JULY CLIPPINGS

THIN DEVELOPING APPLES

once the ‘June drop’ has finished. This is especially useful for producing large cooking apples. For the best quality, aim to leave one fruit every 15cm. Thin plums, also, to avoid them rotting in huge clusters.

MAKE A LATE SOWING OF BEETROOT

for an autumn harvest. Sow direct into a drill made in soil or to modules first. Sow two or three seeds to each cell and either thin them to one for larger roots or plant them as a cluster for smaller roots. Space 13cm apart.

TAKE CUTTINGS OF TENDER PERENNIALS

such as pelargoniums, salvias and marguerites. They will root much faster now than if you delay until autumn.

PRUNE SHRUBS THAT FLOWERED IN EARLY SUMMER,

including deutzia and weigela. If necessary, play catch up with unpruned forsythias and viburnums, too. With an eye to shapeliness, thin out some older stems low down, then shorten others that have flowered. Leave some younger, shorter stems unpruned.

MINT RISES UP TO FLOWER IN MIDSUMMER,

so trim half of it down to encourage a surge of new shoots for mint sauce and mint tea. Keep the rest long and use the flowers for cutting.

INSPECT PLANTS REGULARLY FOR WATERING AND WEEDING.

Anything planted during the previous year will need occasional soaking during droughts, even if it is described as drought tolerant. Pounce on weeds in danger of choking choice plants or smothering the rhizomes of bearded iris.Dig out ground elder before it takes hold.