THE MODERN MINT BLOG
Garden Jobs July
So many garden jobs in July. But the first garden job in July? Stop your weeding and mowing for a moment and SMELL THE ROSES!
(You’ve got to enjoy your garden too, no…?)
What other jobs are worth doing in the garden now July is here?
Start with pruning the fruit trees that have st0nes, like cherries and plums.
Remember to water your pots.
Remove suckers from lime trees and lightly prune any plants you are trying to pleach.
Deadhead and feed the roses.
Weedkill and feed the lawns. If you really must.
Take a look at any spring flowering shrubs and cut them back to shape now, right after they have finished flowering.
Deadhead in your herbaceous border – got Delphiniums? Well done! Impressed! Cut the spent flower now and enjoy a second, smaller flower soon…
Harvest in the fruit patch – strawberries, raspberries, cherries and gooseberries are amazing to eat now!
Start eating the broad beans…
To be fair… July is a great month for jobs in the garden…
For more detailed information, try one of these books from Amazon:
(And this one from Alan Titchmarsh, priced at £24, can be found for just 1p! Good if you are a beginner for all the advice you need about garden jobs for July…)
Topiary, The Art Garden at The Henderson
The Art Garden at The Henderson in Hong-Kong has now opened to the public. I joined the project last March, to work with Gillespies Landscape Architects on the topiary that had been designed for the Art Garden, which gives a calm, green space below the extraordinary Henderson skyscraper designed by Zaha Hadid Architects. The garden has been designed with butterflies in mind, so lots of nectar plants, and has other art projects and installations within its footprint. The history of the site is interesting too – it was originally the first cricket ground in Hong-Kong! So still a green space….! …
ClipFest 2025
On Sunday June 22nd there will be Clipfest 2025 at Ichi-Coo Park in Surrey. It is a celebration of all things pruning and topiary, and I will be there in my capacity of teacher at the European Boxwood and Topiary Society to demonstrate tool cleaning and sharpening, and how to clip. Tickets can be found here on Eventbrite. We are hoping for great weather and to see lots of keen pruners getting their shears out and joining us at this amazing garden! And for more on topiary…
Secateur Holders
A present arrived from Norway today, from a student who visited last February to work with Chris Poole and I on learning topiary. His new hobby – a beautiful and neatly stitched secateur holder. Thrilled with this! The holder will save me keep losing my secatuers too…! Thank you Bernt! It was the same student who introduced me to the APA with whom I am doing a talk at the end of March. Tickets can be bought here for ‘Defining The Essence – Aesthetic Pruning in the Garden’. Do join the European Boxwood and Topiary Society for that!