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GARDEN TIPS FOR JULY 2008
THESE ARE TIPS FOR SOUTH AUSTRALIA
 PLEASE NOTE THIS INFORMATION IS FOR SOUTH AUSTRALIAN CONDITIONS, but some of this information could be used for other areas where the climate, soils etc., are very much the same.
Check with your local Garden Centre or Nursery first.
SEED OF THE MONTH
YATES CRESS SALAD CURLED can germinate, grow and be ready for harvest in as little as four weeks. No wonder it has so much appeal for impatient junior gardeners! 
Generations of children have grown cress on cotton wool as a classroom experiment. Others have used the seed to quickly create a head of curly hair on top of a stocking toe stuffed with sphagnum moss or soil.
The easiest and most reliable way to grow cress for salads or garnishing is to sow the seeds into pots filled with pre-moistened Seed Raising Mix. Water gently, drain and then sit the pots on a bright windowsill. Make sure they don't dry out but remember, too, that indoor pots need much less watering than those outdoors. An occasional mist spray with water from an atomiser may be all that's required.
After the seedlings have appeared, it's important to turn the pot every few days so that the plants grow straight. If kids are involved in this project, this will be a great opportunity to explain (and perhaps even demonstrate) how, left alone, plants will always grow towards the light.
Cress is best eaten when the plants are less than 5cm tall but if you want the decorative leaves to open further, the plants can be left to reach up to 10cm. Harvest by cutting with scissors at the base.
Cress contains iron, potassium and other minerals as well as Vitamins A, B and C but it's helpful to make sure your cress plants are getting enough light to green them up. The greener they are, the more nutritious they'll be.
Use cress as a garnish, a salad ingredient or as a filler for sandwiches. Toss into stirfries at the end of cooking or add to omelettes and other egg dishes. Cress is non-fattening, nutritious and adds colour and extra texture to a wide variety of dishes.
Now it's time to get into the garden and prepare for the fast approach of the cold wet part of the winter. Here are a few suggestions as to what needs to be attended to right now.
- For those lucky people who have a fireplace or a wood stove, make sure the wood heap is well covered. Wet wood does not only burn slowly and give off poor heat, but the smoke from your fire also pollutes the neighbourhood.
- Don't waste all those dead twigs and branches around the garden that blow down during the wind storms, keep them for fire kindling.
- With the start of Winter check all the gutters for leaves and twigs and make sure down pipes are clear with the aid of a garden hose.
- Young seedlings that have been planted into garden beds for at least two to three weeks should be fed with a light dressing of Blood & Bone, Neutrog or an organic liquid fertiliser.
- If there is a break in the weather, spray the garden with LIQUID CARBARYL to destroy any caterpillars that might be still munching on plants.
- Look for slug and snail trails and if there are telltale signs' make sure you place some snail bait around the garden beds.
- Now is the time to prune all your roses and fruit trees.
- A thought for this month. Go out and enjoy gardening and do not look on it as a chore! Go out into the garden and breathe in the fresh air like our forefathers did and appreciate the beauty of the land around us.
- Spray Yates Ready to Use Stressguard over plants that are likely to be affected by frost or cold. The thin layer of see-through polymer will protect plants from the worst of the winter cold.
THINGS TO DO IN THE GARDEN
JULY IS THE MONTH TO TACKLE BIG JOBS IN THE GARDEN.
Whether it's relatively simple tasks such as transplanting, building new garden beds and repotting, or more challenging landscaping constructions like new walls, paths or paved areas,the work will seem less of an effort during the cooler weather.
Now the cold winter months are here, it is time to get out in the garden, give our bodies some good fresh air, exercise and warm up our blood. Do not look at the cold weather outside, then decide to huddle up inside by the warm fire and stagnate while your friends or neighbours are out in the garden preparing the shrubs and trees for spring.
July can be cold and wintery in the garden, but it's easy to lift the gloom by concentrating on the good things. Take note of the winter bulbs that are breaking into flower, the camellias and azaleas are in full bloom, and the native plants that believe winter is the best season to put on their display.
A/ TIME TO PRUNE. 
Prune your summer flowering perennials, such as, Alstomeria 'Peruvian Princess and' Canna 'Tropicanna' (use the Canna foliage for inside decoration)
Winter is the right time to heavy prune roses, deciduous trees and shrubs except for those that flower on wood produced the previous season. Prune these directly after flowering in the spring.
Roses.
