Rounding up the garden maintenance jobs for July you need to look after your lawns. They will need some water if it is very dry and a final feed when the ground is damp after a shower. If it is very dry then don’t forget to set your lawn mower blades a little higher so you don’t scalp your lawn.

On the subject of water – this is the time of year to really monitor your water features, especially if you have fish or wildlife in and round them. Duckweed and suchlike need to be regularly removed and any floating dead foliage should be swept off the top of the water. Aquatic plants need to be kept pruned and tidied to keep them healthy. I have to clean out my pond this year and pass some of my much loved fish onto a friend with a bigger pond – they have grown too large for mine. I shall miss them.

When you do any work on your ponds and water features do make sure that frogs and toads can easily get in and out – they are among your best friends when it comes to slug control. Be careful if you must spray with chemicals that there is no drift onto your pond and that you take care of the bees and other helpful insects like ladybirds

July is a month to watch out for the dreaded Lily Beetle amongst other pests. The scarlet lily beetles look quite spectacular until you see the damage they can do. It caused me immense grief last year to have to dispose of all my lilies which had become infested almost overnight. They were all pot grown so it didn’t do too much damage to the garden as a whole but it was heartbreaking none the less. Sawfly can also attack shrubs such as Berberis and also gooseberries. Do watch out for slugs on damp evenings, it isn’t so much the big ones that you need to worry about as the pesky little ones that lurk under the soil!

The dry weather in July often leads to an upsurge in the ant population which can invade your home as well as your garden so keep an eye open for them and treat accordingly. It also encourages some of the more powdery types of mildew on honeysuckle and roses amongst other. Regular watering of your tomatoes will help prevent blossom end rot and ensure a good crop so it is worth taking a few minutes every day to keep them moist.

Ripening fruits are a magnet for birds so you need to net them – and protect your brassicas and peas from marauding pigeons, they will nip the shoots out of a whole row in seconds.

Greenhouses are especially prone to pests at this time of year so sticky traps are well worth putting out to monitor the health of the green house. You also need to make sure your ventilate your greenhouse well, providing shade if necessary and damping it down when required.

House plants can often suffer in the summer – I like to place mine outside on nice days when it’s not too hot, maybe even leaving them for a day or two especially if there are light showers forecast. The plants seem to thrive on that and it freshens and cleans the leaves giving them a healthy look when they come back indoors.

Nasty Pests and Diseases can start to rear their ugly heads in March and it is a wise gardener who is vigilant at this time of year and builds this into her garden maintenance schedule. You need to keep the garden tidy and start removing all the rubbish that has accumulated over the winter to stop diseases developing unseen. Dead leaves should be removed from perennials as part of your regular maintenance. When you are inspecting your plants and seedlings watch out for any symptoms of damping off as well. The temperature variations at this time of year can have a dramatic effect on how things develop.

This is the time of year when those dratted slugs and snails start to appear as well. I am plagued by slugs in my garden and I have to keep a constant watch. One of the most successful ways I have found of protecting my Hostas, which are particularly susceptible, is to put a mulch of Pistachio Nut Shells around them. Believe me, slugs and snails don’t get past that! You should also be watching out for aphids, which start to make their appearance with the Spring sunshine.

If you grow stoned fruits, such as Peaches and Nectarines make sure you keep them protected from March winds to prevent Peach Leaf Curl. Whilst in the fruit garden you should also be spraying for Gooseberry mildew and pear scab.

On a more pleasant front this is a good time to sow a wildflower ‘meadow’ even if only a small one, for all the butterflies and other beneficial insects it will attract. You should see a hungry Ladybird making a meal of aphids! As I said before it’s also the time to think about Nest Boxes for the birds and do make sure you keep your Bird Bath and ponds topped up. I had a wonderful ‘Tea Break’ this morning watching two Blackbirds having a bath in my pond. We have an area where the birds can easily get down to the water on some flat stones and these two were having such fun – it was a joy to watch and they pirouetted and preened. Maybe if I’m lucky they will nest in the garden and that will put paid to a few slugs as well! Watching things like that makes all the effort of garden maintenance well worth it!