Rosemary Ward, of Gardening Which?, looks at what needs to be done in the July garden.

One man went to mow: This is the time you should be really enjoying your lawn with warm weather and long evenings to play, entertain or just sit in a deckchair and admire your efforts.

Unfortunately there is a price to pay, and it comes in the form of lots of mowing! In an ideal world, grass should be cut twice a week at this time of year.

Realistically, even once a week can be hard to fit in but beware of letting your lawn become overgrown, then cutting it short as this shocks and weakens it.

This tends to lead to thin patches that are soon invaded by weeds and moss.

If you do miss a cut and the grass gets a bit long, raise the mower blades and just take the tips off at first. Cut a little lower after a few days and later return to normal for the third cut. Keeping mower blades sharp makes a big difference both to the appearance, and subsequent health of the grass.

All this growth uses up a lot of nutrients, so it's a good idea to give your lawn a high nitrogen feed in early summer. Lawns also need a lot of water to stay green, but in drought conditions we don't think it's justified to use precious water on your grass. It may turn brown but is most unlikely to die. If it is very dry, raise the mower blades to cut higher and less frequently, and leave the clippings on the lawn to act as a moisture-retaining mulch. When the rain returns, the lawn will soon green up.

Jobs of the week:

After flowering, trim back new shoots of ceanothus and helianthemum (rock rose) by two-thirds, and broom by half.

Plant out tender vegetables such as courgettes, squashes, outdoor cucumbers, outdoor tomatoes and sweetcorn.

Take cuttings of lavender, pushing shoots 5-8cm long into pots of sandy compost and covering with a plastic bag.

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