The American’s know how to celebrate a month. In the US, July is both National Hot Dog Month and National Ice Cream Month … mmmm if only it was also National Donut Month.
July is a great month to get into the garden and work off those hot dogs, ice creams and donuts. There’s plenty of digging, pruning, constructing and carrying to burn off the excess calories.
But don’t forget to just sit and enjoy the sun’s warmth on a crisp cool day … maybe with a mandarin and a glass of mineral water.
Getting some sun on you skin is important in winter, as it helps keep your vitamin D levels up and produces serotonin which is a mood improving hormone.
So take a look at the list below, pick what you need to get done and enjoy our sub-tropical winter days.
• Top up the mulch around fruit trees. Clean out your compost bin, spread the contents under your fruit trees, and start another.
• Feed your citrus trees. Use 125g of citrus tree fertiliser per year of age of the tree up to 1.25kg. You need to do this three times a year – July, November and February.
• Plant rhubarb now – either as crowns or small punnet plants.
• It’s a good time to transplant existing rose bushes to another spot in the garden if you need to.
• Cut back the time between watering for indoor plants to prevent mould and mildew.
• Treat your lawn for bindii as soon as it appears. Any of the broadleaf lawn herbicides, such as ‘bindii and clover killer’ will do.
• Take frangipani cuttings – leave them for 2-4 weeks before potting up.
• It’s time to prune the passion fruit vine by cutting all laterals (shoots coming from the main stem) back to two buds.
• Prune your figs after fruiting, as they only produce fruit (next year) on new season growth.
• Enjoy picking and eating your strawberries, but mulch under the plants so the fruit don’t touch the soil.
• You’ll have plenty of time between mows, so put your mower in for a complete service.
