Since I think we're all looking forward to a long, hot July in Otley, here are some summer gardening tips from Otley in Bloom.

Regular watering but not when the sun is at its highest or water droplets can scorch the leaves.

Ruthless deadheading.

Feed flowering and fruiting plants with a potash

based feed.

Plant foods often recommend weekly feeding but professional

growers often choose to feed plants with a half strength solution twice

as often.

Cluster pots together so the water in them does not evaporate quite so

quickly.If a pot totally dries out the soil shrinks and it

can be difficult to re-wet. Try standing the pot in a tray of water for

about 4 hours.

Plants at their best this month:

Bedding plants – pelargoniums, petunias and busy lizzies to name but a few.

Many of the daisy flowered perennials – rudbeckia, echinacea and coreopsis.

Dahlias. 

(Photo credit - from the Otley in Bloom website)