In July we are at the end of Waring or Wombat season. This is the time for the lowest temperatures and highest rainfall. A time when the wombats come out to catch the sun’s rays, and the male lyrebirds are busy singing every other bird’s song in order to attract a mate.
Winter is a great time for a garden renovation – whether it is removing trees that haven’t produced, or plants that take up too much valuable sunny real estate. Winter is slower – paced, more time to tinker in the garden and for planting lots of perennials for a grand show in the warmer months for when you might be entertaining outdoors. Plant tube stock now, and it will establish before the heat of summer. You will be surprised by the growth rate.
There are many plants that a beautifully perfumed that flower in winter and early spring. Winter sweet Chimonanthus praecox is a plant for the sunnier parts of the garden, flowering from June. The native Boronia is also a delight in winter. For the shade, plant Osmanthus Heaven Scent, Daphne or Viburnum species. For more information about installing a perfumed garden go to baag.com.au/perfumed-gardens/
The nursery now has a full range of deciduous trees and shrubs, both ornamental and fruiting, berry canes and roses.. Our bare root stock are potted to ensure the new roots don’t have the chance to dry out, to maximise success once planted in your garden, but they are still available at very reasonable prices. If you need some help selecting a tree or rose, come in and ask our expert nursery staff for advice. We have a fact sheet on planting bare root stock..
Deciduous shrubs are often overlooked, but can be a handy solution for that tricky west facing position that gets no sun in the winter and too much in summer. Check out our page, deciduous shrubs that pack a punch, for some showstoppers. Now is the best time to plant these guys as they are dormant or ‘asleep’. When these plants are having their winter rest, they are very robust and easy to handle. Transplant shock is minimised and don’t worry that they look like sticks now because boy, will they take off in spring.
Edible Gardening
We have a huge range of fruit trees to choose from including almonds, chestnuts, hazelnuts, peaches, pears, apples, apricots, figs, cherries, nectarines, quince, plums and pomegranates. We are encouraging the planting of dwarf trees as these are easier to net against possums and fruit fly. They also do not require as much pruning, produce the same amount of fruit with the same quality, only sooner than their taller counterparts. As an added bonus, because the trees are smaller, you can squeeze more into a smaller space!
Also fun to try are berries – try a currant or blueberry bush (very decorative as well as delicious!) or decorate your fences and pergolas with grape vines, kiwi fruits or loganberries.
In addition to trees, shrubs and vines, don’t forget the subterranean wonders of the season such as certified seed potatoes and shallots. Potatoes have a different taste and texture altogether when dug freshly out of the ground. Choose a variety based on your cooking preferences and the space and time you have to grow it in. It is best to use certified disease free seed potatoes rather than pantry potatoes to keep nasty diseases out of your soil. Choose a determinate potato for a smaller but faster crop in pots or containers. For huge yields, mound soil around your indeterminate potatoes as they grow, and they’ll keep producing more tubers along the stems. Seed potatoes and shallots are still available in the shop.
Please note, there has been a crop failure of Asparagus this year. No crowns are available. Hopefully there will be pot grown specimens in spring.
Winter vegies can be grown blissfully free from the time pressure of bolting crops, make the most of it with root veg and leafy greens. Lettuces can be planted now along with vegie seedlings of beetroot, broccoli, carrots, chives, radish, silverbeet, snow peas, onions and cabbage. Plant your coriander now and it won’t bolt as it does when warmer. Broadbeans can be grown right through winter, as can peas. There are both low-growing and taller growing varieties available. The taller ones will need staking.
Edibles to plant in Melbourne in July.
Below is a list of edible gardening seeds and seedlings that can be planted in July. Please keep in mind that this list has been developed for Melbourne’s climate. Some of the plants indicated will be either right at the start or the end of their ideal planting season, click the links to the factsheets for more detailed planting information.