Prune out all dead or decaying wood and remove any old branches and those that cross over each other and are growing towards the centre. Leave about 4 to 6 well spaced thick young branches with 4 to 6 buds on each. Make the cut on an angle about 5mm above an outward facing bud. If you are going to prune established rose bushes for your first time, it might be wise to employ a professional rose pruner and observe very carefully so that you will know what to do next year.
FLOWER CARPET roses can readily be trimmed with hedge shears.
Fruit Trees.
These trees will need pruning. This is a good time to check the branches and stems for Wooly Aphids and Scale. These pests can be controlled by spraying all over the branches and crevasses of the plant with Malascale.
Deciduous Shrubs & Trees.
The harder you prune the more vigorous growth will come back.
Remove all the dead and diseased wood, shortening branches so to branches to encourage fresh new growth in the spring. Do not cut too close to the bud. Make the sloping cut 1cm above the bud, but not too far away otherwise the wood above could die, causing dieback down the stem and killing the bud.
FROST AREAS. Trim frost tender plants late winter to early spring when you are sure the frost have diminished.
B/ Move deciduous trees, shrubs and roses while they are leafless. Although this is the safest time to move them, it's still a good precaution to spray them with YATES STRESSGUARD. This product helps prevent water loss and can mean the difference between success and failure at transplanting time. An extra tip for those in cold climates: Stressguard gives vulnerable plants some added frost protection.
C/ Spray brown caterpillars with Dipel, Carbaryl or Malathion if they are in large numbers. Small numbers of these pests can be picked off the plants and destroyed by hand.
D/ Perennial weeds like Sour Sobs can be killed with a systemic weed killer such as No Grow 450 this time of the year.
E/ Broad leaf weeds growing in fine grass can be killed with Munns Bindii and Broadleaf Weed Killer. For more information about lawns see our fact sheets LAWNS.
F/ This is a good time of the year to dig up and shift that tree or shrub to its new position. Tropical plants should not be moved until later on in the beginning of the warm season.
G/ Bulbs that are coming into flower should be given a light liquid fertiliser every two weeks.
H/Fruiting bushes, such as gooseberries and currants, can be pruned now. Also, remove the oldest canes on raspberries and shorten younger shoots.
Collect up all your pruning equipment and make sure it is all sharp and in very good working order. Blunt pruning tools will tear at the plant wood instead of giving a clean cut.
REMEMBER:- blunt and rusty tools can damage plants. This would be like a Doctor operating on your body with a blunt and rusty knife. When you have completed the Winter pruning,
make sure that all the equipment is cleaned (with the aid of steel wool) and oiled after to prevent rusting.
Have you prepared your compost bins so that the small soft wood prunings can be put into the bin for composting? You will also need a good pair of gardening gloves, a long sleeve coat to protect yourself from the Rose thorns and a good pruning paint to seal the pruned ends.
So if all these items are completed, you can now start pruning the Fruit Trees, Roses and Ornamental Trees etc.
REMEMBER if you do not wish to cut the flowering buds off the deciduous ornamentals,then DO NOT prune until after they have fruited. When pruning ornamental trees after they have fruited, only cut back small light branches. Heavy pruning will remove all the Spring flowering buds. Large branches should only be pruned during the Winter months and this should only be done to remove old unwanted branches.
FLOWERS TO SOW THIS MONTH
WATER LILIES
Dormant, packaged water lilies are available at this time of year. They all need a sunny position and most (except for the very smallest varieties) must have at least 45cm depth of water. Water lilies are best planted into a pot filled with potting mix to which some cow manure and Dynamic Lifter pellets have been added. Water well after potting, top with a layer of gravel or pebbles. It is best to soak the potted plant in a container of water first. This will then allow any dirt or rubbish to float away before placing the new potted plant into the pond.
Then lower gently into the pond.
WHAT TO SOW THIS MONTH
FLOWERS TO SOW
This month is the insignificant point of the year as far as flower seed sowing progresses. There's very little that can be embarked on in the depths of winter, but it's worth trying some Yates Linaria Fairy Bouquet. These dainty flowers, which look like miniature snapdragons, are ideal for providing spring colour. And, if you're after something to disguise sad-looking bulbs which have completed flowering, Linaria makes a good choice. Sprinkle Linaria seeds onto a well prepared garden bed or, in cold areas, start them indoors in a Seed Raising Mix.
Dianthus, which are sometimes called by their old fashioned name of 'pinks', look a bit like single carnations and have a similar delightful fragrance. Yates Dianthus Blush Pink is a very special variety that raises funds for Breast Cancer Network Australia. Its flowers vary in shade from deep rose to white, each with delicate, fringed edges. These plants are perennials, which means they'll go on growing and blooming for a number of years.
