It's Time To: July

It’s moving time in the garden.

Find a new home for garden misfits and water with seaweed solution to encourage new roots.

One of the stars of the winter season: the Hellebore. Photo - Luisa Brimble

Plant

Hellebores, pictured above, are classic woodland plants under deciduous trees such as maples and magnolias. They enjoy winter sun and shade in summer and are terrific in pots.

For easy-care, brilliant winter flowers try aloes in sun-drenched gardens or pots on patios. Birds and bees just love the long-lasting candelabra flowers.

Almost Australia-wide there’ll be wattle flowering now, bursting with glowing yellow blooms to brighten the dullest winter. Check nurseries for the best local selections.

Prune

Mid-winter is prime pruning time for plants that have finished flowering, such as summer hydrangeas and buddleia. Leave spring-flowering shrubs and trees alone until after their spring fling!

Unless you live in a cool area, remove half of the growth on repeat-blooming roses. Wait until August if you garden in the cold. Spray with lime sulfur after pruning to clean up insect pests, mites and fungal diseases. Leave the pruning of spring-only bloomers and climbing roses until late-summer.

Propagate

Make hardwood cuttings from prunings of deciduous shrubs, climbers and roses. Use pencil-thick pieces, 15-20 cm long. Dip ends into hormone gel and insert into moist seed-raising mix.

Care

Mossy lawns are a sign of soil compaction. Aerate the lawn with the tines of a fork or a hired lawn aerator for larger areas and follow with an application of liquid lime to ‘sweeten’ soil by reducing soil acidity and improve the uptake of nutrients.