit-bearing trees with Wonder Fruit & Flower.
- When planting a new stone fruit tree, improve the soil in the planting hole by adding some compost, an Organic fertiliser and Bone Meal.
- In frost-prone areas, protect tender fruit trees with frost cover and mulch at the base.
- If you haven’t already done so move tender fruiting crops growing in containers somewhere warmer for the cold period ahead.
- Spray deciduous fruit trees with a winter clean-up spray (Efekto Kumulus and Efekto Oleum) this will help aid to remove any lingering pests and diseases.
- Leaf curl disease spores lurk in bark crevices and around leaf buds during the winter months, waiting to infect the newly emerging foliage in late winter and early spring on stone fruit. You can treat this with Virikop. Side note that damage done by leaf curl is irreversible for that season so try be a step ahead.
- Spray Efekto Oleum to control overwintering eggs of sap-sucking pests such as aphids, woolly aphids and scale, as well as overwintering fungus spores that spread disease.
- Look at cutting back your grapes, apples, pears and apricots. But before you start pruning plants, sharpen your secateurs, saws and loppers to ensure a clean cut.
FOR THE FLOWERING GARDEN
- One can still plant, poppies, lupins, sweet peas, wildflowers, calendula, pansies, violas and petunias.
- Be sure to mix a layer of Organic fertiliser like flower power and a healthy does of compost into spring flower beds and allow it to settle for a month or so prior to planting.
- When planting a new plants into your garden dont forget to, mix an Organic fertiliser and Bone Meal into the soil at the bottom of the planting hole.
- Camellias will brighten up any dark corner in the winter garden. While camellias are flowering or growing new foliage, feed them every six weeks with Wonder Rose & Flower. It’s rich in flower-promoting potassium as well as nitrogen for healthy green leaf growth.
- Feed your plants like camellias, dianthus, calendula, daisies, and spring-flowering bulbs like hyacinths and daffodils with an All Purpose fertiliser every one to two weeks.
- Be sure not to leave your roses to fend for themselves, simply feed them with Colourburst Rose Food.
- There is a range of common rose pests and diseases, such as powdery mildew, scale and mites that are lying in wait on rose stems during winter, ready to infect new spring foliage, stems and flower buds. Use Rosecare plus to help fend off these pest.
- Pansies and violas can be vulnerable to two key pests – aphids and caterpillars. Aphids can infest stems, causing plants to yellow and grow poorly. Caterpillars can chew through leaves and ruin flower buds. Both aphids and caterpillars can be easily controlled if you notice a problem with Efekto Garden Gun RTU.
- One of the insect pests that plague many succulents is mealybugs. These sap-sucking menaces appear as powdery mounds on stems and leaf bases, and can lead to leaves yellowing and distorting, poor plant health, and sooty mould disease. Control them with protek complete.
INDOOR GARDEN
- Are your indoor plants still showing visible growth? If so continue feeding them weekly with a liquid Kelp fertiliser. This will help your indoor plants push out healthy growth.
- Feed your orchids with orchid food during their busy flowering season.
- Be sure to remove any old or yellow foliage and stems and dust the leaves regularly. You can also add a few drops of Efekto Oleum to the leaves and wipe with a damp cloth to promote a glossy appearance.
FOR THE LAWNS
- Winter weeding unfortunately it’s got to be done! Use Efekto Banweed or Turfweeder for patches of weeds, or spot spray with Efekto No Weed Lawn.
- Expert tip: A strong root system helps promote a healthy lawn, even during periods of drought and stress. Wonder Kelp assists nutrient uptake and stimulates deeper lawn root development.
- Are you struggling with harvester termites, and ants, in lawns. Use Kamikaze preventatively before these insects become pests.
- Fertilising your lawn over winter keeps it strong and green. Look at feeding your lawn with fertilawntogive it that extra boost.
