• Time-savers in the garden include mulching to conserve water, dressing up bare spots with flowering pots of annuals, and grouping plants with similar water and shade requirements.
• If you’re going away, ask a friend to water the garden, mow the lawn and clear post. REMEMBER Container plants dry out quickly in hot weather.
• Water fuchsias in dry weather, and spray foliage when there is no sun on the leaves, or foliage may get burnt; feed regularly with Nitrosol or Mulitfeed P. Also watch for white fly and spidermite on the underside of leaves and spray with Wonder Gun.
• If lawn caterpillars are present, spray with Karbaspray according to pack instructions.
• Yellow and black caterpillars damage leaves and burrow down into the bulbs of amaryllis, nerines and clivias. Dust with Karbadust or spray with Margaret Roberts Biological Caterpillar Insecticide.
• Position bird nesting boxes or sisal nesting logs high up in a tree where birds will be safe and sheltered from rain.
• Keep a garden diary for recording planting, flowering and harvesting times – and even include temperatures and rainfall.

Words and image: Home magazine