 – Seeds – Seedlings
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 – Tubers / Crowns – Companion Plants
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 – Protect from frost – Prone to Cabbage Butterfly
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Angelica Arrowroot Artichokes (Jerusalem) Asparagus Bok Choy Beetroot Broccoli Broccoletti Broccolini Broad Beans Cabbage Carrot Cauliflower Chamomile Chervil Chicory Chives Coriander Cress Curry Plant Endive
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Feverfew Garlic Giant Red Mustard Good Bug Mix Kale Kohlrabi Lemon Balm Lettuce Lovage Marjoram Mint Mitsuba Mizuna Mustard Greens Mustard Mizuna Onion Oregano Pak Choy / Bok Choy Parsley Peas Radicchio
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Radish Rhubarb Rocket / Arugula Rosemary Saffron Crocus Sage Salad Burnett Savory Shallots Silverbeet Spring Onion Sorrel Strawberries or runnersTarragon Tatsoi Thyme Warrigal Greens Wasabi Watercress Witloof
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Drainage
Keep an eye out for drainage problems in the garden. This is evident if water pools on the surface after rain or the ground stays soggy and muddy well after surrounding areas have dried off. Use gypsum or clay breaking liquid to break up clay soils. Adding compost and organic matter will also improve drainage. These spots may be ideal for plants that are suited to waterlogged areas or experiment with surface contouring. If you are concerned about drainage, creating mounded beds can solve a lot of problems.
Frost
Fuchsias, hibiscus, luculia, gardenias and other tender plants may need protection from the frost. There are several ways to protect plants from frost including covering plants at night, using frost covers and watering the foliage. Some vegetables may also suffer from frost damage if they are flowering at the time, such as potatoes and peas.
July is the perfect time to prune roses and most deciduous trees including stone and pome fruit trees. Do not prune your apricot tree now nor any spring flowering trees and shrubs yet, wait until after they have flowered. This includes some roses which flower only once, such as the Banksia roses. Tidy herbaceous plants by cutting back dead and dying foliage flowers and stems. Lift and divide established perennials.
We have a lot of fact sheets on pruning – type ‘pruning’ into the search box on our web page and 15 fact sheets will pop up – all discussing pruning.
To protect soft new growth after cutting back perennials, cover them lightly with pea straw or lucerne to prevent frost damage.
Spraying copper sulphate on the bare stems after pruning can help prevent fungal disease.
Prune deciduous clematis back to a pair of plump buds approximately 60 cm from the ground and remove any weak shoots altogether.
Keep in mind that fruit trees in home gardens are often intended to be ornamental as well as fruitful, so this will help determine the shape you would like your tree to have. If it is strictly for the fruit, then read on.
Pruning sweet cherries, European and Japanese plums, apricots
Prune to an open vase shape in the young tree to develop its shape. No annual winter pruning is then required after the first three years, except to remove dead or diseased wood, or branches crossing over one another and rubbing. Apricots are best left in winter and pruned in early autumn, to reduce the risk of fungal disease entry.
Peach, nectarines
Remove a third to a half of the previous year’s growth, including any internally growing branches and thinning out any weak side-shoots.
Apples, pears
These can develop very well with only a little pruning to remove weak growth. It’s important that an open-centred vase shape is promoted to allow for maximum sunlight penetration into the centre, so prune out any internal, inward-growing branches. Shorten sideshoots to leave 3 to 4 buds. If there are any vigorous side branches, tie them to keep them horizontal as this will force them to become fruit-bearing wood.
This is a fungal disease that infects peaches, nectarines, almonds and other Prunus species. The symptoms are noticed in spring and summer, when the leaves appear with raised lumpy light green and red patches and are curled up. This problem weakens the tree if it occurs year after year, and will result in a reduced fruit yield. Once you see the symptoms, it is too late to spray. The trees should be sprayed from mid to late winter from bud swell, until the leaves emerge. Spray with copper sprays such as copper oxychloride during this period. This is a preventative spray, so the swelling buds need to be covered with the copper spray. Once the buds have burst open, it is too late to spray. The nursery puts up signs when we spray our peaches, nectarines and almonds to remind you when to spray your own trees at home.
Kids in the Garden
Make a living teepee! Bind together up to 5 bamboo stakes with string, spread out the base and place it firmly in some soil in your garden. Tie more string at different intervals between the stakes for the plants to grow along. Plant snow-pea seedlings at the base of each bamboo stake and as they grow, gently train them along the string. Soon you’ll have a living teepee that you can eat off!