Coleus is not really grown for its flowers, but for its brightly coloured leaves. In fact the flower buds are often pinched off to encourage more leaves to emerge.  Coleus is a warm season annual that adds colour to shady parts of the garden, or can be used for an indoor display. Start by sprinkling coleus seeds onto the surface of a pot filled with a Seed Raising Mix. Next, immerse the base of the pot in a tray of water, wait until moisture is visible on the surface, then drain. Cover the top of the pot with plastic wrap and keep it in a bright indoor spot. Spray regularly with a fine mist so the top of the mix doesn't dry out. Transplant to individual pots when the plants are big enough to handle, and move outdoors in spring when it's consistently warm.
VEGIES TO SOW
Kids can experiment with gardening by sowing some easy-to-germinate radish seeds. Yates Gentle Giant is one of the best to choose because it produces radishes that grow satisfyingly large with very little effort. Kids will really love is to sow radishes in patterns that spell out their names. Start by getting each child to scrape a shallow furrow that traces his/her name onto the garden bed. Then sprinkle radish seeds into these grooves, cover and water. Within less than a week the plants will begin to emerge and the children will be delighted to see their names outlined by tiny green plants.
Sow dwarf or climbing peas now so that they'll come into flower as the weather gets warmer. We've had at least a couple of generations of children who've been brought up on frozen peas, so astonish them by sowing and growing the real thing. An added bonus from growing peas is that, like all legumes, the plants can be dug in to enrich the soil once cropping's finished. Much easier than buying pea straw! And pea plants don't take up much room. A three metre-long row will supply enough for most families, especially if you grow a climbing variety like Yates Telephone.
Yates Balcony Instant Flavour
Even though it's the middle of winter, this is a good month to start some herb seeds indoors. Balcony Instant Flavour Seed Collection is a mix of three popular herb varieties sweet basil, chives and rocket. These come in individual foil envelopes inside a single outer packet so it's easy to plan for each variety.
Sow seeds of chives and basil now into small pots of Yates Seed Raising Mix. Then, at the end of winter, the plants will be ready for transplanting to an outdoor container. Don't start rocket seed until it's warmer because rocket grows so quickly it's best to sow it straight into the pot where it's to grow.
TELEPHONE PEAS
Unless you're in a warm or tropical area, this is not the ideal time to start plants outdoors, but the windowsill gardener will find it's a good month to sow Yates Telephone Peas.
Start pea seeds in egg cartons filled with Yates Seed Raising Mix (before you begin, poke a hole in the base of each section). When the plants are large enough to handle, break apart the egg carton sections and plant direct into garden beds. By doing this you can avoid transplant shock, and the egg cartons will gradually disintegrate once they're in the damp soil. Telephone peas are climbers, so make sure they have a trellis or fence to attach themselves to.
Silverbeet is highly nutritious and is especially rich in iron, which is why it's such a favourite with vegetarians. It's commonly called spinach in Australia but tends to produce larger leaves and develop a stronger flavour than true spinach. Like spinach, however, silverbeet's at its best when young, which is why it's so good to have your own growing in the garden. Pick stalks by pulling downwards and twisting them free at the base. Cook and eat as soon as possible after harvest.
Silverbeet is easy to grow, full of nutrition, tastes delicious and goes on cropping for months. It's the ideal vegetable for the home garden.
TIME TO FERTILISE:-
Feed growing bulbs with another application of Yates Bulb Food. When bulb flowers have finished (and some of the early jonquils will already have bloomed), water every week with some Thrive Soluble Plant Food.
Remove dead flowers but don't tidy up leaves until they have died down completely. Green bulb leaves must be given time to store food for next year's flowering.
GROWING RASPBERRIES
Winter is a good season to think about planting raspberries because packaged raspberry canes appear in the shops at this time of year. Yates 'Willamette' raspberries are now available from this store, but you'll need to be quick because they're only available for a relatively short period. Raspberries do best in areas with cool winters, where they'll grow happily in full sun. In warmer places raspberry plants prefer a little bit of protection in the afternoon and well mulched.
The first thing to do before planting is to clear away weeds because their competition will really slow the growth of the raspberries. Do this by spraying weeds with Zero, No Grow or Munns Glyphosate 450g/L Weed Killer (fortunately these products break down rapidly in the soil so they won't leave any harmful residues). After the weeds have died they can be dug into the soil. At the same time mix in some Dynamic Lifter and some Yates Superphosphate, which will encourage good root growth. Before planting, place some supportive stakes at the end of each row.
Prune raspberries in mid winter by removing old canes that have already fruited. After pruning, feed with Yates Gro-Plus Citrus Food.
