All our efforts are paying off as fruit and veg begin to yield their bounty

JULY is a bountiful and busy time in the garden, and particularly so if you grow fruit and veg. Watering, feeding, planting, harvesting and troubleshooting are the main tasks – or pleasures! – in mid-summer. I have an edible cherry tree, ‘Stella’, which is now laden with fruit, probably the biggest crop I’ve ever had. The problem, however, is how to protect the cherries from the birds.

The tree is too big to net completely and there can be problems with birds getting caught in nets or trapped underneath.

In dry weather you can use paper bags over fruit. I’m going to try putting a sleeve of horticultural fleece over a couple of the lower branches to preserve some of the fruit until it ripens completely.

If you are growing soft fruit such as raspberries and strawberries these will also need protection from birds.

Dangling CDs and DVDs can be effective bird scarers.

If you have apple trees you may have noticed the June drop – this is when the tree naturally sheds excess fruitlets. Too much fruit can put excessive strain on the branches and doesn’t allow adequate room for the rest to mature properly.

You may need to assist this process – cooking apples need about 6ins between each one so they can grow to full size, plums a couple of inches.

Tomatoes are starting to form fruit so will now need weekly feeding as well as daily watering in hot weather.

Pinch out side shoots and remove any leaves from beneath the lowest truss of fruit as well – this will help with air circulation.

The potatoes are looking good with lots of leafy growth – keep earthing up and water them in dry spells.

The earlies are just starting to flower so I’ll give them another two weeks

You may have heard the expression “puddling” in your cabbages – this means filling the planting hole with water a couple of times so it is welldrenched before planting your seedlings.

It’s also a good idea to put a cardboard collar around the neck of the seedling to help protect the you young leaf growth from slu slugs and snails, and also ca before digging up and cabbage root fly. Position enjoying their fresh, outin a sunny site and firm of-the ground flavour. the soil in by tramping.

July is the time to sow You can also spring cabbage seeds. continue successional These are best sown in sowing of quick modules – one seed veg such as lettuce, per module – and b beetroot, spring onions transplanted outdoors in and radish, and a last September, but you can sowing of carrots for this also direct sow into the year, too. ground now. Winter brassicas such

It’s time to harvest herbs

your pond, so fish it out with a small fishing net or twirl it around a cane. Barley straw in the pond can help keep the problem at bay, or if you can’t get hold of this there are liquid products available that contain an extract of barley straw which will do the same job. KEEP your bird bath topped up when it’s dry. DIVIDE irises after flowering – you only need do this every few years but it will put new life into old stock. Keep your bird bath topped up with water

Growth: Potatoes are ready WATCH out for scarlet lily beetle and remove it where found – they’re clever bugs and will hop off the stem as you approach so try and cup one hand below to catch them!

Carrots can be sowed again

All in the prep: Position in a sunny site and firm the soil in by tramping