Care guides › Melbourne › July
July in the Melbourne garden
Mid winter in Melbourne. Cool temperate: frosty winters and warm, dry summers. Here is what needs doing this month, with the essentials first.
- What to plant 2
- What to harvest 14
- Pruning and deadheading 15
- Pests and diseases to watch for 1
- Frost and weather 1
- Tidying up 1
What to plant in July
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Pea
Sow seed beside a trellis
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Onion
Plant seedlings in winter
What to harvest in July
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Spinach
Pick outer leaves
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Kale
Pick lower leaves; frost sweetens them
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Broccoli
Cut the head while buds are tight; side shoots follow
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Cauliflower
Cut while the curd is firm and white
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Cabbage
Cut when the head feels firm
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Leek
Lift as needed through winter
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Orange Tree
Pick when sweet; taste one to check
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Lemon Tree
Pick lemons as they colour; they hold on the tree
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Passionfruit
Collect fruit as it drops; wrinkled is ripe
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Mandarin
Pick as they colour
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Cumquat
Pick when fully orange
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Silverbeet
Pick outer leaves as needed
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Lemon Myrtle
Pick leaves as you need them; they dry well
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Coriander If you have time
Pick leaves young; let a few go to seed
Pruning and deadheading
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Apple Tree and Pear Tree
Winter prune while bare: open the centre, shorten leaders by a third
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Rose
Winter prune: cut back by about half to outward-facing buds
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Hydrangea
Cut stems that flowered back to a pair of fat buds
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Wisteria
Winter prune: shorten the same shoots to 2-3 buds
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Grape Vine
Winter prune each spur back to 2 buds
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Butterfly Bush
Prune hard in winter to a low framework
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Salvia
Cut back to the new shoots at the base
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Fig Tree If you have time
Winter prune to keep fruit in reach
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Blueberry Bush If you have time
Remove the oldest canes and twiggy growth
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Blackcurrant Bush If you have time
Remove about a third of the oldest stems
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Gooseberry Bush If you have time
Open up the centre and shorten side shoots
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Clematis If you have time
Light trim back to strong buds
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Japanese Maple If you have time
Remove crossing branches while bare
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Crepe Myrtle If you have time
Remove twiggy growth and spent seed heads; never lop
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Smoke Bush If you have time
Prune in winter for bigger leaves (fewer plumes)
Pests and diseases to watch for
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Orange Tree, Mandarin and Cumquat If you have time
Citrus gall wasp: cut off swollen stems before spring
Frost and weather
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Tomato, Cucumber, Capsicum, Zucchini, Runner Bean, Sweetcorn, Eggplant, Bidens, Silver Falls, Lemon Tree, Basil, Bougainvillea and Passionfruit
Frost tender: cover on frosty nights, or move pots under shelter
Tidying up
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Kangaroo Grass If you have time
Cut back hard every couple of years to refresh it
Not listed: Lime Tree, Sturt's Desert Pea, Cooktown Orchid, Illawarra Flame Tree and Tuckeroo, which don't suit Melbourne's climate.