HOT WINTER PIES.
For those people like myself who love Rhubarb and Apple pie, it's time to start planting out new Rhubarb crowns. If you have advanced plants already growing in the garden, now are the right time to dig them up and divide them. Dust the open wounds with Dusting Sulphur and leave the crowns out of the ground in a dry place for two weeks. They can then be planted back into a sunny, well-drained area. If the soil is poor, dig in some well rotted cow manure and mix in some compost at the same time. Let the soil settle for a couple of weeks before planting the crowns to allow germination of unwanted weeds to reach the surface. Turn the weeds back deep into the ground and then plant your Rhubarb and if needed water in well.
PLANTING YOUR VEGETABLES.
It is time to start planting your Asparagus.
Asparagus are grown from what's called a 'crown'. These crowns are sold during the plant's dormant(winter)period. See our fact sheets for Culture hints on growing Asparagus and harvesting.
Cabbages. Gardeners used to compete with each other to grow the largest cabbages. That was fine when most families were big but, these days, a compact cabbage variety like Yates Earliball is far more appropriate. Earliball has a sweet flavour and, by cabbage standards, grows fairly quickly and usually they are ready in about 8 to 10 weeks.
Why not plant a winter crop of onions? There are several varieties for planting, especially the white and the brown. A well-prepared bed with some compost and some organic fertiliser dug into the soil can make all the difference. The Onions will not need much care until they are harvested.
One important point to remember is not to plant the young seedlings on a hill, because the bulbs will form on the top of the soil surface and not below. Once the Onions are ready for harvest, they can be eaten straight away or stored for weeks.
Lettuce is one crop which can be grown all year round. There is a wide range to choose from, such as the loose leaf varieties to the Mignonette. The young lettuce plants will grow very quickly, providing the soil is rich in compost and well fertilised. People who love fresh vegetables from their own garden can keep a regular supply growing all the year round.
Broccoli, if planted now, should be ready for picking in 10 to 14 weeks, as long as you give the plants a good start. Make sure you prepare the soil with plenty of organic matter, following up with a regular side dressing of nitrogen after plants get growing. When harvesting, if you find you have too much produce, why not freeze some, allowing you to have a good supply for some months to follow.
Carrots are a good source of vitamins and there is nothing more refreshing than walking into your own vegetable patch and pulling up fresh grow carrots. They are easy to raise from seed and if you mix the seed with raddish seed the fast germinating raddish will germinate before the slower carrots.
SpinachThere's still plenty of time to sow Yates Winter Queen spinach. Make sowings every couple of weeks and new plants will always be ready for harvest. Don?t worry too much about spacing: as it grows spinach can be thinned and the small plants thus harvested can be tossed into mixed salads.
GROW YOUR VEGETABLES IN GARDEN BOXES 
Space in many gardens is at a premium and it can be difficult to find enough room for herbs and vegetables. But some creative and resourceful gardeners have come up with asolution to this problem. They grow portable vegetable gardens in second hand Styrofoam boxes. These boxes have lots of advantages: they're cheap, lightweight, insulated and can be lined up side by side to keep each other moist and cool. Before you start, check to make sure the Styrofoam box has holes for drainage. Some don't, and they'll need to have holes poked through their bases so that excess water can get away. On the other hand, if the existing holes are large it can be helpful to put some shadecloth or mesh over the bottom of the box so that the mix won't wash through at watering time.
Remember, however, that good drainage is essential: vegies won't grow in soggy soil.
Fill the box with a good quality potting mix. Because these boxes are relatively shallow, it's probably best to use a water-holding mix like Yates Waterwise. Another option is to add some Waterwise Water Storing Granules to the potting mix before planting.
Plants to grow in the Styrofoam boxes
Salad greens do particularly well in containers. Choose smaller-growing lettuce varieties like mignonette. Mix these with rocket, spinach and red-coloured radicchio. Yates Mesclun Salad Mix combines many of these varieties in a seed mix that can be sown during the cooler months to grow through to early spring. While the crop is being harvested from one box, another can be growing on as a replacement.
Baby carrots are small enough to grow in a styrofoam box. Yates Baby Carrot seed tapes are easy to sow into a furrow on top of the mix. Cover and firm well, but keep moist. Young baby carrots are tender enough to add to salads.
Spring onions, especially Yates Straightleaf, will do well in a styrofoam box. It's easier to keep their stems clean and dirt-free if they're grown in a container.
Herbs are usually only needed in small quantities so a box filled with a range of herbs will provide flavour for months. Parsley, chives, coriander and lemon balm are some of the best to choose.
