Here are some top tips from our Head Gardener to keep you busy in the sunshine this July!

• Keep an eye out for powdery mildew on Roses, Honeysuckle, Dahlias etc.

• Prune fruited stems of summer raspberries to ground level once they have fruited

• Remember to keep dead heading bedding plants, perennials and roses to keep them flowering

• Lightly prune box hedging and topiary

• Clip fast growing hedges such as leylandii and privet to keep them in good condition and looking sharp

• During any dry weather that we may have this year set the mower blades slightly higher to leave a longer sword of grass

• Apply summer feed to your lawns making sure it is evenly spread and if no rain, water in to stop the fertilizer from burning the grass

• Liquid feed hanging baskets and containers as in summer their food supply will diminish from the compost they were originally planted in

• Divide bearded iris after flowering if the clumps are around three years old or more – this will prevent them getting congested which will mean flowering will decline and eventually stop

Happy gardening!