We’ve given up expecting a prolonged spell of warm weather this summer, haven’t we? But the dates march on just the same, and August is just around the corner.
Help! Still so much to do, so let’s get on with neatening paths, harvesting courgettes and deadheading all the summer bedding, amongst other jobs….
Finding the right path
Did you see our article last week about creating infrastructure in a garden on a budget? Laura mentioned that wood chippings make a great eco-friendly path surface, and Caroline talked about the ‘journey’ one takes through a garden. It made me take a critical look at the gravel paths that I’ve got in a part of my own garden, and I found them wanting.
Over the years, the rain and footfall had flattened the surface badly. The membrane under the gravel had been pushed upward in places by roots, and the edging stones had been forced outwards into the flower borders that the path encloses.
It was time for action. By working my way along the path edges using a trowel, I was able to scrape out bumps and soil above and below the gravel and re-set the stones to where they should be. A few bags of gravel tipped into place and raked over, completed the job. It was a bit of a painstaking job, but the difference (and improvement) was frankly startling!
It’s ridiculous how much a well-tended path, or steps, or even a lawn, can enhance the appearance of a garden as a whole. Have you got a corner that you could tidy up like this? It would be worth it, I promise you. I just wish I didn’t have dozens of other places that I ought to sort out in the same way!
Coping with courgettes
Ooops, I may have over-courgetted again! When will I learn that though they look small, modest plants at the start of July, my seedlings turn into hulking monsters churning out fruits by the bucket-load before the end of the month?! Especially in a wettish summer like this one. Never mind, my husband Nigel can turn them into all sorts of delicious dishes, so that’s handy (there’s a recipe below for yummy courgette and garlic soup) and I’m hoping that friends and family haven’t got hundreds in their gardens too, because they will be getting some soon…🤣
The trick to keep the harvest coming is to pick them regularly. Cut them off the plant early in the morning when they are full of juice and before they reach about 20 cm long. It’s rather easy to over-chill them so it’s best to store them at the top of your fridge rather than the bottom. If you see flowers without a slight swelling behind them, these are male flowers and you should pick those off to encourage the female ones instead (Remember that you can eat courgette flowers too). Give them a good supply of water and the odd high potash liquid fertiliser – and stand back!
Gardening shorts
- Have aphids started attacking stems and flower-buds in your garden? Greenfly and blackfly will suck the sap from the plants which can weaken them and can also cause sooty moulds to form which love the sticky honeydew produced by the aphids. Vigilance is the way forward. By keeping an eye out for them, you’ll stop these infestations becoming a headache. Stroke them off with your hands, or jet them off with water, and they’ll soon be picked up by birds and other wildlife.
- I made a video a short while ago giving chapter and verse about deadheading roses, but they’re not the only things in the garden that would benefit from this treatment. The science is that a plant has flowers in order to produce seeds, and as the blooms fade, chemicals are created to promote the ripening of those seeds and suppress flower-development.
So whenever you have the time, go round ALL your summer bedding and take off the old flowers. Your reward will be a garden full of blooms right on into the autumn. Does it seem rather mean to trick the plants into working for much longer like this? Remember that they wouldn’t be there at all, if you hadn’t wanted loads and loads of flowers!
- The cordon tomato plants are hitting the top of my greenhouse now, and if yours are doing the same, it’s time to think about stopping them in their tracks. You want them to get on with ripening the fruit now rather than endlessly send out new shoots. So count the number of fruit trusses on the stem and if there are six (four if you’re growing them outside), then nip out the topmost shoot.
- Following my exhortation to make time to just ENJOY YOUR GARDEN a couple of weeks back, can I point you towards Laura’s Pictorial Meadows plantings which are glorious again this year? There is something about patches of pointilliste colour in a garden that can really make your heart sing, especially if the flowers are alive with bees and butterflies. Check out her latest video on the subject – the link is at the bottom.
Easy courgette and garlic soup
1 tbspn olive oil
450g courgettes, chopped
5 crushed garlic cloves
1 medium potato, scrubbed and diced
750m vegetable stock
Heat the oil in a saucepan. Add the crushed garlic and chopped courgettes and sauté for 5 minutes. Add the diced potato and the vegetable stock. Bring the pan to the boil and then simmer for 15-20 minutes. Put the whole lot into a blender and blend until smooth, before returning it to the cleaned pan.
Add a knob of cream or crème fraiche to each dishful and serve with crispy French bread, and decorate with edible flowers. YUM!!
P.S. a soup-maker will make this recipe even easier – my husband swears by his – and it cuts out a lot of the washing-up 😊
NB Here is the link to Laura’s latest video about her Pictorial Meadows.
Dense basal rosettes of divided, ferny foliage produce clouds of lemon-yellow flowers which appear on its thin, wiry stems. Can you guess what Louise’s Great Plant this Month is?
These little china plant pots are designed specifically for small house plants – which can sometimes grow a bit bigger! Why not take up our fabulous offer – three for £17.99! You can buy them here
4 replies on “Get the most from your veg and flowers: Grow-how tips for July”
Gravel paths
Back in the 1930s, yes, that’s right, when my father was a student at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, they worked a five and a half day week.
Every Saturday morning, they would rake over the gravel paths on the rock garden and this killed germinating weeds and smartened the appearance for visitors.
The Supervisor at that time was Bill McKenzie for whom the yellow flowering Clematis is named. Bill was a founder member of the Scottish Rock Garden Club and eventually was Curator at Chelsea Physic Garden.
The things you know, Bill! Yes, it really is extraordinary the difference raking gravel can make, and of course, the Japanese have turned the actual action of raking into an art form in itself. That is a fascinating detail about Bill Mackenzie – what an honour for him to have such an iconic plant named after him. Thank you so much for contributing again, Bill, you’re a star! All the best, Elaine (and Laura and Caroline too, naturally)
You ‘Girls’ are quite wonderful! You have said everything that I was thinking particularly re paths. I once read some professional Gardner with garden open to the public saying no one complains so long as the drive and paths are weeded and the edges cut! My day is going to be spent doing as you say and hopefully feeling very satisfied if exhausted at the end of the day!
Hi Cleone, Elaine here. I do think that professional gardener was right – you can really get away with all sorts of flowery mayhem in a flower-bed (like me!) but if the edges of the bed are super-neat, it gives the impression that you (the gardener) is actually in control and that you know what you’re doing – genius! Sorry about the exhaustion though – that definitely comes as part of the horticulture package, doesn’t it. Best wishes from us all, and thank you for the compliment!