Don't forget to add a few flowers that are useful and decorative. Nasturtiums will repel some insect pests, and both the flowers and leaves are edible. Calendulas, which are equally versatile, grow happily during the cooler months.
Here ara a few important points to remember.
Place a mulch covering on the top of the mix in the boxes.
Keep the boxes in a sunny spot. Almost all edible plants prefer maximum sunshine.
Fertilise with organic Dynamic Lifter.
ROSE PRUNING
July is the month when most roses are pruned, although there are some exceptions. For example, it's not yet time to prune those roses that have one single massed flowering in spring. This group includes some of the old-fashioned roses, as well as banksias and many weeping standards, all of which should be pruned after flowering. Most climbing roses, too, should be left until after blooming before you think about cutting them back.In districts, you might like to wait until later and prune when there's no risk of new growth being damaged by frost.
Rose pruning is a topic that causes headaches for even the quite experienced gardener, but it's not really all that difficult. Even if you did not prune, the roses would survive. After all, roses were never pruned when they were growing in the wild.
Roses do, however, respond really well to pruning.
They flower well on the new growth that pruning stimulates and, after pruning, they're neat and tidy and look as if they're comfortable in the garden.
So let's get into it. Just like a good cook, before pruning it's wise to gather ingredients and tools before you start.
Before you start
A/ Number one requirement is some sort of thorn protection. Roses are notoriously thorny, so a good pair of (preferably leather) gloves are essential.
B/ A good pair of clean, sharp secateurs.
C / A saw. One with a relatively narrow blade that curves slightly is the best because you can manoeuvre it into the crowded interior of the rose bush.
D/ Lime Sulphur (Yates) This is essential for the clean up at the end of pruning.
E/ Good spray equipment that works (Yates Maxi Spray) for applying the lime sulphur.
What to prune:
Begin by cutting out any weak, spindly, cris-crossing or dead stems.Then, if it's an established bush, look critically at the stems and remove some of the oldest. This can be done by sawing the old, dark brown stems off cleanly at their base. Cut remaining stems to a few buds above last year's growth. The topmost bud that remains after pruning should be facing outwards. New growth will come from this bud, so it's important that it heads in a good direction.
Now stand back and take a good look at the rose. Does the remaining wood seem healthy and vigorous? Is the centre of the bush nice and open so that the sun and air can get right into it?
Complete any tidying up that's necessary.
Ultimately
There are two more things to do before the job's complete. The first is to spray the whole rose, and the soil beneath the bush, with Lime Sulphur. This will help to remove any rose scale from the stems and also destroy fungal spores that are lingering in the soil. The other task is to renew a good layer of organic mulch over the root area, taking care to avoid direct contact with the rose's trunk.
In warm climates, before applying the mulch, spread some Dynamic Lifter pellets or some Gro-Plus Rose Food. However, in frosty areas, it's best to wait until the last frosts are over before feeding the roses.
PLANT SOME FRAGRANCE GARDEN
When cool Winter temperatures seem to heighten our appreciation of pleasant perfumes.
Here is are a few suggestions to plant this season so you can enjoy fragrance in the garden this winter:
Wallflower 'Winter Delight' blooms in winter-warm colours of brown, yellow and cream. Sow seeds in early autumn for a winter display.
Alyssum's low clumps are smothered with tiny, honey-scented blooms. They can be grown from seed at virtually any time of year. 'Lavender and Lace' and 'Berries and Cream' - are particularly compact and free flowering.
Sweet peas begin blooming in mid-winter and some varieties continue right into spring. Most are sown in autumn but, in cooler climates, a spring sowing is also possible.
Daphne (Daphne odora) is a small shrub with sweet, lemon-scented winter flowers in pink or white. Daphnes can be temperamental, so grow them in shallow pots filled with an Acid potting mix.
Protect from root rot with an annual treatment of Yates Anti Rot low toxic systemic fungicide.
Perfumed winter-flowering bulbs include jonquils, hyacinths and freesias. Pot these into bowls filled with Yates Bulb Potting Mix so they can be placed right outside the door. After flowering, transplant them carefully into garden beds and water regularly with Thrive Flower & Fruit plant food. This will build up the bulbs for next year's flowering.
Luculia with its large clusters of fragrant pink blooms, is one of the aristocrats of the winter garden. Luculia prefers a protected spot that faces east (to catch the morning sun) and is sheltered from strong winter winds. Good drainage is essential. Lightly prune luculias after flowering and feed with gentle, organic Blood and Bone or Dynamic Lifter pellets.
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