Summer Gardening Tips

Summer Gardening Tips

Summer is when the typical British garden comes into its own. Here are our top summer gardening tips to keep your garden beautiful this summer, whatever the weather.

Summer Lawn Care

Your lawn works hard for you all year round, but the most stressful time of year for your grass is the summer time. Warm temperatures, erratic rainfall and heavy footfall really test the resilience of your lawn. Stresses and strains may well show themselves later in the year when wear and tear translates into bare patches. Try to keep on top of lawn care jobs and if you plan to scarify and aerate your lawn in autumn (highly recommended) be sure to get a quote and book your grounds maintenance appointment in good time.

· Apply a spring summer formula feed to keep plants well nourished

· No need to water established lawns but newly laid turf must never be allowed to dry out.

· Tackle weeds by mechanical or chemical means

· Move furniture and toys regularly

· Mow regularly to encourage a dense and durable sward.

Give hedges a good trim

After a big growth spurt in the spring, garden hedges can start to look a little unruly in summer. As hedges are an important part of garden structure, now is a good time to give them a good tidy up.

Check first that you won’t be disturbing nesting birds. If your hedge produces autumn berries, you may want to delay hedge cutting as those berries are an important source of winter food for birds.

Patios and Paths

A dull and dusty patio does nothing to invite you out into the garden to relax or eat. Spruce up your hard surfaces with a good sweep, a weed treatment if necessary and a gentle clean. Be aware that using a pressure washer in the wrong way can damage the mortar between pavers and the wrong type of detergent can damage surfaces. Ask your landscaper about suitable sealants to protect your hard surfaces from discolouration.

If your patio needs grouting, now is the perfect time of year. It’s important that you use the correct materials, particularly on driveways. If in doubt, ask a professional landscaper for help.

Pots and Planters

A planter full of colourful blooms is a real asset to any garden. If you are expecting guests or if your flower borders are in that lull between spring flowers and autumn colour, pots and planters can be inserted between plants to give a pop of colour.

Pots and planters dry out quickly and because the plants have no access to groundwater, it’s important that you keep them well watered. You may want to install an irrigation system - especially if you are planning to go on holiday this summer. Some systems can have a timer attached, others can be operated from a smartphone so that if it’s raining here you can save water.

I always advise people to feed their container plants at least once a week. A proprietary tomato feed is ideal. Its high phosphorus content encourages lots of flowers.

Borders

If you’ve not got around to mulching your borders, it’s not too late. A thick layer of mulch helps to conserve moisture and keep annual weeds under control. Over time it will also improve the soil structure.

Deadhead regularly to keep those flowers coming. And keep your eyes peeled for signs of pests or diseases.

Take note of what looks good and where the borders are disappointing. It helps to take photographs. If you have bare or boring patches you can add in some more plants, or, if you want a particular look and don’t know quite how to achieve it, ask a garden designer to create a planting plan for you.

Buildings and fences

Need more colour in your garden? Timber fences looking a bit shabby? Take advantage of the weather to give them a coat of preservative paint.

In the vegetable garden

If you’ve played your cards right you could be in for a bountiful harvest from your vegetable garden. Tomatoes and peppers will be ripening in the greenhouse, onions will soon be ready for drying off and herbs are at their peak of freshness.

Don’t forget to keep feeding and watering those fruit and vegetables and remember that some crops can be sown throughout the summer for a succession of food. Salad leaves, turnips, beets, spring onions and radish mature quickly and will keep growing until the first frosts.

July and early August are ideal for planting potatoes for harvesting at Christmas time. Put them in deep pots so that you can bring them into the greenhouse when the weather cools.

Planning ahead for autumn

Good garden maintenance is all about thinking ahead. Those halcyon days of summer will soon give way to autumn chills and falling leaves. Are you ready? Remember that the best landscapers get booked up well in advance so it’s worth getting in touch well before the work needs to be done.

Do you have a good supply of logs to tide you over the winter time? Are all of your trees, gates and fences strong enough to withstand strong winds and storms? If not, plan any autumn tree work and repair or replace wobbly fences.

How is your lawn? Autumn scarification and aeration will make sure it looks fabulous next spring. Do you have the manpower and machinery for the job or do you need to find help? If your lawn has really let you down this summer, you might want to replace it with new turf or seed. Again – take a look at your resources and if you need help, now is the time to gather quotes for the work.

Will you be planting trees or hedges? Realistically, bare root plants can go into the ground any time between October and February. At the time of writing (July 2019), the threat of disease means that there are restrictions on importing some tree species from abroad so order early to secure your plants from UK grown stock.