July is a month for planting and feeding, prepping those plants of yours for the hot season ahead. Here are some tips to get you going:

  • Plant lilium bulbs

  • Feed your winter-flowering annuals and bulbs with either Multifeed Flowergro, Bulb Booster or 3:1:5 (26) SR

  • Water and fertilise plants, herbs and annuals in outdoor containers regularly.

  • Continue watering spring flowering shrubs regularly, at least once a week as they are starting to form buds for flowering in early spring.

  • In the Highveld continue to water your Kikuyu lawn at least twice this month.

  • As the dry conditions prevail in the Highveld continue to water your garden.

  • Water Citrus trees

  • Prune Roses from mid to end July, this will exclude rambling and old English roses that are forming buds now to flower in early spring.

  • Prune Hydrangeas from mid to end July.

  • Prune deciduous fruit trees

July is the perfect time to:

Carry out any maintenance work on your trees.

Protect your frost sensitive plants.

Repot indoor and outdoor container plants.

Improve soil structure by digging in generous amounts of compost and well-rotted manure.

Continue mulching soil with compost, sawdust, bark chips and fallen leaves — this will prevent moisture loss and will keep the roots warm through the winter.

Continue spreading Insecticide granules around the base of your conifers.

Plant vegetable seedlings like cabbage, leeks, onions, moss-curled parsley, Swiss chard and spinach.

Plant flower seedlings like alyssum, antirrhinum, cineraria, chrysanthemum, delphinium, dianthus, foxglove, gazania, Iceland poppies, poppies, lobelia, pansy, primula, primula obconica, petunia, phlox, ranunculus, schizanthus, verbena and viola.

This month's featured plant is the Duranta Sheena's Gold.

Sprinkle a little gold into your garden this medium-sized, evergreen shrub. With bright yellow foliage, it grows to a comfortable two metres and is perfect to plant in a container or as a knee-high hedge. It is also available in standards.

Because it is slightly cold sensitive, choose a sunny to semi-shade position that will protect it from the cold.

Spring and summer bring on the powder blue flowers that make for an interesting yellow-blue colour combination, accentuating and brightening any dull corner or entrance area.