July In The Gardens

July In The Gardens 2004

Week 1

General
Planted a wide range of annuals with students from the Vale of Catmose College, Oakham in their bed.

Dead heading all flowers that have finished if seed is not required.

Regularly picking RASPBERRIES, REDCURRANTS, BLACKCURRANTS, GOOSBERRIES and STRAWBERRIES.

Removing about a third of the branches from DEUTZIA, PHILADELPHUS and WEIGELA now they have finished flowering to thin them out.

Allotment
Topped up hotbox with fresh horse manure and topped with compost and then planted with CUCUMBER 'Marketmore'.

Planted RUNNER BEAN 'Gulliver'.

Lifted an area of NEW POTATOES to make space for autumn and winter BRASSICAS 'Celtic', 'January King', 'Tundra' and 'Puma' and then covered them with netting.

Thinned out FENNEL 'Zefa Fino', SWEDE 'Brora' and LETTUCE 'Little Gem'.

Removed the enviromesh from the BRUSSELS SPROUTS and KOHL RABI and then caned the BRUSSELS.

Hoed between all rows

Parterre
Planted RUNNER BEAN 'Mergoles'.

Directly sown LETTUCE 'Granada'.

Elizabethan Vegetable Garden
Planted CELERY 'Giant Red' and KALE 'Redbor'.

Directly sown RADISH 'Jolly Pink Beauty' and 'White Icicle', KOHL RABI 'Roblau' and LETTUCE 'Allsorts'.

Gentleman's Cottage Garden
Directly sown SPINACH 'Lazio', LETTUCE 'Lollo Rossa' and 'CARROT 'Chantenay Red Cored Royal Chantenay 2'.

Greenhouse
Fed MELONS, CUCUMBERS, TOMATOES, AUBERGINES and PEPPERS with high potash seaweed liquid feed.

Potted up POTATO 'Salad Blue' into 3 litre pots.

Week 2

General
Cutting back flowered stems of herbaceous perennials.

Regularly topping up ponds and water features and removing any blanket weed.

Allotment
Lifted more NEW POTATOES and planted area with BROCCOLI 'White Late', 'Early Purple', 'Romanesco' and 'Claret'.

Transplanted winter CAULIFLOWERS into nursery bed.

Planted RUNNER BEAN 'Galaxy'.

Tied in SWEET PEAS and side shooted.

Tied CUCUMBER 'Marketmore' onto special 'A' frame attached to the top of the hotbox and removed all male flowers.

Cut COMFREY and put it into the compost bin.

Nursery
Set up display in the plant plots at the Hampton Court Palace Flower Show.

Elizabethan Vegetable Garden
Planted Heritage seed CLIMBING FRENCH BEAN 'Cherokee Trail of Tears'and circled with Slug.biz eco-friendly slug barrier.

Planted LEEK 'Snowstar', 'Pancho' and 'Edison'.

Caned all SWEET CORN as heavy storms and strong winds forecast.

Lifted SHALLOTS and put into trays to dry.

Artisan's Cottage Garden
Planted LEEK 'Vrizo'.

Greenhouse
Fed TOMATOES, PEPPERS, AUBERGINES, CUCUMBERS AND MELONS with high potash seaweed liquid feed.

Sown LETTUCE 'Unrivalled' into modules.

Week 3

General
Pruned long WISTERIA leaves back to 6 leaves.

Started to prune and tie in rambling and climbing ROSES to prevent wind damage to new shoots.

Weeding and planting through borders.

Mowing, strimming and lawn edging. If mowing is carried out on a hot day we don't collect the mowings.

Week 4

General
Hedge cutting - BEECH, YEW, ESCALLONIA, LONICERA nitida 'Bagessen's Gold' and HORNBEAM.

Feeding and watering all container plants in various individual gardens.

Allotment
Planted LETTUCE 'Fristina' and 'Lollo Rossa' grown in modules.

Possible signs of blight on a few NEW POTATOES lifted.

Tidied up SWEET PEAS.

Fed TOMATOES, CUCUMBERS, MELONS, PEPPERS and AUBERGINES.

Lifted all ONIONS as a few were showing very early signs of onion mildew.

Disposed of diseased bulbs and drying the rest.

Planted TURNIP 'Golden Ball and LEAF BEET 'Perpetual Spinach'.

Edged all pathways.

Nursery
The Penstemon Weekend was a great success with lots of visitors educated and entertained by National Collection Holders Clive and Cathy Gandley.

Preparing plants for the display in the plant plaza at the Tatton Park Flower Show.

Parterre
Lifted SHALLOTS and GARLIC and put into trays to dry.

Planted PEPPER 'Mini Bell'.

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