July in your Cool Temperate garden

Now is a good time to plant roses. Purchase healthy plants from your nursery. Look for vigorous branch growth, good bud development and for bare root plants, sound root growth. Mix Debco Rose Compost with the soil from the planting hole and, following planting, apply the Rose Compost as a mulch on the soil surface. (For more advice see "Planting a Bare Root Rose".)

Native trees planted now benefit from soil moisture and the spring growth flush. If you're planning to plant large numbers of trees, eg. on farms or for windbreaks, plant tubestock into ripped soils to overcome compaction. Control weed growth at the base of trees.

Peach Leaf Curl can be a major problem with peaches. The swollen and distorted leaves are unsightly and reduce productivity. Spray the tree now with Bordeaux as the buds begin to swell. Later sprayings are not effective.

Prune roses now, cutting out dead and diseased wood, opening up the plant structure and shaping the plant. Cut with clean secateurs to outward growing buds.

Lift and divide perennials. Discard old centre parts of the plant and re-plant the vigorous edge plants. Apply fertilisers to re-establish the plants and ensure their vigour. Use cow or sheep manure to assist with soil conditioning and once the garden is re-planted, top off with Debco Mulch 'n' Feed.

Plant potatoes now. This is a useful crop to clean ground because weeds are removed as they grow by lifting soil mounds. There are many interesting potato varieties now available that offer a change from more mundane selections.

Plant beetroot seeds into soils previously treated with lime. Beetroots dislike acid soils. Improve seed germination by soaking them overnight and plant them 2cm deep, thinning seeds to 10cm apart as they germinate.

Broccoli seed or seedlings should be planted 60cm apart and 75cm between rows. Dig cow or sheep manure into the soil prior to planting and fertilise regularly with Phostrogen Plant Food every seven days. Planted now they will offer a late winter and spring staple.